Macy's says it is kicking off its holiday ad campaign with a new animated TV spot, featuring Virginia, the animated little girl in its holiday "Believe" campaign. While that's hardly news—the nostalgic campaign is now in its third year—what is remarkable this season is a retailer pushing brand image over price. Kohl's, for instance, just launched a holiday campaign themed, "Give, save and be merry," and JC Penney's website is currently promoting big sales and early door busters. And even higher end stores are hyping deals: Nordstrom already has its "Holiday Free Shipping" offers up, and even Neiman Marcus …

Marriott International's Renaissance Hotels is launching RLife Live, an arts program aimed at helping guests as well as locals discover "hidden gems" in culture and entertainment. The program encompasses music, culinary arts and design through hotel-branded entertainment during on-property experiences. First up is music, with the hotel chain hosting an eclectic fleet of emerging artists at various Renaissance Hotels throughout 2010 and into 2011. Marketing for the program include social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Besides hearing the music, the RLife Live program gives hotel guests a chance to engage with musical talent on-site at the …

The American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's) has named Julius L. Dunn II Industry Liaison to the High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media, a public high school in New York City dedicated to advertising, design and media. He replaces Joseph Carlucci who recently retired, and will be responsible for developing and instituting curriculum for the academic and career competencies required of students to become competitive candidates in the advertising and media fields. Dunn recently completed a long-term project as an artist/advertising and design instructor for the non-profit Caldera Arts Program.

One campaign, for New World Pasta's Ronzoni Healthy Harvest whole-grain pasta, is themed "Healthy Ha!," and encourages consumers to engage in two heart-healthy activities:  laughing and eating the whole grain/high fiber/Omega-3-enriched pasta brand.  The digital campaign employs animated online banners showing a person having a hearty laugh and asking "What's So Funny?" to drive click-throughs to a microsite offering cartoons and an app enabling users to caption cartoons themselves.   A second New World campaign, for a new Quick Cook Pasta marketed under several brands, spans digital and traditional media and uses the headline "3 Minutes to Dinner" along with an …

Chevrolet today launches a new ad push for its Silverado Heavy Duty pickup truck that looks under the hood and plays with the competition. The campaign lionizes the truck's Duramax Diesel engine and Allison transmission with two characters named "Max" and "Al." The centerpiece of the campaign, which is by Campbell-Ewald, is MaxandAl.com, a digital "man cave" for "Max" (Patrick Warburton from Seinfeld, and Rules of Engagement, and "Al" (Craig Robinson fromThe Office, Last Comic Standing). The redoubt has a pet bull, stone fireplace, firemen poles and the Silverado HD. The site focuses on the truck's fully-boxed frame, durability, …

Despite stronger performances from such as Macy's, Nordstrom, and Saks, retailers posted generally sleepy sales numbers for October. Kantar Retail reports that same-store sales softened to 1.7% in October—weaker than the 2.8% same-store sales gain last month, and even somewhat below the 2.3% advance last October. And the International Council of Shopping Centers, which tracks a different group of stores, says its index registered a 1.6% comparable-store increase. One exception was in the swanky sector, with experts speculating that stronger financial markets may be inspiring a few more trips to the mall. Sales at Neiman Marcus climbed 11.5%, while …

Electronic Arts is working with Dr. Pepper to create Dr. Pepper Football, an interactive computer came that pits Dr. Pepper against Dr. Dr. Pepper on a customized field. Players, who can access the game for download to their computers through a special promotion codes found on specially marked bottles and cups, can outfit their teams with specially designed uniforms and use additional codes to access hidden content, such as custom playbooks and mini-games. "EA is excited to partner with a forward-leaning marketer like Dr Pepper who is developing compelling new content for our consumers," said Elizabeth Harz, senior …

Grappling with product content and marketing approaches in the face of growing consumer concerns about obesity and other chronic health problems will continue to be one of the biggest issues affecting global food and beverage makers' product development and marketing strategies in 2011, according to a new, category-spanning CPG trends analysis by Mintel. This is far from news to U.S. food and beverage manufactures and grocery retailers, who are developing their own new front-of-package nutrition label system for a launch early next year.  However, Mintel defines one of its 12 key CPG trends in terms of decisions about "quiet" …

United Airlines has unveiled "The Oprah Winfrey Show" farewell season plane. The Boeing 757 aircraft is newly painted with imagery from the TV show.  The interior also has been redecorated and passengers will be greeted by a special onboard video welcome from  Oprah Winfrey. At a send-off event at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, customers will hear a special message from Oprah Winfrey before boarding the flight. One passenger will win enough United Mileage Plus miles for a trip around the world. Each customer on the inaugural flight also will receive monogrammed "Oprah 25" fleece blanket.  In conjunction …

Consumer electronics retail giant Best Buy has consolidated its media planning and buying at Publicis' Starcom unit, as part of an "integrated partnership" with sister digital shop Razorfish and multicultural unit Tapestry. In a statement, the company said the consolidation was designed to "increase the efficiency and effectiveness" of its media, and supports its "objective to drive an integrated marketing model."