Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has acknowledged the company will fall short of its 2012 sales goals for its electric battery car, the Nissan Leaf. After a sharp downturn early this year, however, sales of the mass-market electric vehicle took a sharp turn upward last month - and Nissan is expecting to see an even bigger shift in momentum when it opens its all-new U.S. battery car assembly line next month. Nonetheless, "The forecast we have given ourselves for the year will not be reached," Ghosn acknowledged during an interview on Bloomberg Television.

In modern Russian advertising, women have gone from second-class to sex objects. Ads being made in modern Russia look like the ads in he U.S. circa 1970. To see an example (and titillate yourself), check out this gallery. Would the Snicker's ad pass in the U.S.?

Budweiser, Miller and Coors are absent from the AceMetrix list. On top were smaller brewers like Blue Moon and Samuel Adams. Last year, this was not the case. Craft brewers are getting more serious about their advertising campaigns, we're guessing in hopes to make a dent in an industry largely dominated by massive companies. The tops were Blue Moon, Heineken, Jack Daniels, Maker's Mark, and Sam Adams.

Yahoo is apparently very nervous about a new Facebook at ROI program that directly correlates clicks to retail purchases via Denver-based market firm Datalogix. As the marketer's product is sold, the retailer asks the consumer for their email address, phone number, or home address. Facebook happens to have email addresses, home addresses, and phone numbers of a gazillion people, so it can connect the digital dots.

The Eureka, a modern-day Zeppelin that has run tours above the Bay Area, is leaking cash because of the sky-high price of helium. Airship Ventures, which began flying the airship in 2009, will suspend operations and issue refunds to passengers who'd booked flights on the vessel. Unless a sponsor can be found. It costs $5 million to sponsor the vessel for a year, so the CEO is hoping to get area tech giants like Apple, Facebook, Oracle or Google to foot the $5 million bill to keep it aloft. There's a "save Eureka" campaign on Facebook and Twitter.

The next-generation RAV4 crossover is getting a tiger cruise with a teaser image of a more aggressively styled crossover reflecting the new styling direction first signaled with the new Toyota Avalon. The RAV4 has routinely been one of the better sellers in the compact CUV market but it is facing increasing competition from a variety of sources, including the recently redesigned Ford Escape - which migrated from a classic SUV platform to a new car-based "architecture."

The automotive industry is a bellwether for online marketing trends and a study on and effective tactics. Borrell Associates forecasts that by the end of 2012, ad spending - both national and local - will increase 14% to reach $30.8 billion, making the automotive industry one of the biggest media buyers in the nation. More and more of those bucks are digital, with Borrell predicting a 39% increase in online automotive media buys. By the end of the year, the company says, "$0.40 of every auto ad dollar will be spent on digital media." In other words, car companies know …

NPD's quarterly gaming sales report says digital distribution is behind the gaming industry's current momentum. For the months of July through September, digital sales were at $1.4 billion, a 22% increase over the third quarter last year. By contrast, sales of shrink-wraps declined by 16% year-over-year. Physical sales remain in the lead only when the used and rental markets are taken into consideration. A broader look at the video game industry reveals a bit of stagnation, as overall sales have declined by one percent when compared to Q3 2011.

With such products as Court Grip, Power Grip and the EndraCool towel, Mission Athletecare has been gaining traction with athletes and consumers nationwide to the tune of sales doubling every year. But as founder/president Josh Shaw reveals in this Q&A, the company feels that it "dodged a bullet" during last season's NBA lockout and has also experienced great karma because its roster of 20 athletes who are endorser/equity partners have avoided Lance Armstrong-type scandals.

Whisky brand Jameson is running a new First Shot filmmaking contest together with Kevin Spacey and producer Dana Brunetti of Trigger Street Productions, with Willem Dafoe set to star in the winning short film, which will boast Spacey as creative director. Filmmakers in South Africa, Russia and the U.S. need to submit a script inspired by one of three themes - legendary, humorous or very tall tale - of up to seven pages in length on the JamesonFirstShot.com dedicated website by the end of the year. Judges Spacey, Dafoe and Brunetti will be looking for "freshness, originality, good structure, good …