Who knows where this leaves Hyundai, but its Korean sibling, Kia, has been steadily moving up-market and plans to enter the luxury segment with two or more all-new models by 2017. Among the models now under development are the K9 and K7 Cadenza, according to company sources and additional reports in the Korea Times. Kia has traditionally focused on more down-market segments than Hyundai, the latter entering the mid-luxury segment in 2007 with the launch of the Genesis in 2007 - and followed up with the premium luxury Equus last year.

The son of film legend Humphrey Bogart is suing British fashion brand Burberry for allegedly using a photograph of the star illegally to promote its coats. In what is being hailed as a landmark case, Stephen Bogart - the son of the late star and Lauren Bacall - filed a lawsuit again Burberry at Los Angeles Superior Court last month. He claims the company used an image of his father from the 1942 movie "Casablanca" to plug its products on social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter.

Unilever's Hellmann's Mayonnaise brand is launching its "Real Tastes Better" marketing campaign with two dozen videos shot at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colo. They will be online as part of a campaign by the company to switch to cage-free eggs by 2020. Said Brian Orlando, senior marketing director for Hellmann's in the United States, "It's bringing the real side of an exclusive event to the growing number of food lovers."

An alien spaceship hovers over a dusty, recession-hit Spanish town and is confronted by a young man looking up: "Now that we're down in the dumps, you think you can conquer us?" It's an ad for Mahou beer. And it is typical of new TV commercials in the struggling nation that aren't afraid to talk about the situation there. The new trend in advertising is meant to appeal to Spanish values of friendship, family, and proud resistance. Carlos Murillo, head of the Mahou account at Spanish advertising agency Sra Rushmore, said the aim was to lift viewers' spirits. "It is …

Brand building is about establishing a person-to-person relationship as opposed to a salesperson-to-customer relationship, and tough conditions test the brand management skills of a manager more than anything else. That's true just about anywhere, including India, where Raghu B. Viswanath is managing director of Vertebrand Management Consulting. He talks about the challenges of branding, what works and what doesn't in that nation.

This isn't technically a marketing brief, but idiots making laws repealing motorcycle helmet requirements will have the ultimate effect of hurting motorcycle sales because doctors will become more vocal about the dangers of riding. Here's one Detroit emergency room doctor (quoted by Paul Eisenstein): "We call it the organ donor enhancement act. We've always had a shortage of donors but expect to see the numbers go way up." Michigan has joined states like Florida in repealing the mandatory helmet law. A new report by the independent investigative website FairWarning.org finds that the no-helmet-law trend is, indeed, causing a significant increase …

Taco Bell is debuting a more refined Cantina Bell menu, via a partnership with chef Lorena Garcia that launches nationwide July 5. The expanded menu, with suggested prices under $5, also comes with a guarantee: Taco Bell will replace it if a consumer doesn't like it. Garcia, who was featured on NBC's "America's Next Great Restaurant" and will appear on the new season of Bravo's "Top Chef Masters" on July 25, worked with Taco Bell beginning in October 2010 to create the menu. It includes things like whole black beans, cilantro rice, all-white-meat chicken in a citrus and herb marinade, …

Can Elie Khouri stack up to George Clooney for pitching the Swiss Nespresso machine? While this article is about more than the over-caffeinated predilections of the Dubai-based CEO of Omnicom Media Group in the Middle East and North Africa, he does comment on the fact that he favors the Swiss rather than Italian espresso experience. "I'm surprised that a Swiss brand like Nespresso managed to conquer the world of coffee, as did an American brand like Starbucks. It's amazing, and it tells you the power of marketing," says Khouri. "That's what we do."

Disney has banned junk-food advertising during children's programming. But it also wants to brand "health food" with a Mickey Mouse label. The Monitor editorial argues that "the glass slipper doesn't quite fit." The writer got the opinion of Josh Golin, associate director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. "We think teaching kids to eat based on characters is counter productive," he said, although he wanted me to make clear that he believed Disney's overall announcement was positive, in large part because it shows that junk-food marketing has become stigmatized.

Soccer is still about goals, penalty kicks, yellow cards and blood, sweat and tears. But as Chris Schlosser, GM of MLS Digital, explains in this Q&A, what's also driving fan interest and marketing growth are iPhones, iPads, Roku, YouTube Kick TV, Twitter, Facebook, ExtraTime Radio podcasts, Adidas' miCoach Speed_Cell data tracker and MLS Live. "The growth in metrics we have seen has been incredible. This year alone, visits to our Web site are up 40%, mobile is up 200%, and fans are accessing more and more of our content across our system." Schlosser also quoted a recent ESPN poll showing …