Speaking of wild-hair ideas, Joshua Green writes that the Grateful Dead's influence on business practices may be one of the most enduring aspects of its legacy. "Without intending to -- while intending, in fact, to do just the opposite -- the band pioneered ideas and practices that were subsequently embraced by corporate America," he points out. The Dead cultivated "customer value," nurtured its loyal fans, promoted social networking, engaged in strategic business planning and built an enduring brand. It also long ago spawned a booming field of endeavor for academics ranging from ethnomusicologists to sociologists to …

There's niche marketing, and then there's Procter & Gamble's Prilosec OTC, which now aspires to be the "Official Sponsor of Everything." Jack Neff reports that the brand is looking for micro-sponsorships of its consumers and their passions, from sheltering stray pets to entering motorcycle races. Initially, it would like to do about 1,000 deals for about $1,000 each. "We were talking about ideas and said, 'We sponsor NASCAR, we sponsor all these other things, why don't we sponsor our consumers?,'" says brand manager Robert Cleveland. "It was just a wild-hair idea is how it started, but over time it …

Burger King will try to make peace with its bottom-line oriented franchisees by replacing its $1 double cheeseburger deal with a different sandwich that contains one less slice of cheese, Elaine Walker reports. In another move to improve profit margins, it will also begin testing a higher price for the Whopper Jr., raising its cost by nine to 19 cents from $1. "For Burger King, it's about finding a combination of new menu items that scream value to the consumer," says Telsey Advisory Group analyst Tom Forte. "And for the franchisees, it's about having other items …

Fox NFL analyst Howie Long has been cut from the new advertising for Chevrolet's Malibu, Equinox and Traverse models, Noreen O'Leary reports, as General Motors and new agency Publicis tie the re-launched car models to the people who use them. All the imagery in the 30-second spots that have broken during the Winter Olympics alternates between human stories such as a stylish young woman rescuing a friend from a bad date and close-ups of vehicle details. Two other ads have family themes. There is no unifying tagline. "We invite consumers into people's lives and the instrumental …

Campbell Soup is announcing changes to its condensed soup labels and shelf displays today that it hopes will better enable shoppers to connect to the brand "on a deeper level," Ilan Brat reports, and concomitantly boost sales. The changes are based on a two-year neuromarketing study in which researchers analyzed changes in consumers' skin moisture, heart rate and other biometrics as they viewed pictures of bowls of soup, logos and other gustatory stimuli. For years, Campbell's researchers asked consumers whether they remembered an ad and whether it made them more likely to buy a product. But an analysis …