The rights to the White Cloud brand name, which originated at Procter & Gamble before becoming a Wal-Mart private label, are up for sale for uses besides paper products in the U.S. Since Wal-Mart still sells the brand's training pants, baby wipes and toilet paper, a sale could result in a situation where three different parties own the trademark, Jack Neff reports. The rights for diapers and other paper products are also available for some countries. White Cloud Marketing, originally known as Paper Partners, acquired the White Cloud trademark in 1996, three years after P&G discontinued what …

Kris, a Pinot Grigio from Italy, is launching its first marketing campaign in the U.S. with a sweepstakes offering the newest scooter from Vespa -- the S50 -- as the prize. It's reportedly the fastest scooter on the road. This marks the first marketing effort for the brand and includes life-size P-O-P displays as well as wraps, neck hangers and a Web site, Patricia Odell reports. Kris, the No. 1 super premium Pinot Grigio in the $10 to $15 range, "has grown quickly with minimal marketing support," says brand manager Adam Welch. "We wanted to reach out to more …

Tom Libby, the president of the Society of Automotive Analysts, argues that for all its vaunted reputation for customer satisfaction, the Saturn brand has never been able to capture "substantial" market share. That makes him question whether offering customers an unrivaled customer experience might have limited potential in U.S. Asians automakers, with a 48.3% share of the market, have never excelled in customer satisfaction as a group, at least in the non-luxury arena. And the No. 1 brand, Toyota, is a laggard in many measures. "While a superior customer experience may be paramount for a segment of the buying …

Microsoft's push to paint Apple's computers as pricey is starting to work, according to data from BrandIndex, particularly among consumers aged 18 to 34. The "Laptop Hunters" campaign, which launched in late March, features several people shopping for a laptop. If they find what they want for less than $1,000, Microsoft pays for the computer. "Apple had a pretty big advantage, historically, when we look at our data," says Ted Marzilli, global managing director for BrandIndex at consumer polling service YouGov. They made Microsoft products look "old, stodgy, complicated to use and unhip." But Marzilli says that Microsoft's offensive has …

A YouTube video that playfully mocks Cleveland and ends with the line "At least we're not Detroit!" doesn't have tourism officials of either area upset, Jennifer Youssef reports. "Videos like this are produced for the humor value," says George Zimmermann, vp of Travel Michigan, the state's tourism marketing agency. "... It's not going to have much impact." But Louis Aguilar reports in another story that the city's image is also taking a big hit internationally from the parade of reporters covering the troubles of the Big Three automakers. "They trot alongside homeless people or laid-off …

Dan Neil, as always, offers a tongue-in-cheek perspective on the salient marketing issues of the day. In re the "Families for ED Advertising Decency Act" (H.R. 2175), he writes: "Even though I am a raging liberal atheist appalled by Americans' obsessive-phobic complex over sexual matters, I am also the father of two little girls. I would really prefer not to have to explain the erection-lasting-more-than-four-hours thing to them while we're watching NASCAR." Here's a stat I hadn't seen before: ED drug manufacturers spent $313.4 million on measured media last year, according to TNS Media …