Puma considered more than 2,000 ideas and 40-plus packaging prototypes before settling on the Clever Little Bag, which will replace the traditional cardboard box around its shoes this holiday season, but it did it all without conducting a single focus group, CMO Antonio Bertone tells Todd Wasserman. "It's a lot of our own thinking," he says. "You can't go home and teach your kids to recycle if you're not doing it yourself." A couple of analysts Wasserman talks to -- including Princeton Retail Analysis' resident "sneakerologist" Matt Powell -- feel the new bag is a good …

Even as Adidas puts its game face on for the World Cup, CEO Herbert Hainer tells Andria Cheng that turning around Reebok has been the most "exciting" development at the company recently. Not that it has been a sprint to the tape since the takeover in 2006. The product that has really turned things around is the $100 EasyTone walking shoes line, which was introduced in March 2009 with a marketing campaign that promises ""a better butt with every step." The line should sell over five million pairs in the U.S. alone this year -- about $500 million …

Melissa Harris talks to Max Carmona, the man who is overseeing the overhauling of 400 to 500 McDonald's restaurants this year. The senior director for U.S. restaurant design, who started at the company as an intern 22 years ago, says he's not necessarily aiming for a coffee-shop feel, a la Starbucks. The re-designed eateries have a "zone-seating" scheme that can be many things to all people. "So if a customer is coming in [alone], who wants to flip open a laptop and have a cup of coffee, great," he says. "If it's a quick lunch with a couple …

Tourism officials in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida are asking BP to help fund campaigns that will get the word out that their resort areas will be open for business this summer despite the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Michael Bush reports. And Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has sent a letter to BP America president Lamar McKay requesting nearly $35 million to help fund advertising. As reported last week in Marketing Daily, BP committed to $500,000 for a media campaign to counter negative perceptions. A BP spokesman says it will consider all of the requests …

Heinz is reducing the salt content in its ketchup by about 15% -- its first recipe change in 40 years. The company says it has tested the new recipe extensively and believes that it will pass muster with consumers, but Todd Venezia and Jennifer Bain managed to find a couple of seasoned New Yorkers who had a different opinion of the move. "I'm 80 years old, and I haven't died yet," says Joe Oliva of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. "It's really hard for me to eat without salt. I think it's infringing on our rights!" The New …