Relax, all you Pizza Hut traditionalists out there. Spokesman Chris Fuller emails Emily Bryson York that "The Hut" is to Pizza Hut what "Coke" is to Coca-Cola, and does not represent a name change. The leading pizza chain's use of the shortened moniker in some marketing material has created "a bit of a brouhaha" among some observers, Bryson York reports. Three words under the shortened name highlight the diversification of the chain's menu: "Pizza. Pasta. Wings." A restaurant opening in Jacksonville, Fla., tomorrow carries both Pizza Hut and The Hut signage, but brand experts say parent Yum! Brands should …

Mobile apps are fast becoming part of today's marketing mix because they can connect brands and products directly to consumers, writes Theresa Howard, and that's made the phenomenon one of the hottest topics at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. The number of apps available for the iPhone alone has gone from zero to 50,000 in less than a year. "A branded iPhone application grants a fantastic consumer engagement," says Alexandre Mars, CEO at mobile ad agency Phonevalley. "They are rich, compelling and insightful. They provide a quick response time, and they are available without any data …

The makers of Sunny D, which is known as a children's drink, want to reach older, health-minded consumers, Nathan Olivarez-Giles reports, so they've purchased Bossa Nova Beverage Group, a West Los Angeles marketer best known for its acai juice. Bossa Nova will be run as an autonomous company within Cincinnati-based Beverages Holdings, according to its founder and CEO, Alton Johnson. "You won't find Sunny D selling in a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe's," says Lloyd Greif, CEO of Greif & Co., the investment-banking firm that represented Bossa Nova in the transaction. "But this acquisition gets a Sunny D …

Anheuser-Busch InBev NV is looking to lower its costs while grabbing gross margins by someday selling as much as 50% of its U.S. beer volume directly to retailers through its own distributors, according to a report by UBS AG analyst Melissa Earlam. A-B currently directly sells about 7% of its volume. But an InBev spokeswoman emailed the Journal's David Kesmodel that it will move slowly and not force the issue. "Consolidation has been occurring for many years, and we believe it will and should continue," according to her statement. "I think consolidation is going to occur, but it's mostly …

Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler's new CEO, is "quickly bringing clarity and direction" to the automaker, Greg Gardner reports, not only by compressing eight layers of management into five but also in making decisive product decisions that were delayed by the company's bankruptcy. Based on interviews with employees and internal documents he obtained, Gardner writes that Marchionne has shared with employees a detailed vision to use Fiat models as the basis for future vehicles branded as Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep. He's also positioning the upscale Alfa Romeo to compete against established luxury European cars in North America. The tiny Fiat 500, …

Cinematics created for the forthcoming "The Beatles: Rock Band" video game -- a collaboration between MTV Games' Harmonix and the Beatles' Apple Corps -- are also a crucial part of the advertising campaign. They are, writes Dan Neil, "the most beautiful and compelling animated sequences I have ever seen, a pocket masterpiece that in its surrealistic bravura is worthy of "Sgt. Pepper" and "Yellow Submarine." Neil also says that the videogame is another opportunity, along with the Cirque de Soleil revue "Love," to think about the commercialization of the Beatles legacy. But he doesn't ponder that point …

While we're on the general idea of "all you need is love," food critic Kelly Alexander tells us that the Cheesecake Factory hired its first marketing person less than a year ago and that she literally had to beg for an interview to do a story on the chain, which has 95 restaurants in 31 states. "Why be concerned when historically they make great money with virtually no advertising?" she asks. "How so," you ask? Well, basically they've relied on word of taste buds (and other senses), it seems. Says Marks Mears, the aforementioned new vp of marketing: "It's …

Intel and Nokia will work together to develop "an entire new category of [mobile] devices," according to Kai Öistäm", the Nokia evp in charge of the group's devices unit. It reportedly will go beyond the capabilities of today's smartphones and netbooks. But the announcement was short on details about specific devices, Maija Palmer and Chris Nuttall report. "This is a technology collaboration. It is premature to talk of products," said Öistäm". Intel's microprocessors run about 80% of the world's personal computers, but it has struggled to enter the mobile market. It has said that it could have a …

Walter Dunn, who in the words of Coca-Cola board member Peter Ueberroth "basically pioneered sports marketing," died on Monday in metro Atlanta of cancer. He was 86. "He understood the value of associating the Coca-Cola Co. with youth and sports fans around the world," said Ueberroth, who is a former Major League Baseball commissioner and chief organizer of the Los Angeles Olympics. Dunn's son Jeff, a former head of Coca-Cola North America, said that after having had nothing to drink all day, his father had a Diet Coke, smiled, went to sleep and passed away, Joe Guy …