Hotel managers have a new task added to their long list of to-do items, writes Roger Yu: Managing their business' online reputation. Customers are increasingly writing about their experiences and reviewing their treatment on numerous travel websites. Smart managers respond quickly to complaints but there's a long way to go. Yu reports that despite a 203% increase in responses from hotels to negative reviews last year, less than 4% of the pans on TripAdvisor.com, for example, get a response. This is not some fledgling operation with a small user base, by the way. The site has more than …

The "floating malls" also known as cruise ships are seeing an impressive rebound in bookings after an 18-month slump, Kelly Evans reports, but the hard part is yet to come. After offering bargain prices to lure passengers during the stormy economic climate, can operators raise prices now that the skies seem to be clearing? Across-the-board price rises of about 5% took effect at Carnival on Monday and competitor Norwegian Cruise Line says it will raise fares as much as 7% beginning April 2. The Cruise Lines International Association expects 2010 to set a new high for …

Admitting to analysts that last year was not a good one for the PepsiCo North American beverage business she heads up, CEO Indra Nooyi says that it nevertheless learned some lessons and that it won't make the same mistakes in the future, Natalie Zmuda reports. "There were a couple of brand refreshes that didn't work and a couple of agency partners that were misinterpreted or misquoted, and that led to controversy in North American beverages," Nooyi said in an address opening a two-day meeting. Among the gaffes Nooyi cited was the failure to obtain buy-in for changes …

Like many a New Yorker born and raised in Forest Hills, Queens, JetBlue was toying with the idea of moving to sunny Orlando, Fla. But it announced yesterday that it will not only stay in its hometown, it will promote New York tourism on every flight and may even paint Milton Glaser's seminal "I [heart] New York" logo on the side of its planes, Adam Lisberg reports. "We carry the banner of 'New York's Hometown Airline' with pride," says JetBlue CEO Dave Barger. "It was so much more than just the cost side of the equation." Which is …

The powdery salt crystals are shaped and sized in a way that reduces the amount of sodium consumers ingest. Sodium levels will be cut by 25% in Lay's Classic potato chips with no discernable difference in taste, Pepsi believes.

Charles McGrath writes an appreciation of the granddaddy of viral merchandising campaigns based on a kids television show.

Just in time for the unleashing of the Apple iPad upon a digitally overloaded world, Laurie Burkitt and Ken Bruno consult some experts on one of our favorite topics: super-hyped products that have flopped in the marketplace (caution: self-promotion ahead). And despite his magical touch with so many products, Steve Jobs himself hasn't been immune to big-time floppage. Remember the Apple Newton and the MessagePad? He's in good corporate company, of course. Some companies strayed too far from their expertise (General Electric, RCA and Xerox all failed with computers). Others couldn't overtake the market leader, …

Cluck-U, a fried-chicken chain popular with the college crowd around Hoboken, N.J., doesn't depend on a Facebook fan page or Tweets to drive digitally savvy consumers to its storefront. About a quarter of its traffic can be directly attributed to two chickens who stroll down the sidewalk high-fiving passersby and handing out coupons, Cluck-U CEO J.P. Haddad tells Lauren Comiteau. Low-tech marketing is, in fact, thriving because it "cuts through the fragmentation of today's media," says Mark Voysey, co-founder of the Cunning creative agency, which offers "nontraditional" marketing for clients such as Unilever to ZenithOptimedia. Among …

Traffic and sales are way up at Toyota dealerships, thanks to aggressive incentives, Kathy Jackson and Arlena Sawyers report, but the spiffs could damage the traditionally high resale value of the brand. "Incentives fuel sales from bargain shoppers," says Kelley Blue Book analyst James Bell. "But once that audience is satisfied, it remains to be seen how much buyer interest they will see -- no matter how much cash they put on the hood." Some analysts believe that Toyota will find it difficult to return to the high ground through the rest of the year. "The …

Wal-Mart may have gone a bit overboard in the implementation of its "Project Impact" plan which, combined with food deflation, has led to the third straight quarter the store saw negative same-store sales growth. But it has plans to reverse the trend, Sean Gregory reports. When the company reduced the number of brands and package sizes in its grocery section, it suffered two consequences. Some shoppers retreated to neighborhood supermarkets or dollar stores for staples. And the brands that were booted from Walmart shelves decided they had nothing lose by competing with the Bentonville Behemoth on price. …