What will Hilco Consumer Capital do now that it has iconic music retailer HMV in its hands?

The company, which has previously acquired several other struggling brands like Polaroid, Borders and Linen 'n' Things, recently took over the bankrupt firm, paying off its £176m ($277.45 million) in debt to Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland.

The long-enduring HMV chain has 240 stores in Britain, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong, with about 4,000 employees in all. (In 2011, Hilco took in HMV's Canadian operations.) Its struggles come after Blockbuster, Tower Records and other once-dominant music and video retailers have declined or died off as digital delivery and online ordering continues surged.

Hilco is supported by media companies like Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Universal Music and Warner Music, all of which will likely play a big part in the next step. Retail-Digital.com reports that those companies “have offered to cut the price of DVDs and CDS and are even considering offering the retailer better credit terms.” That could soon mean good deals for consumers.

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Dunkin' Brands CEO says IPO a byproduct of "unbelievable buzz."Continue reading...

American Express is offering its Facebook fans and merchant partners a deal — the first of many — they can't resist.

"Link, Like, Love" is not only a new tab on its FB page, but the cornerstone of new deals-based social initiatives that AmEx is unveiling today.

More than 100 participating merchants are on-board at launch, include H&M, Whole Foods Market, Lord & Taylor, Celebrity Cruises, 20th Century Fox, and Outback Steakhouse.Continue reading...

Viewed nearly 1.5 million times, the above "Ape with AK-47" video is in fact a viral ad for the upcoming 20th Century Fox film Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

The vid, which claims to be from the 20th Century Fox Research Library, was uploaded on the movie's official YouTube channel, and links to an "Apes Will Rise" iTunes app: "Are you smarter than an ape? Challenge yourself with this memory test/iPhone app designed by scientists and tested on apes."

But is featuring Africans handing an ape an AK-47 really the best idea for a viral — let along a major media conglomerate?Continue reading...

The box office for X-Men: First Class, the fourth installment of the franchise (5th if you count Hugh Jackman's star turn in Wolverine), was called, by some, "underwhelming." The movie will inevitably chug on to earn tens of millions, but the results will be seen as a license for those who criticized the fim's lackluster marketing to issue a "told you so."

Last week, we also wondered about the marketing strategy (or lack thereof), including what appeared to be a missed tie-in with the release of classified photos from Area 51, including photos of a sly plane just like the one used in X-Men's 1960s-set film.

But there's another viral tie-in that would have been great, involving the Xavier school and the first X-Men.Continue reading...

Akoo, the world's largest social music television network, recently announced agreements with many of the nation's leading universities. Akoo delivers major label music videos and original programming to 89.6 million monthly consumers in premium out-of-home environments across the US.

This new slew of university partnerships extends Akoo’s reach of interactive video programming to an additional 330,000 college students throughout America. This comparatively small increment – 0.5 percent of total audience base, is a highly desirable demographic – the prime college cohort.

"Akoo social TV has transformed the Morris University Center on our campus," said Director Joseph H. Pearson of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. "We've received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our students, who appreciate the opportunity to choose the entertainment content of their choice on the network.”Continue reading...