• Maybe That 'Butt Cam' Viral Video Wasn't So Low-Tech After All
    It looked like a video a couple of college girls in L.A. just kind of threw on like a pair of Levi's. Actually, it was a deliberate viral video thrown on the web BY Levi's. The "Real View Girl" video in which a pair of girls visit different parts of the city with a camera strapped to the butt of one of the callipygian collegians, was not an examination of men's examinations of women's behinds, but a subtle pitch for form-fitting jeans. Very subtle: you only see the jeans once, and a Levi's sign appears briefly at one point in …
  • Chico's Lifts Marketing Spend
    Women's specialty chain Chico's FAS increased marketing spend by $4.4 million in fiscal Q4 of 2010, with e-marketing initiatives the main focus across the company's three brands -- Chico's, White House/Black Market and Soma Intimates. Overall full-year sales increased 11% year-over-year.
  • 7-Eleven Taps Harris Corp. For TV Ad Network
    Harris Corp. has snagged a $75 million deal to help 7-Eleven with its HD TV ad network for its 6,200 stores. Harris, based in Melbourne, Fla., will handle the electronic backbone of 7-Eleven TV, which serves product ads, entertainment, news, weather, sports and other information to customers in 7-Eleven stores.
  • It's Not What Your Brand Is For, But What It's Against
    StrawberryFrog's Scott Goodson argues that thinking about brand identity less in terms of what it embraces and more in terms of what it rebels against may create fresh ideas. He says his agency's work on a smart car headed toward the tried and true -- and mundane -- set of platitudes about all the wonderful things a smart car represents. But, he says, "By defining instead what smart is against -- over-consumption, excess, thoughtless behavior -- we began to craft a statement with more of an edge."
  • FTC Checking Into Apple's Marketing In-App Purchases To Kids
    With stories circulating about kids toting up thousands of dollars in bills for apps they download from iTunes to mobile devices, the Federal Trade Commish is looking into how Apple markets to kids to promote games for products like iPhone and iPad that can be downloaded from iTunes. "Companies shouldn't be able to use Smurfs and snowflakes and zoos as online ATMs pulling money from the pockets of unsuspecting parents," said U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) in a letter to the FTC.
  • CK One Launches First Global Ad Push
    A complex partnership of Phillips-Van Heusen Corp's Calvin Klein, Coty Prestige's Calvin Klein Fragrances, and Warnaco's Calvin Klein Underwear is bowing a global push for CK One. The effort bows March 1 online and in print, mobile and out-of-home. The campaign will be the largest digital initiative in the company's history. The global hub will be www.ckone.com, and interactive and digital consumer-content will be central to the push, with the cast of the campaign -- including singers, models, songwriters, and artists -- posing questions that consumers can answer. Consumers will also be encouraged to participate in the genesis …
  • Dealers Stacking Sandbags In Preparation For Higher Gas Prices
    Auto dealers see gasoline prices heading up because of the political maelstrom in the Middle East, and are saying they will adjust their vehicle mix to weather that storm when it hits again: they say they will stock more small cars and fuel-efficient crossovers. Currently, the average national gas price is in the neighborhood of $3.20, which is 54 cents above what it was last year. But in trading yesterday, West Texas Intermediate was within spitting distance of $100 a barrel. "We'll change the mix of products that we offer," said one dealer, John Pitre, the general manager …
  • The USOC Signs Ameritrade For 2012 Summer Games
    TD Ameritrade Holding will be the first USOC partner in the online broker category. As part of the deal, TD Ameritrade will sponsor the U.S. Olympic team for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which includes a presence on NBC broadcasts of the Games. The USOC says the deal is the first marketing and media collaboration between NBC Olympics and the USOC.
  • TripAdvisor Gets New CMO
    TripAdvisor.com, a travel website, has hired Barbara Messing as its CMO. Messing will lead global marketing, CRM, SEM, traffic acquisition, mobile partnerships, brand development and PR. Messing was previously VP and general manager of Hotwire's Travel Ticker.
  • Ford's Turn At Recall
    Ford said it will recall 150,000 F-150 pickup trucks to fix air bags that could inflate without warning. The recall affects 2005 and 2006 model year trucks. The recall is much smaller than what the government had asked for: 1.3 million F-150's built encompassing the 2004 to 2006 model years.
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