The powerhouse Coca-Cola brand will be feted at France's prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2013.

The multinational beverage giant will be recognized with Creative Marketer of the Year Award, formally known as the Advertiser of the Year Award, for innovative marketing across multiple platforms and creativity in brand communications. That the award is no longer called "advertiser" but "creative marketer" tells how far the the industry has come in almost 60 years of Cannes Lions awards — as has Coca-Cola.

“Creativity has been and always will be at the heart of our brands. It fuels our business — with consumers, customers, fans, agencies and partners all over the world,” said Joe Tripodi, EVP and Chief Marketing & Commercial Officer, Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola won its first Cannes Lion award in 1967, and has since garnered more than 100 Lions including a Design Grand Prix in 2008 for the US entry "Coca-Cola Identity" and most recently, the 2012 Outdoor Grand Prix win for China for its Coke Hands outdoor activation (above) by Ogilvy Shanghai.Continue reading...

Remember Google's Agile Creativity Pitch to agencies? It's now amping up its own digital creativity to attract ad agencies to come and play in its Creative Sandbox, an "open platform to surface and celebrate" inspiring new campaigns and digital creative.

The name is no doubt familiar to digital types, as Creative Sandbox was the banner under which Google hosted events, dating back to San Francisco, Chicago in 2008, and more recently popping up as events to inspire creatives in Cannes, New York, London and Shanghai.

Now the party is moving online with the launch of a virtual gallery to share and showcase new creative work .Continue reading...

Miami Heat and LeBron James win NBA title.

Abbott challenges ease of biotech drug copies.

Air France to cut 5,000 jobs.

Benetton takes Cannes award with "Unhate" campaign.

Best Buy tells investors its turnaround plan involves boosting training and services.

CBS plans to launch sports radio network.

Dow Jones plans to take Smart Money magazine to web only.Continue reading...

Apple hires Dixons CEO as new retail chief, while iPad sales propel Apple to top of PC market over HP. Apple patent challenger Samsung, meanwhile, faces EU inquiry.

AT&T names new strategy officer in management shuffle.

Bang & Olufsen debuts cheaper line of high-tech gadgets.

Belstaff brings luxury leather jackets to London and New York with dual flagships.

BSKyB to start movie service rivaling Netflix.

BlackBerry-maker RIM posts corporate governance report indicating why co-CEO role was scrapped.

Carrefour names yet another CEO in turnaround struggle.Continue reading...

Among brand marketers honored at the 2011 Cannes Lions awards, which wrapped up on Sunday, Chrysler won five awards for "Born of Fire," the kick-off to its 2011 "Imported From Detroit" campaign that debuted during the Super Bowl in February.

Featuring Detroit native Eminem, the Chrysler 200 sedan, and the gritty spirit of Motor City, the commercial – and the resulting accolades – were only steps on the way toward the company’s goal of fully defining the Chrysler brand and etching it in the minds of American consumers, according to the brand's marketing head.

“We’re not mainstream or vanilla; there is something special about this brand,” said Melissa Garlick, head of advertising for the Chrysler brand, to brandchannel.Continue reading...

Say goodbye to the remote control fumble. Better yet, don't just say it — show it, too.

Today at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, Microsoft unveiled NUads, short for natural user interface ads, as a way for marketers and advertisers to bake voice and gesture-based response mechanisms into television ads seen by Xbox Kinect users.

The new advertising platform enables consumers to share content on Twitter, "like" and post on Facebook, and interact with branded content on their mobile phones, all in a quest to engage Xbox users more successfully than traditional TV advertising.Continue reading...

For the 1st time ever, MIPTV — taking place this week in Cannes — recognised an international consumer brand for "outstanding contribution to the development and production of brand-related content."

The winner, American Express, was chosen by an international committee made up of leading figures from the production and advertising sectors, including Doug Scott of Ogilvy Entertainment, Ben Silverman of Electus, film director Brett Ratner, and Robert Friedman of @radical.media.

MIPTV said the award recognizes "the growing impact of branded entertainment in the global television industry."

We've been keeping tabs on how Arnold Schwarzenegger is staging his post-politics personal comeback as an entertainer. Today at the MIPTV conference in Cannes, the world's biggest TV marketplace, the former governor of California unveiled his latest incarnation: cartoon superhero.

The press release for Arnold Schwarzenegger's upcoming kids' TV animated series, The Governator, offers this description:

"Who has special 'Speak Sprays' (disguised as breath freshener) that let him speak a foreign language? Who has an electronic 'Fly Spy' with a mini-cam that activates through his ring, and tracks through his 'G Shades'? Who has Bubble Trouble (bubblegum), that splats to form a face mask secret identity. With his 3 amazing teenage cohorts, his underground lair of super vehicles, and his digital super suits, who delivers the ULTIMATE in both comedy and action?"

Forget who. Why?!Continue reading...