Paul Polman, who reversed the strategy of his predecessor and opted to drive volume with lower prices and aggressive marketing spending when he took over as Unilever's CEO in January, was rewarded with second-quarter results that surpassed analysts' expectations, Aaron O. Patrick reports. Sales volume rose 2% over the previous year, although profits were trimmed. Polman wants to increase the speed of decision-making in the sprawling company, which is known for its cautious culture. "Thirty-Day Action Plans" introduced under his reign, for example, are designed to make executives act quickly to fix problems with individual products. But it could …

PepsiCo's Gatorade lost its false advertising and trademark dilution suit against Coca-Cola's Powerade and the decision "had a lot to do with endurance -- Gatorade Endurance," Kenneth Hein reports. Manhattan district judge John G. Koeltl ruled that PepsiCo subsidiary Stokley Van Camp "has not shown either a likelihood of irreparable injury or a likelihood of success on the merits." Powerade ION4 has claimed that it's a more complete sports drink than Gatorade because it contains two electrolytes that its competitor doesn't -- calcium and magnesium. Pepsi said that was bunkum. But undermining Pepsi's denial is the fact that Gatorade …

It appears that the kangaroo court known as the Internet has determined that a new jingle for Microsoft's Bing search engine is among the worst ever written. Although "Bing Goes the Internet"   actually garners a middling three stars out of a possible five on its YouTube page this morning, a quick gander at the opinions generally support Colleen Mastony's assertion that they are running three to one against the song. And they are strong opinions. Mastony says that the jingle, which was the winner of an online contest that carried a $500 American Express gift …

With the assistance of data-crunching from CoreBrand, Helen Coster and Kurt Badenhausen take a look at eight venerable brands that have actually had positive earnings and sales growth during the recessionary years of 1990, 1991, 2001 and 2008. Several of them maintained steady earnings because they sold their more volatile businesses. H&R Block, for example, quit its loan-origination and brokerage businesses. And ConAgra sold its more volatile, commodities-based businesses such as the Eckrich, Armour and Butterball meat brands. Other familiar names have thrived by focusing on inexpensive products. There's Wal-Mart, of course, …

Fashion retailers are pinning their hopes for the fall on making plaid a "must have" item on everything from tops to handbags to tops, Stacey Vanek-Smith reports. "We're just kind of mad about plaid around here," Carolyn Wangstad, vp of trends for JCPenney, tells her. Wangstad says plaid works for men and women. And it hopefully will draw shoppers willing to forgo bargain hunting for an au courant wardrobe, says Adrienne Tennant, an apparel analyst with FBR Capital Markets. "It's very important to have something that will drive and generate that full-price sale," she says. Of course, if you're …

"Forget Michael Jackson," Frederik Balfour blogs. Eight-figure post-mortem deals make that hard to do (see above), but he goes on to discuss PepsiCo plans to create its own rock stars in China and calls it a "pretty nifty business model." PepsiCo has launched a music label in China that enables it to "groom, produce and ultimately control its recording stars," Balfour writes. The concept is the brainchild of Harry Hui, Pepsi's CMO in China, who invited Balfour to a "Battle of the Bands" reality show Pepsi is producing in Shanghai. Ten bands are competing over 10 shows for the …

A lawyer for the administrators of Michael Jackson's estate expects such events as merchandising deals, a tribute concert, a TV special and even a traveling exhibition of memorabilia to net tens of millions of dollars, according to a court filing, Chris Lee reports. Among the deals laid out in a 500-page document made public on Tuesday are proposals for Jackson-branded wine decanters, virtual tattoos and a high-end clothing line. In addition, Columbia Pictures is paying $60 million for the rights to make a feature-length movie out of rehearsal footage for the comeback concerts in London that Jackson was preparing …