Even as the current NHL lockout continues to melt the 2012-13 season, OfficeMax becomes title sponsor of the outdoor Hockey City Classic, which will bring college squads from Notre Dame, Miami, Wisconsin and Minnesota together in Chicago this February.

Procter & Gamble is activating behind its fourth season as an official NFL sponsor with two online campaigns that could send consumers to Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans, one for Tide supported by marketing with singer/TV personality Nick Lachey encouraging visitors to "Show Us Your Colors," the other a broader push with such brands as Gillette, Head & Shoulders and Duracell seeking the best "Fan-cestry."

Chrysler's "Imported From Detroit" campaign debuted during the Super Bowl in 2011 with Eminem. The next phase of the campaign brings him back and references the biopic "8 Mile." An "8 Mile" edition of the Chrysler 200 sedan will mark the movie's 10-year anniversary, according to Olivier Francois, the automaker's chief marketing officer. It's also introducing a 300 Motown sedan that will be tied to Broadway's new show "Motown: The Musical," Francois said in an interview. These are part of a new lineup of what Francois calls "Buzz Packages."

Daily Deals company Groupon Inc. is in the process of choosing a creative agency for an upcoming ad campaign. Geri Robinson, Groupon's head of consumer brand marketing, said the company has sent out an RFP to a number of agencies for a brand campaign. The Chicago-based company hopes to close the deal this quarter. Robinson said the campaign is likely to run the first quarter of 2013.

A survey conducted by market research firm Paradigm Sample says 71% of c-store customers would be willing to pay for items using a mobile payment system on their smartphones and tablets. Said Sima Vasa, president of Paradigm Sample. "C-store shoppers are already comfortable making online purchases, so using their mobile phones as a mobile wallet just doesn't faze them."

Love him, hate him, or maybe chuckle at him all you want, but if personality is a major brand asset in politics, Joe Biden is the real Obama Administration trump card. Biden worked his avuncular special sauce in the VP debates. Political strategist Doug Schoen argues that the Veep was the clear victor. "He was substantive on each issue and authoritative in his answers. To be sure, Biden's grinning throughout was strange and distracting. But Ryan underperformed. He was competent at best and his performance was made up of a series of talking points, not clearly articulated policies."

Microsoft is going to spend more to launch Windows 8 than either presidential candidate will spend. The $1.5 to $1.8 billion campaign to tout the new Live Tiles platform will be the biggest product launch in the history of the industry. Will it work? Multi-title author and Computerworld contributing editor Preston Gralla argues that in the software sector as in cars or coffee makers, buzz, not bucks will cast the final vote. "A marketing campaign may jump-start sales, but over time, the product is what sells itself," he writes. "That means that even more important than the marketing campaign is …

Toyota has the highest loyalty rate of any major automaker, according to a new study - news that suggests the maker might be able to sidestep the impact of another major safety-related recall involving 2.5 million vehicles in the U.S. alone, the largest Toyota has ordered, in fact, since it was forced to repair 14 million vehicles due to unintended acceleration problems in 2009 and '10. During the second quarter of this year, Toyota saw its corporate loyalty - a measure of how many owners trade in for the same brand's newer products - surge to 47.3%. That was up …

Qatar Airways is joining the OneWorld Alliance, becoming the first of the 'big three' Arab carriers to join one of the global pacts and further signaling a shift in how European carriers view their Middle East counterparts. Qatar Airways will fly alongside British Airways, American Airlines, and nine other carriers across the globe that coordinate routes and allow passengers to earn frequent flier miles on each other's flights. The Doha-based airline's implementation into OneWorld is expected to take between 12 and 18 months.

Luke Schneider wants to avoid the "PT Cruiser Lottery" of rental car users hoping to get the least bad of the leftover cars. Schneider is the CEO of upstart rental agency Silvercar, where every car is a silver Audi A4. The start-up got cash from angel investors CrunchFund, SV Angel and others. "We want to do for rental cars what iTunes did for music," he said. Schneider, who came to Silvercar from Zipcar, where he was the CTO, says it's not just about guaranteeing an entry-level luxury sedan. It's about choosing cars packed with the technology to make Silvercar's model …