Bradford Wernle reports that Chrysler Group's new dealer council likes the ads it got a sneak peek at in Orlando last week after the National Automobile Dealers Association convention. They reportedly focus more on selling cars and less on brand building. "The current stuff we're running now is good," says Eric Nielsen, newly elected chairman of the Chrysler National Dealer Council whose dealerships are in New Jersey. "I think it gets better with the stuff dealers were shown in Orlando." Wernle writes that the dealers are adjusting other things besides a new management team that's devoted …

New Balance is releasing an original 15- to 30-second film on the Web every day for a year that explores the theme of balance and is intended to entertain consumers rather than hit them over the head with a brand message, Todd Wasserman reports. Banner ads, and possibly print, will support the effort. The company has also released an iPhone app that features an alarm clock that plays a different sound each day. "Our intent is to engage the consumer," says Steve Gardner, strategic business unit manager for New Balance's …

Energizer Holdings will introduce a new shaving system, the Schick Hydro, in April -- a two-month head start on Gillette's Fusion ProGlide that Procter & Gamble announced last week. The new shaving battlefield is comfort rather that blade count, Ellen Byron reports. "We saw significant opportunity to make the shave experience more comfortable," say Energizer CEO Ward Klein. "Hydro goes beyond just removing hair; it actually cares for your skin." The Hydro uses "blade guards" to reduce irritation, has aloe-infused lubrication and sports a flip-top trimmer to groom facial hair. A five-blade version will carry as much …

Wanting to see if social media is all it's cracked up to be for marketing a business, Rice University associate professor Utpal M. Dholakia and restaurant consultant Emily Durham set up a Facebook page for a popular Houston-based bakery and café chain, Dessert Gallery (DG). Three months after the site's launch, they surveyed both customers who had become fans and some who had not, analyzed the data sets separately and concluded that Facebook changed customer behavior for the better. People who had become fans spent about the same amount of money per visit, but they made 36% more …

Media-shy Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify before a Congressional panel next Wednesday after some hemming and hawing in Tokyo about whether it was a good idea, is likely to undergo an intense regimen of preparation sessions in order to deliver a message that will resonate with consumers, investors, employees and lawmakers, Chisa Fujioka reports. "They will probably have an international law firm come in with a foreign lawyer and ask him possible questions in English, to test if he can understand them and answer them properly," says Kuniyoshi Shirai, executive adviser at ACE Consulting. "Content will …