The National Football League is announcing a multi-year sponsorship deal with Procter & Gamble today that will allow it to put an "Official Locker Room Product of the NFL" label on products including Old Spice deodorant, Febreze deodorizer and Head & Shoulders shampoo, Suzanne Vranica and Matthew Futterman report. The deal is the costliest in P&G's history, the company says. "The days of the sporting leagues just looking to the beer and financial-services companies for sponsorship money is over," says Greg Luckman, president of the sports and entertainment marketing arm of WPP's GroupM. The deal has been in …

Hey, it's August.

This is really a story about improving production processes, but the result of making everything more efficient is that baristas have more time "to interact with customers and improve the Starbucks experience."

Telling excerpts from the Q&A: WWD: Do you love lingerie? J.S.: Of course, I love lingerie. What girl doesn't? ... WWD: What lingerie styles do you wear for every day and when you dress up? J.S.: I like to be comfortable and feel good. I wear whatever my mood calls for.

In-store sampling not only boosts day-of-event sales, it can also drive long-term sales and cast a halo over the entire brand portfolio, Kenneth Hein reports. The "Report on In-store Sampling Effectiveness" conducted by Knowledge Networks-PDI on behalf of PromoWorks finds that sampling programs result in a 475% sales increase on the day of the event compared to non-sampled households. And those who sample an item are 11% more likely to purchase it again within 20 weeks and 6% more likely to buy another item from the brand franchise. "It's always been understood to a certain degree that there is …

"You've got to take the good with the bad," a camp counselor of mine used to say, and that seems to be what ex-marketing execs turned entrepreneurs are learning, if two separate stories in the Journal this morning be our guide. In the first, Dawn Fallik introduces us to Jim Barbour, a marketing and drama major at the University of North Carolina who had careers in sales and marketing at Sony Music, GlaxoSmithKline and some friends' furniture store before his inner chef grabbed him by the gullet. FunniBonz, a sweet and tangy barbeque sauce, was the result. …

Pepsi followers are wondering if there's a larger message in the resignation of Dave Burwick -- a widely respected, two-decade veteran of the company -- as CMO of the North American division, Laurie Burkitt reports. Some say he's taking a hit for his boss, PepsiCo Americas Beverages CEO Massimo d'Amore, who reportedly has designs on the PepsiCo CEO job but thus far has seen mixed results from the drastic rebuilding efforts taken on behalf of brands such as Pepsi, Gatorade, Tropicana and Mountain Dew. Former Victoria's Secret CMO Jill Beraud replaced Burwick. D'Amore has to be hoping …

It costs between $100,000 and $200,000 to raise a child to age 18 nowadays -- that's before college tuition kicks in -- according to Wes Combs of the marketing firm Witeck-Combs Communications. No wonder, then, that marketers are targeting DINKs -- Dual Income, No Kids -- who presumably put that extra discretionary spending power towards the gimcracks and geegaws that fuel the consumer economy, Jeremy Hobson reports. Childless gay and lesbian couples are, of course, a stereotypical target, and Combs' data indicates why. According to a survey he conducted recently, 62% of gays plan to maintain or increase their travel …

The funniest ad from 1965 to now among 37 finalists, according to a panel of six ad industry experts and a comedy-club owner, is a 2003 spot for IKEA by Crispin Porter + Bogusky in which a woman touches her new lamp, Meanwhile, an old lamp sags and droops outside in the rain as melancholy music plays, Laurie Burkitt reports. A voiceover, thick with Scandinavian accent says: "Many of you feel bad for this lamp. That is because you're crazy. It has no feelings. And the new one is much better." One of the famous Fed Ex spots featuring …

While we're talking about the American pastime, Jenn Abelson points out that the revelation that David "Big Papi" Ortiz tested positive for "performance-enhancing" drugs several years ago is likely to affect his moonlighting as a spokesjock for brands such as Reebok, JetBlue, and Glaceau -- an activity for which he has reportedly earned about $4.5 million over the years. "The success or failure of any brand is trust, and David Ortiz has broken this bond of trust," says John Fisher, who runs a sports marketing consultancy in Boston. Fisher points out that fans are likely to be more forgiving …