General Motors' new production facility in Detroit is designed with cost savings in mind -- it's half the size of a traditional plant -- to make subcompact cars. Because such cars are so cheap and profits so slim, it hadn't made sense to build them here. General Motors is hoping to change that with the new Chevrolet Sonic. The car, with a base price of around $14,000, is the automaker's new entry in a region of the market for which it had supplied the Korea-made Aveo until now. The Sonic, going on sale this fall, is also expected …

Nokia's global rebranding effort is tied to the launch of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7. Nokia will reportedly roll out the six-month campaign in October in conjunction with the release of its first Windows Phone device. The new phone is the first from Nokia that doesn't use the Symbian operating system.

A European court ruled that online marketplaces can be held responsible for the infringement of trademarks on counterfeit goods they promote, following a series of cases brought by L'Oreal to defend its brand. That means eBay and others may be liable for trademark infringements if they are involved in promoting counterfeit goods, ruled the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. L'Oreal is challenging eBay to clarify the obligations of Internet marketplaces under EU law. L'Oreal claims eBay is liable for the sale on its website of counterfeit goods and of "parallel imports" -- L'Oreal-branded products not …

Old Speckled Hen ale has used a fox in past advertising. The fox will return on UK television channel Dave as part of the brand's campaign to sustain its position as UK's biggest-selling ale. The new fox is a nod to the old fox character from advertising campaigns in the 1980s and '90s. The ads will air on July 15. Comedian Simon Evans, who has recently appeared on BBC1's Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, will lend his vocal talents to the advertisements.

Former Mets baseball player Darryl Strawberry was part of the "One Shot At A Million" festivities commemorating Duane Reade's 50th anniversary. The event had the winner of Duane Reade's 50th anniversary contest choosing 1-of-50 bags, one of which contains a check for $1 million and the other 49 a check for $5,000.

Israel's kosher cell phone market has a new model with a Yiddish interface meant to help devout Jews navigate a Talmudic passage between technology and tradition. Last month, Israel's second-largest mobile provider, Partner, introduced what it hailed as the world's first Yiddish cell phone, manufactured by Alcatel-Lucent. Israeli Accel Telecom imports and distributes mobile phones to all Israeli operators. The company had a special team of translators work for months to develop an interface entirely in Yiddish. There are 400,000 users in Israel and another 500,000 in the United States. Kosher cell phones have no …

"Avatar" was just the first of a long list of great 3D movies. Not. People aren't hot for 3D TVs. Panasonic's marketing director, Andrew Denham, blames Hollywood, saying if the studios could actually make good movies sales would be stronger. "Hollywood damaged 3D by rushing so many badly converted films out in 'Avatar''s wake," Denham said at the recent Intellect Consumer Electronics 2011 show. "What we need now is the next level, the next 'Avatar.' And that's a big ask, I think." But an April NPD Group report says prices of 3D TVs and the need to …

Nigel Hollis, chief global analyst at Millward Brown and author of The Global Brand, reflects upon the general fixation with iPhones, iPods, and iPads, noting that agency and marketing executives have apotheosized Apple for its coolness and the loyalty of its adherents. "But," he says, "these same branding experts who work so hard to duplicate Apple's success in their own work often miss the real source of Apple's success." And marketers extol the brand for emotive benefits like design, imagery in ads, and the cachet. "This glosses over the product's most important trait: functionality. Using an Apple product feels …

Remember when you were a kid, those toys that let you "dress" 2D mannequins with clothes and accessories? Online retailer Zappos has a new advertising campaign featuring naked models doing things like jogging, hailing a cab and playing Frisbee in public. New ads will let viewers "dress" the naked models with products from the Zappos Web site. AOR Mullen's previous Zappos campaign comprised TV ads featuring felt puppets whose voices were provided by real customer service calls. The new effort is mostly digital with videos and QR codes.

Maxwell House has popped up a coffee shop in Toronto called the Optimism Café. The free café has limited hours and is only open for July. "We want to raise the level of optimism, that the cup is half full," said Rena Nickerson, senior brand manager of Maxwell House for Kraft Canada. Special events are planned, from musicians to a book signing by Neil Pasricha, author of The Book of Awesome. NHL star Corey Perry poured coffee and signed autographs last week.