Consumerist
Check out the sandwich KFC is selling in the Philippines. KFC's new "Streetwise" burger looks like a normal chicken burger, but the melted cheese is...on top of the bun? This makes eating it difficult. The Streetwise Cheese Top burger is featured on KFC Philippines' Facebook page. The actual patty is Original Recipe chicken with a garlic parmesan sauce, according to KFC. Is it called Streetwise because that's where it will end up if one tries to eat it sans knife and fork?
Marketing Week
People who watch TV while using an internet-connected device such as a smartphone or tablet are more likely not to change the channel during the ad break because they are able to "act on what they see immediately," a new study reveals. More than three-quarters of viewers (81%) are more likely to stay in the room during an ad break or not change the channel if they are multi-screening, according to an independent study for Thinkbox by COG Research, compared to 72% of viewers who stay for the ads but do not use an internet-connected device.
Detroit Bureau
Automobiles and suburbs, in an M.C. Escher-like way, created each other. But the rapid urbanization of America, led by Millennials, may erase the car. Newly released U.S. census data show that, for the first time in a century, cities are growing faster than surrounding suburbs. And that, tied to other demographic and psychographic trends, could pose potentially serious challenges to automakers desperately seeking further growth. It doesn't help that Millennials are also less enamored of cars than previous generations.
Quick Serve Magazine
Starbucks division Seattle's Best Coffee is bringing its commuter-centric concept menu to Brooklyn with a new franchise location. Franchisee Eddie Shamah will open the doors of the new Seattle's Best Coffee location near the new Barclays Center near downtown. The concept menu, which debuted as a test in Chicago in March, adds commuter-friendly sandwiches and snacks to its coffee lineup.
Supermarket News
Fast-growing nontraditional grocery-retailing formats such as limited-assortment banners and natural and organic specialists, combined with a handful of high-performing traditional supermarket banners, have helped slow the industry's market-share losses to the warehouse and supercenter formats in recent years, according to an analysis of government sales data by Northbrook, Ill.-based DSR Marketing Systems. The total grocery market grew 14% to $645 billion between 2007 and 2011. And while supermarkets lost share as a group during that time, the rate of decline slowed as the "growth formats" and some traditional chains like Publix Super Markets and Kroger made up for the declines …
Supermarket News
Fast-growing nontraditional grocery-retailing formats such as limited-assortment banners and natural and organic specialists, combined with a handful of high-performing traditional supermarket banners, have helped slow the industry's market-share losses to the warehouse and supercenter formats in recent years, according to an analysis of government sales data by Northbrook, Ill.-based DSR Marketing Systems. The total grocery market grew 14% to $645 billion between 2007 and 2011. And while supermarkets lost share as a group during that time, the rate of decline slowed as the "growth formats" and some traditional chains like Publix Super Markets and Kroger made up for the declines …
Reuters
Bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc. will resume using its brand name in public in a move to recognize the company's turnaround, Chief Executive Bob Benmosche said on Thursday. AIG, which received $182 billion in government bailouts during the financial crisis, has all but shunned its own name for years.
NYSportsJournalism.com
The Miami Heat, led by LeBron James, won the 2011-12 NBA title, but Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers holds the crown of best-selling jersey on the planet.
Convenience Store News
Six years ago Home Depot waded into the c-store business, which was a big worry for c-store operators who saw Home Depot's new concept potentially devouring traditional filling station store business. The idea was 300 Home Depot Fuel convenience stores by 2010, with an expected $5 million to $7 million annually in revenue per site. But The Home Depot Inc. operates just six Home Depot Fuel convenience and fuel stores. All the Home Depot Fuel sites, which are in Tennessee and Georgia, are in Home Depot parking lots. Said Stephen Holmes, the chain's spokesperson, "Although we're pleased with the way …
Brand-e.biz
Lego has teamed up with Google In Australia to launch Build, an app that lets users build with Lego bricks in their Chrome browsers. Build resides on the BuildWithChrome website where visitors get to see a map of the Antipodes (Britain's traditional term for Oz.) Then users have to stake a claim on a piece of digital estate to build upon - the first user to choose a site and start building gets the rights to it. "Right now, Build is an experiment we've been working on in Sydney," says Lockey McGrath, product marketing manager, Google Australia and New Zealand. …