Martin Lindstrom is holding forth on "non-conscious behavior" and the impact of sounds on what we buy in an ongoing series of reports by Wayne Cabot today. Click on the URL above and go to "Sound Marketing" to listen. The most addictive sound? That of a laughing baby, says Lindstrom, who claims there's a "land grab" afoot to take generic sounds and convert them into branded sounds.

Toyota wants to regain most of the market share it has lost in the U.S. during past two months within 2010, according to Don Esmond, svp of Toyota's U.S. sales unit. Its target is as high as 16.7% of new-car deliveries -- the same as 2008 and slightly lower than last year. "The brand got tarnished," Esmond tells Jeff Green. "But I don't think it rusted the armor all the way through." Toyota expects to finish a campaign next month that will reassure the U.S. sales force about the company's outlook. Meanwhile, …

BOLTgroup's brand principal Jamey Boiter, who has been involved in strategic development and design management for many top brands, blogs that logos seem to be melding together into a homogenized mess that seems to be inspired by Walmart's Great Value label. One key reason for this is the pressure retailers are bringing on manufacturers to differentiate their brands inside their stores, so that they don't look the same in one chain as they do in another. "If brands fold to this pressure, they become diluted and change what they really stand for," Boiter writes. He concludes …

Meredith Vaughan, president of the Vladimir Jones agency somewhere in Colorado, says that her agency now hires people who will champion the core values of the brand -- in this case, "soulful, eclectic, focused, smart, fearless and curious" -- and suggests that other companies should do the same. Conventional metrics such as experience, qualifications and education have gone the way of the grey suit, pumps or rep tie, it seems. "For us, a candidate's passion for or natural propensity toward our six brand attributes indicates they'll fit in with our culture, help amplify our brand …

There seems to be a freebie fad going on, writes Eve Tahmincioglu, among companies trying to entice consumers with deals that can't be beat. Starbucks has been giving away free music downloads; Auntie Anne's has offered free pretzels; book publishers are giving away free eBooks on Amazon; and some restaurants, including Denny's, have ongoing kids-eat-free programs. About.com's Freebies channel guide Stacy Fisher says she has seen a threefold increase in giveaways over the past six months or so. "You may not try the new crackers that come out," she points out, "but if you try them for free …

The Walt Disney movie studio is retreating from a strategy of producing and marketing one-off comedies, Ethan Smith reports, to focus on films that can be branded across its network of theme parks, videogames and commercial products. One example, sources familiar with the plan say, is an upcoming Muppets movie. Disney also bought Marvel Entertainment last August, giving it a stable of 5,000 comic-book characters -- including Captain America, Spider-Man and Iron Man -- to exploit. New studio chairman Rich Ross wants to remake the studio into an ecosystem of three well-known divisions -- Pixar, Marvel and Disney Studios …