The consensus among the digerati seems to be that Apple COO Tim Cook, who has been charged with running the company through June, has the steely resolve needed to keep the company on track during CEO Steve Jobs' absence. Jobs emailed Apple's staff yesterday that he was taking a medical leave of absence to focus on his health (and to allow them "to focus on delivering extraordinary products"). Cook is seen as "unflappable, analytical and highly disciplined," writes Brandon Bailey. "He's excellent at getting things done," says Tim Bajarin, president of the consulting firm Creative Strategies. Southern courtliness …

The Mary Kay cosmetics company tied with Maybelline for first place in the mass merchandiser/cosmetics category in Brand Keys' 2008 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index -- testimony to CMO Rhonda Shasteen's three years of work to "rebirth" the brand. Founder Mary Kay died in 2001. The company has reached out the younger women, writes Beth Negus Viveiros, creating a robust online experience both for its customers and for its more than two million beauty consultants around the world, including 600,000 in the U.S. "I definitely have a dual sales platform," says Shasteen. All sales must go through the consultants; the …

As I scanned the headlines this morning, I wondered how much bad news could fit into a digital container. Google laying off people; Microsoft mulling it; Nortel declaring bankruptcy, along with retailer Gottchalks; Gannet forcing furloughs. Just go to Reuters and scan the headlines. But then I came across the No. 8 "most emailed" story in the Journal: "Coca-Cola to Uncap 'Open Happiness' Campaign." While the rest of us wonder what will go flat next, it sure seems that everything is downright bubbly and sugary in cola land (see "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy: Pepsi Relaunching …

I've come across two recent articles that discuss whether making a profit is somehow incompatible with cause marketing, or even if nonprofits should get involved with for-profit companies to support what seem to be mutually advantageous goals. The Sierra Club has come under fire from some of its members, for example, for promoting the Clorox Green Works line in return for a cut of the profits. The Triple Pundit blog interviews Joe Waters, director of Cause Marketing for Boston Medical Center and founder of Six Figure Cause Marketing, who says the best businesses for cause marketing are …

It had shifted creative chores to Cutwater two years ago.

"People are talking about G. This is what a teaser campaign is meant to do," writes Bob Garfield. "Therefore, for TBWA, so far, so good."

Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit, who has spent 13 months trying to integrate the New York-based behemoth assembled by his predecessors, is unraveling the empire to save the bank, Bradley Keoun and Lisa Kassenaar report. He has already ceded control of Smith Barney to Morgan Stanley. He may also dump the CitiFinancial consumer-lending unit, sell Tokyo-based Nikko Asset Management and curtail trading with the bank's own capital, sources say. The bank's remaining parts will include branch banking, advising on mergers, underwriting securities, processing payments, corporate lending and handling trades for clients, the sources say. It also will maintain the "globality" that …