Target is rolling out eight humorous TV ads that play on high-end fashion. The campaign, created by ad agency Mono, includes radio ads and short digital movies posted online. Target could not be reached for comment. A message on Mono's website said the company could yet display its work for Target because the ads had not yet launched. According to the article, one ad will feature exploding boxes of cake mix and a model crushing an egg, with the whispered voiceover, "Dominate that PTA bake sale."

Many businesses near NHL venues are very happy the collective bargaining standoff is over. Chicago businesses are no different. The lockout has hurt establishments in the vicinity of the City's United Center, where the Blackhawks play. One venue, Palace Grill, lost at least $75,000 over the past few months, owner George Lemperis said. Despite the damage, businesses are grateful that a partial hockey season will be salvaged. "Any time there's an extra 20,000 people down the street, that's good for everyone," said Matt Doherty, general manager at WestEnd Bar.

Barnes & Noble posted a decline in retail sales in the holiday season as the largest U.S. bookstore chain's e-book efforts to take on Apple's iPad with tablet-style Nooks didn't take. Sales from stores and the website fell 11% to $1.2 billion, the New York-based company said Thursday. Revenue at the Nook unit, which includes devices, accessories and content, fell 13% to $311 million.

Pizza Hut today launches a social media contest whose winners will star in a commercial that will run before the Super Bowl kickoff. In the contest, of which there could be as many as five winners, the company asks fans to submit very short videos of their best, silliest or most creative recitation of the words every quarterback shouts - "Hut. Hut. Hut." In other words, simulate the start of a football play, but with creative zeal.

Agencies are walking on thin ice in the auto world if present circumstances are an indication of where things are heading. Marty Bernstein writes in his "Marketing Minutia" column that there were more major ad agency appointments last year than ever before with "many unplanned career changes and relocations for creatives, media and suits at every level." He notes that creative for most auto campaigns, commercials and ads no matter the medium was "dull, boring, bland, insipid, stupid, uninteresting, over-produced or silly."

Remember the Swagger Wagon? It was Toyota's campaign for the Sienna minivan that borrowed its visual cues from that Snoop Dogg/Pharrell "Snoooooooop" video. Now Fiat may be borrowing from Sienna. Well, it seems that way. To tout the Fiat 500Ls in the UK, the company has "The Motherhood," which features a nice, blonde British mother rapping. The video has gotten around 2 million views. See for yourself. "Park it while it's hot."

BlackBerry has a new handset for BlackBerry but it's not the highly anticipated 10, but another 7.1 model. The phone is bound for T-Mobile for only $50 with a two-year contract. The problem is that the new phone is going to be completely upstaged by the next-generation products adherents are really waiting for. The company will hold a big unveiling event on Jan. 30 in New York.

Despite solid sales trends at Family Dollar during the company's first quarter ended Nov. 24, margins contracted and profits were less than expected. The company reported earnings per share of 69 cents that were at the low end of the company's guidance range of 69 cents to 78 cents and well below analysts' consensus forecast of 75 cents.

7-Eleven Inc. continued its expansion in Texas with the acquisition of 143 Speedy Stop and Tigermarket retail sites from C. L. Thomas Inc. of Victoria, Texas. The acquisition, which closed on Dec. 31, increases 7-Eleven's footprint in San Antonio, where the country's largest convenience retailer recently purchased 25 stores as part of its acquisition from TETCO Inc. It also adds to 7-Eleven's growing fuel wholesale-delivery business because the acquisition includes gasoline distribution to approximately 150 dealer-operated sites.

Reaching influencers and getting them to talk about you via social media, mobile and content creation platforms is getting bigger by the minute. It is one of the fastest-growing social marketing practices. Among the six key influencer marketing trends coming in 2013: earned media will rival paid and owned; data will drive content creation; B2B will go social, and niche content will give way to crossover content. To see them all and get insights, read away and tell your friends.