Eighty-seven percent of brand managers surveyed by the Pivot Conference plan to run a Twitter campaign in the next 12 months. Twitter's Promoted Accounts designed to lift a brand's number of followers is driving the trend. Twitter's other major platform, Promoted Trends, costs $120,000 per day for an exclusive global reach. The report also said Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Foursquare are benefiting from the social media spending plans of 230 brand managers in attendance at the May event. Ninety-eight percent of respondents said they'd run Facebook ads in the coming year; 81% plan to advertise on YouTube; and 65% …

The Gap last year opened a design office in a former cigar factory in downtown Los Angeles. Now the company is making the city part of the global marketing effort. The effort touts 1969 Jeans and, the 5,400-square-foot design office on West Pico Boulevard. The "1969: L.A. and Beyond" campaign shows the loft space and has vignettes filmed inside the studio and around L.A.

Higher gasoline prices caused a decline in consumer traffic to convenience stores in the second quarter, according to the NPD Group. The firm's Convenience Store Monitor says convenience store traffic declined by 4% compared to same quarter year ago. The firm tracks purchasing behavior by 51,000 c-store shoppers in the United States. Traffic declines were steeper for major oil and small independent chains, down 7%, vs. traditional convenience stores where traffic was down 1%. But sales improved by 2% due to an increase in the average check, as well as growing purchase incidence in some key categories.

Price Chopper stores in Schenectady, N.Y., are trying something new for the category and, at least on the surface, a little paradoxical. They are letting six local farmers hold markets at 14 Price Chopper locations there starting this weekend and ending the first weekend of September, according to the company's Facebook page. The announcement directs readers to the company's official blog, as well as its locally grown products page for news and updates regarding the promotion.

This may well be the iPad for worried parents who gave the car keys to the kid. General Motors says parents will be able to track, in real-time, the location of their teenage drivers under a pilot program by OnStar. The program lets parents monitor the location of others by logging on to a GM website to view a map with the vehicle's exact location at any time or by getting text messages and email alerts. The company presumably will not be touting this to teens.

The Coburg Cow, a rotating bovine on a suburban highway in Charleston, S.C., opened in 1959, and will remain at its post despite a name change by the dairy it advertised. In July, Coburg Dairy LLC, which employs about 220 people, became the Borden Dairy Company of South Carolina as part of Borden's product relaunch in six southeastern states. "We have no plans to disturb the Coburg Cow," said general manager Ed Medors. "In fact, we're trying to arrange a meeting between her and our iconic brand, Elsie." Elsie, a real cow, has been part of Borden's advertising …

A new venture, Travel Center Partners, Inc., plans to open more than 50 independent c-stores and do an IPO on NASDAQ. Travel Center Partners, which will be a subsidiary of a holding company, will purchase and manage independent c-stores in the Southeast.

North Bergen, N.J.-based Vitamin Shoppe is on track to open 48 stores this fiscal year. The chain opened its 500th store in April. Vitamin Shoppe reported income up 64% to $11.6 million in the quarter.

When Honest Tea wanted to expand its base from natural foods into the general market, the company chose a branding overhaul. The company, now fully owned by Coca-Cola, created a tag line: "Nature Got It Right. We Put It in a Bottle." In the D.C. region, a leading area for marketing, advertising and public relations specialists, companies seeking government cash, groups seeking to influence Washington power and stay relevant to members, and even government agencies are doing what Honest Tea did. The D.C. Water and Sewer Authority, for example, seeking to recover from the lead contamination controversy from …

Honda Motor has made a much faster recovery from the business effects of the March earthquake and tsunami with an unexpected quarterly profit, and raised its annual outlook by more than a third, recovering from a parts shortage. The company reported a 90% fall in quarterly operating profit on Monday after having suffered the biggest production drop by any Japan-based carmaker.