The blurb for this story on Brandweek's homepage is certainly eye-catching: "Brand goes after (mostly young) consumers who are too indolent to do their laundry." Any brand targeting the indolent is a swashbuckling brand indeed. With the tagline "Swash it out," the products -- a wrinkle remover spray, odor eliminator, stain-erase pen and moist dryer sheet that removes smells and wrinkles -- is more properly going after "young professionals and college students" who want to refresh and remove wrinkles from "previously worn" clothing without actually washing them. It is only available online (Amazon and Drugstore.com). P&G is …

After a year of weathering the recession, major package-goods marketers such as Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Kimberly-Clark, Energizer and Unilever are getting ready to unleash a flurry of new products and innovations, Jack Neff reports, although retailers say that they haven't noticed much movement to date. But Nielsen's Bases CFO Brian West has said that more clients are spending their market-research dollars in the new product area and Schawk, a pre-press and package design service, is also is seeing signs of a turnaround. One area to watch is the diaper war between P&G and Kimberly-Clark, whose CMO, …

After four years as Phil Knight's hand-picked successor as CEO of Nike, Mark Parker is turning the brand into one that "follows you off the field into your life of digital socializing and New World hobbies," Bruce Horovitz writes, and the 37-year-old marketer is "at its ornery, nose-thumbing best and competing in all kinds of new arenas." Parker has added the Umbro scoccer label to the company's portfolio, increased product customization options and made Nike.com an industry-leading etailer. Bucking industry sales trends, the company increased its market share by nearly 1% in 2008, and is gaining again this year, …

Wal-Mart will feature branded shops inside select stores around the world that will offer exclusive FIFA World Cup licensed products, as part of a deal announced yesterday by the retailer and FIFA's exclusive worldwide master licensee, Global Brands Group. Wal-Mart also will host special events leading up to the 2010 games. "This is a unique opportunity for us to leverage our global scale, bringing the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa experience to Walmart stores for our local customers," said John Aden, svp of Wal-Mart International. All of the World Cup branded merchandise -- from hats and bags, …

Hoping to extend its brand and leverage its status a preeminent chronicler of pop culture, Rolling Stone magazine will open a chic restaurant and night club in Hollywood next summer, Roger Vincent reports. The magazine is partnering with veteran club operator Niall Donnelly and his partner, real estate developer Joe Altounian, to build an establishment that will appeal to both tourists and young Hollywood celebrities. "The food will be higher-end than Hard Rock," says Donnelly. "The venue itself will be for higher-end audiences." According to Rolling Stone publisher William Schenck, "it seemed logical and organic to …

Several major airlines maintain unpublished programs that, in some cases, operate as de facto "top tiers" to existing frequent-flier plans, Laura Bly reports. And they are very tight-lipped about them, although the new George Clooney movie, "Up in the Air," promises to shine a little light on them. In this clip, actress Vera Farmiga, upon seeing that Clooney is a member of American Airlines' ConciergeKey program, says, "Oh, my God, I wasn't sure this actually existed." The programs are generally available only to fliers who pay upwards of $50,000 a year on full-fare tickets -- …