Since, per Kmart, more public schools are requiring uniforms and others are now adopting a year-round school calendar, the retailer has adjusted its approach to back-to-school by increasing the number of stores that sell uniforms and aligning its back-to-school sales periods by region to match that of the local school districts. Andy Stein, interim chief marketing officer Kmart said the focus will be on markets like Chicago and New York, plus online. He said stores will shift the back-to-school sales periods in markets like California and Hawaii.

As the men's hoops team continues to strive for a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Games, partners such as Burger King, Jeep, Right Guard, Gatorade, Nike and 24 Hour Fitness have supported with the most intense efforts in USA Basketball history. That could have a major impact on the NBA's future marketing plans, including the real possibility of ads on uniforms in 2013. Q&A with Aaron Ryan, NBA global marketing and partnerships.

Back to school? How about back to the gridiron, with the NFL ramping up excitement in the coming season with a multi-media effort that includes Serena Williams, Eli Manning and a jaunt with New York Road Runners through Central Park prior to the Giants-Dallas Cowboys 2012 opener.

Durex is the "official" condom of the Olympics - and organizers want to get to the bottom of how a bucket of rogue condoms reached the Olympic Village. Olympian Caroline Buchanan, a BMX rider from Australia, posted a photo of a bucketful of "Kangaroo condoms" (tagline: "for the gland downunder"), in what might have been seen an innocent homage to her homeland. Olympics organizers weren't amused.

BP, author of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, has seen negative perceptions of its brand reversed during the first part of the Olympics, according to a survey conducted by YouGov BrandIndex. BP saw its numbers go from a negative 5.9 in the week prior to the Olympics to a positive 2.6 during the first week of the games. Only Visa saw its brand perception rise more during the time period, according to the research.

Citroen has unveiled what it claims is the UK's first crowd-sourced car in the shape of the C1 Connexion, whose specs were determined from the 24,000 configurations posted by consumers on the car brand's Facebook page. On launching the crowd-sourcing app back in April, Citroen said the C1 Connexion would be a car "created for the Facebook generation, by the Facebook generation."

General Motors is counting on its first micro-compact for the U.S. having street cred to bring in young buyers. The cool-looking matchbox car is going initially to 18 major North American cities, though it has been a hit for three years in Europe and Asia, where fuel prices and congestion make micros ideal. Columnist Doug Guthrie mulls whether the car will be as popular here, where Scion's IQ and Smart ForTwo have struggled. On the plus side, he points out that Fiat's 500 has done very well.

A 7-Eleven franchise location in Monsey, N.Y., became the first convenience store in the country to offer a kosher hot dog. The c-store added a second roller grill that was blessed by local Rabbi Zushe Blech. The store is in the heart of Monsey's Orthodox Jewish community. The 7-Eleven franchise also offers a special condiment bar with toppings including hummus and sauerkraut that are separate from the roller grill.

Chrysler is teaming up with Sprint to upgrade the maker's Uconnect infotainment system, adding embedded features that will turn the vehicle into a "hot spot on wheels." The U.S. automaker was one of the first to offer telematics technology but, in recent years, slipped behind competitors such as Ford with its popular Sync technology. The new Uconnect system will add a variety of features, including voice-operated texting and the ability to connect a laptop computer or smartphone to the vehicle's built-in WiFi hotspot.

The Walt Disney Co. posted a huge second quarter, with profits up 24% from big movies. Net income was $1.83 billion. The quarter saw Disney score several box office hits, including "The Avengers," which set a new opening-weekend record of $200.3 million.