Despite last year's much-celebrated overhaul of ethics laws, Denver is full of corporate lobbyists for the Democratic National Convention, and their parties are some of the hottest tickets in the Mile High City. Starting on Aug. 30 the scene will migrate to St. Paul and Minneapolis to greet the Republicans at their convention. At the Spirits of Denver bash at Beta on Monday, co-sponsors Daimler and The Hill, a Washington news organization, joined the Distilled Spirits Council. Across town, AT&T gave Connecticut delegates a coffee bar and late-night breakfast to accompany a 38th-floor view of the night skyline. On the …

Rafael Nadal was set to debut a new look at the U.S. Open Monday, but at the last minute decided against it after having captured two Grand Slams, Olympic gold and the top spot in the world rankings in his old garb. The exuberant Spanish star had practiced in a new wardrobe that included such radical adjustments as shirts with short sleeves and pants that stopped above the knee. The Wall Street Journal reported Aug. 25 that Nadal had decided to shift his image from adolescent muscle T-shirts and Capri-style pants. Nike had unveiled Nadal's new look after months of …

Procter & Gamble has launched a three-store test of a dry cleaner under the Tide brand name in Kansas City; begun a full-scale test of its Swash youth-focused sub-brand in Lexington, Ky., and enlisted Tim Gunn of Bravo's "Project Runway" and "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" to support the $60 million positioning of Tide Total Care and Downy Total Care as an ultimate solution for all laundry problems. The dry cleaning test includes construction of a new company-owned store and partnership in two other stores with a local dry cleaner, GreenEarth Cleaning, which uses a dry-cleaning solvent it says …

Starwood Hotels hopes to complete the renovation of 86 of it Sheraton hotels -- out of 204 in North America -- in 2009. The $1.7 billion project is aimed at reinvigorating the brand with fresher decor, brighter colors and lobbies that beckon guests with new restaurants and cafes. Starwood is betting that an enhanced reputation will result in more dollars. Sheraton generates about $100 in per-room revenue, compared with about $120 for Marriott, according to the company. The new rooms feature more primary and less masculine colors; furniture is smaller and more modern in style. New lobby features …

While there are few companies with a richer design heritage than Coca-Cola, in recent years the company seemed to have lost its design savvy. Five years ago, David Butler joined the company with a mandate to reverse that trend. The vp for design has learned the most effective way to implement design strategy at a company as large as Coca-Cola is to avoid the word "design" as much as possible. Instead of generating ideas and then trying to find a place for them, Butler focuses his efforts on identifying basic problems that design can solve. "If I'm at a …

Seven years after it dove headlong into bread, Sara Lee has built the nation's best-selling brand, and sales have been climbing despite a big run-up in commodity costs. Over the years, it has shed 72 regional bread brands and currently has 46, but it has focused on building a national brand under the well-known Sara Lee name. Bread is a supermarket's No. 2 food sales category after chilled meats, but it's also a business that's still highly fragmented and lacking in national brands. The nation's top three bread producers --Sara Lee; George Weston, which makes Brownberry; and Flowers Foods, …