Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, will step down from the company this fall, according to Microsoft. The executive launched and drove innovation for products such as Xbox and Windows Phone. Don Mattrick, senior vice president for Microsoft's interactive entertainment business, and Andy Lees, senior vice president for the company's mobile communications business, will report to Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer, beginning July 1, the company said

First quarter sales of fashion accessories rose 17% in the first quarter, reports NPD, with sales of women's accessories gaining 20%. Handbag sales were especially strong, with dollar volume up 31% compared to the first quarter of the prior year. And sales of handbags with an average price of $100 were up 46%, evidence that women are tiptoeing back toward higher-end products. The entire accessories category fell 10% in 2009, and the Port Washington, N.Y.-based market research company says the strong first quarter indicates "that consumers are selectively reaching back into the fashion accessories business to begin their return …

Google estimates it generated $54 billion in economic growth in 2009 across the United States. Online advertising for businesses supports the uptick. Google says its search and advertising tools—Google Search, AdWords, AdSense and Google Grants—helps more than a million businesses worldwide create jobs and drive economic development. These businesses range from one-person in-home businesses to those with hundreds of employees. In a report released Tuesday, Google outlines the multibillion impact by state, arriving at the value for each by itemizing search and advertising by spend and clicks, and adding in the number of Google Grants and amount …

General Motors is moving fast to realign agencies, with new head of marketing Joel Ewanick having shifted the $600 million Chevrolet account from Publicis to Omnicom's Goodby, Silverstein and Partners, based in San Francisco. But whither Caddie? Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), in which Publicis holds a 49% stake, won the Cadillac account in January, replacing Boston-based Modernista. A GM insider says that Ewanick, VP of GM's North American marketing, has been having "extensive talks" with Cadillac and with BBH, which handles the $270 million account out of its New York office. "I will say he has talked to them …

"For all the industry's rhetoric about providing consumers with 'choice,' the choices at restaurants mostly range from bad to terrible," asserted CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. "If chain restaurants want to practice corporate responsibility, they should substitute fruits, vegetables, and whole grains for white flour, sugar, salt, and fat."--Karlene Lukovitz

The off- and on-premises promotion, which will run through July 31, kicked off with a 24-hour "pop-up" beach party in New York's Times Square. The event featured 30 tons of sand, ocean sounds, palm trees, volley ball and other games, beach-item giveaways and brand ambassadors.<I>--Karlene Lukovitz</i>

"The way men view fiber is a considerable obstacle for marketers to overcome," sums up Mintel's Molly Heyl-Rushmer. The answer? She believes that employing "macho" spokesmen in advertising to "gently poke fun" at these false beliefs could help fiber-rich food marketers convince men that they're in error about fiber.<I>--Karlene Lukovitz</i>

I wrote a story out today on Genny Light beer. Well, Jason Drewniak, brand manager for Genny Light at North American Breweries has some comments. He points out that Genny Light was launched in 1978 and that the new campaign, featuring the fictive Chet Hammerton character is the first major advertising campaign for Genny Light in over 10 years. Drewniak says the brand needed an advertising idea to connect with the 29 year old male beer drinker and asked Portland, Maine-based VIA Group to create a concept. "We wanted a 360 degree marketing campaign that highlighted a carefree and honest …

Kia and its agency got a lot of good buzz and kudos for last year's "New Way to Roll" campaign for its Kia Soul crossover, positing the world of non-Kia Soul drivers as a Richard Yates-inspired landscape in which everyone else is just spinning on those little metal wheels the rodents get to use as gyms. While driving the Soul may not change that fact (that would require you to do something like move to Costa Rica, or join the French Foreign Legion), the hamsters are back in a new Soul campaign, "This or That," breaking on Wednesday. And …

The Marketing Arm has tapped Eric Holmen for SVP for business development and marketing for the agency's wireless marketing practice area. Holmen, who will be based in Los Angeles will also direct marketing strategy, including brand positioning, for the division. Holmen served for three years as president of SmartReply, a privately-held company based in Irvine, Calif., which designs telephone and email marketing programs for retailers.