Brand Channel
Chivas Regal's The Venture-an international contest open to social entrepreneurs using their business as a force for good-recently announced the winners. With $1 million to allocate, five finalists were selected to pitch in front of a live audience and a jury that included actress Eva Longoria and Pernod Ricard chairman and CEO Alexandre Ricard.
Knowledge@Wharton
Amazon's self-created sales holiday on July 12 - Prime Day - set records for the two-year old event, and offered cues to longer-term shifts in retailing trends. Amazon's success with Prime Day is a testament to the stickiness of its customers, whose growing numbers reveal the huge distance rival Walmart has to cover, according to experts.
NYSportsJournalism.com
For the ninth consecutive year, Coca-Cola has been named the 'most powerful brand' in the U.S., topping a list of 100 companies that include Hershey (No. 2), Disney (No. 4), Apple (No. 5), and Microsoft (No. 6), according to Tenet Partners. Coke retains the lead position thanks in part to Selina Gomez, who has been a key spokesperson for the brand.
USA Today
Southwest Airlines flights were being disrupted across the nation and the company's website was down Wednesday because of "technical systems" issues. Southwest confirmed the issue, saying that it "began experiencing intermittent performance issues earlier this afternoon with multiple technology systems as a result of an outage."
Mobile Marketing Watch
Jack in the Box is now harnessing the power of virtual reality to engage with patrons in an immersive new way. Executives at the fast food restaurant said they wanted to think outside the box when it came to promoting its new Jack's Brewhouse Bacon Burger. So the fast food giant produced a short VR film giving patrons "an immersive experience."
Paste Magazine
Little in this world is outside the influence of the almighty dollar. The Olympic Games, for all the International Olympic Committee's high falutin' rhetoric around the purity of sport, are no exception. In order to provide some clarity on how the image of the games can be used for profit, the IOC has attached a bylaw to Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter.
Brand Channel
Living the life of luxury has become a bit more difficult around the world-and luxury brands are feeling the pain. Swiss watchmaker Swatch, which creates higher-end timepieces from its Tissot and Omega brands, is the latest to take the hit. Its shares fell off a cliff after CEO Nick Hayek let it be known that earnings in the first half of the year were down 50% to 60%.
Complex
PacSun's quest to attract every cool teen in the universe and ensnare their allowances in the process continues with a campaign starring two teen icons. The new campaign for PacSun denim features "the Internet's coolest teenager" Luka Sabbat and Kate Moss' little sister Lottie.
Supermarket News
Stew Leonard's took to Twitter to invite soda drinkers to cast their "straw" poll vote for Hillary Hooch or Trump Tonic. The premium, old-fashioned soda is locally produced by Avery's Soda of New Britain, Conn.
Variety
Paramount has named Google executive Rebecca Mall as co-president of domestic marketing and launched its first-ever brand strategy division. The hiring is part of a restructuring of the studio's marketing operations that includes six other new hires and promotions. Paramount has been attempting ramp up the number of movies it releases.