New research from IPG Media Lab and YuMe shows the smartphone and other media are driving ad avoidance. The study says 94% of TV and 73% of online video viewers use some type of companion/distraction media. Laptops, video games, crossword puzzles and physical mail and musical instruments all count as distractions. However, the smartphone proved to be the most disruptive. The smartphone accounted for 60% of TV and 46% of online video distractions.

Jacobs Media's "Marketing to Men," a survey of over 13,000 adult radio listeners, finds that for big purchases, 59.1% of men consider themselves either the sole or key decision-maker in the household versus 55.7% of women. For items under $500, 69.2% of men said they were the sole or key decision-makers, versus 72.4% of women.

Kia Motors has signed a deal making the automaker official partner of the Major League Soccer Team the New York Red Bulls. This is the latest in a long roster of deals for the Irvine, Calif., automaker. The Hyundai Motor division is also partner with the NBA, and does programs with the LPGA, motorsports and the NHL.

British spirits holding company Diageo is in talks to buy family-owned Jose Cuervo tequila, according to a source. Rumors have swirled about such a deal with the top-selling tequila brand internationally. Diageo already distributes the brand, which is overseen by current Beckmann family scion Jose Beckmann Vidal.

Black flight from advertising in the 1970s has a lot to do with why the makeup of ad agencies -- and the advertising itself -- is so much whiter than the U.S., said former ad man Eugene Morris, who left a white ad agency 40 years ago to join an African-American ad firm. "When I first came into the business, if I had projected 40 years into the future, I would never have described the current situation, where African-Americans are still in the single digits in all these agencies," he said. The issue is at the fore now since a …

Nestle launched BabyNes this week. The milk dispenser uses a system that is technically similar to the company's Nespresso coffee maker. But instead of coffee, it uses infant formula capsules. The company said the machine and the capsules are on sale in the Swiss market with a global rollout to be determined by their popularity there. Martin Grieder, head of advanced nutrition systems at Nestle, called it "a game changer in the infant formula category. It's very simple, very intuitive, hygienic and of optimum safety."

Virgin CEO Richard Branson set the tone for Virgin America's challenge to competitors when he dressed as a prizefighter named "Bruiser Branson" for a press event launching the carrier's service from O'Hare International to San Francisco and Los Angeles: Branson is "calling all bums," to borrow from Muhammad Ali. It seems the Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson of the domestic carrier world have taken notice. United this week said it was launching double award mileage for its Mileage Plus members in Illinois or California who book nonstop United and Continental flights between Chicago and San Francisco or Chicago and LA. …

Richard Branson said he's in talks with up to three suitors for Virgin Atlantic Airways, Ltd. The high-flying Virgin CEO says a deal should be on paper next quarter. Branson has hired Deutsche Bank AG to assess the international carrier's options in the wake of a cross-pond alliance between British Airways and American Airlines. Branson said he's not sure yet whether an alliance would include a sell-down of his 51% stake in the company he founded in 1984.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne could have broken into song -- the Gershwins' "They All Laughed," to be specific -- during a media presentation at Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Detroit this week. The Chrysler CEO, who said the company has paid the U.S. and Canada back their $7.5 billion loan to keep the automaker afloat, noted that critics said it couldn't be done. He said that, in spite of those who placed "a death sentence on our company," the Auburn Hills, Mich., partner of Fiat SpA has proven its mettle. The repayment comes six years earlier than required under the …

Procter & Gamble's digital marketing director, Lucas Watson, is heading to Silicon Valley to be VP sales and marketing for YouTube and video. Watson led the Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" video push last year. He had been ready to pack his bags for Panama, where he was to direct marketing for P&G's Latin America business. Google is looking to make its video channel more appealing to consumer brands like the world's biggest ad spender, P&G, which still puts most of its ad budget on TV. Since Watson took the reins of digital at P&G …