The first batch of T-Mobile's myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition handset, which is based on a partnership with the famed guitar maker and has been given a promotional boost by Eric Clapton, sold out in three weeks. The company was figuring on three months, Denny Marie Post, svp and CMO of T-Mobile, tells Todd Wasserman in a Q&A. Not surprisingly, the handset appealed to an older consumer, 35-plus. "It skewed to a more sophisticated upscale audience than we typically see," Post says, even while cautioning that one cannot go back to the limited-edition well too often. …

Tags dangling from the waistbands of the trousers in L.A.'s trendy American Rag Cie boutique show prices as high as $200. But they aren't the creation of the latest hot designer. They're Dockers from Levi Strauss & Co., Adam Tschorn reports. Dockers, whose managers admit that the brand lost its way somewhere between the '90s and now, is on the offensive again. And what better outfit to wear to battle than khakis? Among the new lines is the K-1 Khaki Collection, which copies the style of an actual WWII U.S. Army-issue trouser, using a heavy-duty cotton twill called …

Nielsen's Bases unit found last year that in-store marketing beats TV as the leading medium to create awareness of new packaged goods in the U.S. and five other key developed markets. Because of the growing importance of in-store marketing, Procter & Gamble is incorporating design into its brand-building function under the group headed by Global Brand-Building Officer Marc Pritchard. "We now are brand-building from the eyes of the consumer toward us," says P&G Global Design Officer Phil Duncan. "We've always believed the consumer should be boss, but we had an organization that was a little function-specific." In …

Ann Zimmerman has the story behind the story of why the next Barbie will not only be an anchorwoman but also will be a computer engineer. Offered the opportunity to vote online for architect, anchorwoman, computer engineer, environmentalist or surgeon, girls overwhelmingly chose a Barbie in the image of Couric, Sawyer and Curry. But when female computer engineers got wind of the competition ... let's just say it was a game changer. Society of Women Engineers president Nora Lin hopes the doll will inspire girls to become engineers; the organization alerted its 20,000 members about the election …

AT&T hopes to change direction in an ambitious new rebranding campaign, "Rethink Possible," that positions it as a lifestyle company and leaves the recent nasty battle with Verizon over network capabilities behind it, Kunur Patel reports. Also, a new logo design will replace the orange coloring on retail locations and packaging with more colors and the AT&T globe will appear without the copy "AT&T." "It's not going to be the old model, that there's brand work and then there's consumer work or enterprise work; it's all 'Rethink Possible,'" says senior vp-brand marketing and advertising Esther Lee. "All of …

Toyota has toughed its approach to critics in recent weeks, including the implementation of SMART units -- Swift Market Analysis and Research Team -- that quickly examine reports of equipment malfunctions. They have been successful in discrediting several high profiles cases, but the effort has backfired in at least one instance. SMART is part of a much broader public relations and legal strategy Toyota is using to confront critics, Ralph Vartabedian and Ken Bensinger report. Critics warn that they are playing with fire. "It is a very aggressive and misleading campaign," says Clarence Ditlow, executive director …

Kmart CMO Mark Snyder chats with Elaine Wong about the company's popular layaway program, its increasing focus on "value" and the Everyday Great Price program, its heightened effort to attract teens to its aisles, some new products, social media marketing and other forthcoming initiatives in a far-reaching Q&A. Jaclyn Smith is celebrating her 25th year with the retailer with a new line this spring; Selena Gomez is launching an exclusive line; Jones Apparel Group's GLO line recently hit stores, and there are also new items from Joe Boxer and Top Light. Snyder says that apparel is a "huge" category …

Wal-Mart is cutting the price on about 10,000 items -- mostly food and other staples -- by an unspecified amount. While some analysts suggest that a recent slump in sales might be attributed to the company having difficulty retaining the middle-class shoppers it gained during the peak of the recession, Miguel Bustillo and Timothy W. Martin report, the company says that's neither the case nor the reason for the current reductions. Company executives say sales dropped because of a general decline in food and electronics prices. They also feel that the economic downturn still has legs, and that consumers …