While Walmart still leads Target in price advantage, according to Kantar Retail's semi-annual pricing study, its lead has narrowed. Importantly, Target's edible basket was within cents of Walmart's. "Though bolstered by TPCs, Target's ability to match Walmart's pricing in a department where Walmart has focused its price leadership efforts is most impressive," said Robin Sherk, director of retail insights for Kantar Retail and leading contributor to the study.

Performance Marketing Brands has appointed Mark Moran as SVP marketing and distribution. Most recently, Moran served as the CMO for Invino, a private-sale wine site in the US. Performance Marketing brands include Ebates, FatWallet and Pushpins.

During an earnings conference call, Six Flags Entertainment CEO James Reid-Anderson said its 14-story Texas Giant roller coaster from which a woman fell to her death Friday will stay closed. The company also reported a 34% drop in net income. Six Flag officials said they've seen no significant impact on attendance at its 16 U.S. theme parks so far.

An alliance between Under Armour and Warner Bros.-DC (Comics) Entertainment has produced a line of Alter Ego apparel and footwear designed to make athletes and consumers feel heroic as they embark or continue on their quest to improve themselves physically and mentally, which Under Armour will support with NFL and other related marketing.

LinkedIn is giving companies the ability to place their marketing content into users' feeds, in a move that expands the site's revenue opportunities. LinkedIn, which is traditionally known as a social networking site for professionals, has been testing the program over the past six months with companies like Nissan, Xerox and Adobe.

Chevrolet is whipping up candy colors for its smallest cars, Sonic and Spark. Sonic will be offered in Deep Magenta Metallic, which looks like it might taste like grape gum. That's a risk, though the company has done it before. About one-third of our Sonic buyers say a cool paint job is an "extremely important" factor in their decision. Chevy is being just as creative when it comes to its smaller car, Spark. Out went Inferno Orange and in came Techno Pink.

The NHL and the NHL Players Association reached an agreement with the IOC and International Ice Hockey Federation that enables players to participate in the Sochi Games next year, setting up a potential ratings and marketing situation that during the 2010 Games in Vancouver helped drive the NHL to new fan appreciation heights.

Nutrition information may not keep customers from super sizing. A new study of McDonald's patron's food-purchasing behavior finds that providing information about recommended calorie intake coupled with posted calorie information not only doesn't reduce calorie intake, there is some evidence that such recommendations may promote purchase of higher-calorie items. The study, "Supplementing Menu Labeling With Calorie Recommendations to Test for Facilitation Effects," has been published online in the American Public Health Association's American Journal of Public Health.

Who is Dan Akerson, head of one of the biggest auto companies on Earth, worried about? One of the tiniest: Tesla. That's because the electric luxury-car maker has the potential to be a disruptive force. Akerson has, in fact, lined up a small team to study billionaire industrialist Elon Musk's upstart electric-car maker and how it might threaten the 104-year-old automaker's business, Steve Girsky, GM vice chairman, said during an interview at Bloomberg headquarters in New York.

With Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce now alongside Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez as part of owner Mikhail Prokhorov's $180 million roster, the Brooklyn Nets are aiming for three things: Becoming No. 1 in a hoops town dominated by the Knicks, dethroning the two-time defending NBA champion Miami Heat and building the team's global brand.