After pulling back spending in recent years, some Connecticut hospitals are significantly increasing their advertising budgets as they try to compete for market share amid a changing and increasingly competitive health care environment. Connecticut’s 30 acute care hospitals pumped nearly $30 million into advertising spending in fiscal year 2010, an 18% increase from a year earlier, a Hartford Business Journal analysis of industry financial data has found. Hartford Hospital showcased the biggest ad budget, spending $2.9 million in fiscal 2010, a 38% increase from a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing issued to the state’s Office of Health Care …

Marketing of Alaskan products for export has, for the first time in Alaska’s history, topped $5 billion according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The state said its total exports were $4.2 billion for all of 2010, and in 2011 went over $5 billion from January through November, 2011, with the largest annual dollar amount for exports were made by Alaska seafood. Alaska’s seafood exports rose nearly 34% to $2.4 billion. For the first time, China held the top market for Alaska’s 2011 exports.

After the Quikster fiasco and the rate-raising snafu, Netflix has moved Leslie Kilgore, CMO for the last 12 years, to the board as a non-executive director. It has made Jessie Becker interim CMO and Jonathan Friedland, Chief Communications Officer.

Kodak's swan song in sports was an obscure $1 million award to the player who posted the lowest score on 24 holes on 24 different courses on a golf tour. But Kodak was once a giant in sports marketing as well as film. Jim Albright worked for Kodak from 1970 through 1993, spending many of those years on a sports marketing staff that had "around 15" full-time employees. At the link, a retrospective of Kodak's huge history in sports marketing (including losing the LA Olympics to Fuji in 1984.) At one point, when there were nine top-tier Olympic sponsors, three …

Part of Campari's campaign in Oz for Skyy Vodka is to offer lip gloss as a promotional tool. But the make-up product does not appeal to young people, the alcohol industry's advertising complaints panel has determined. Um, really? A research center at Curtin University complained about the promotion, which offered a free Napoleon Perdis lip gloss with each bottle of Skyy Vodka bought from Thirsty Camel Bottleshops, arguing it was a clear attempt to appeal to young women and encourage under-age drinking. But the panel that administers the Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code, an industry-funded voluntary code of conduct for alcohol …

McCormick & Co.'s has traditionally focused on flavor. The 123-year-old company has now shifted to a health focus, saying, with a big TV and print ad spend, that there's antioxidants in them there hills of cinnamon, pepper, and oregano, etc. On the website, it suggests that its products can do everything from reduce inflammation to curb hunger and boost metabolism. Jill Pratt, VP-marketing for consumer products said the company "found a way to make [some meals] a little bit healthier by amping up the antioxidants in them," she said. McCormick has 49% share of the $169 million U.S. pepper market …

Detroit News film critic Tom Long poses an interesting question: If a film screens in the Rockies, will anyone see it? The 2012 Sundance Film Festival starts today. Long points out that the festival, started by Robert Redford, has introduced top directors and actors over the past two decades, but leaves serious doubt about the impact the indie film world is having on theaters these days. "Virtually all of last year's Sundance 'hits' bombed when it came to the general marketplace," he writes. "The tense 'Martha Marcy May Marlene,' which was supposed to make Elizabeth Olsen a star, eeked out …

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. appointed Kristen Blum EVP and CTO. Blum, who will report to chief operating officer Michael Kramer, will be responsible for the retailer’s jcp.com business and information technology systems. “The transformation underway at J.C. Penney relies heavily on having the best performing, most effective technology to support our critical business functions and enhance our shopping experience,” Kramer said. Blum has been Apple Inc.’s director of supply chain solutions and international retail, as well as Abercrombie & Fitch Co.’s SVP and chief information officer. Most recently, she held that role at PepsiCo.

NASCAR has 40 sponsors including Coors List, Craftsman Tools, Coca-Cola, Old Spice, Camping World and Bank of America. This year, TV viewership for its races is up 17%, and there has been a 33%-plus increase in attendance. In this Q&A, Norris Scott, VP of partnership marketing for NASCAR, says intellectual property is still the main benefit of NASCAR sponsorship, "But partners want hospitality, and retail marketing,  as well as event marketing, online promotions and B-to-B. Without a doubt the majority of our partners are asking to see those in their official partnerships with us. We’re addressing these needs with …

Pernod Ricard UK has appointed Patrick Venning to oversee the marketing strategies for its spirits brands in the UK. Venning, who was previously head of marketing, replaces Vlastimil Spelda, who has taken a senior role with Pernod Ricard in Paris. The drinks maker, which earns about 75% of its revenue in the UK from premium spirits, previously announced that it wanted to “premiumise” the category. Part of Venning’s task will be to persuade UK consumers to spend more on its premium brands, such as Chivas Regal and Jameson.