Coca-Cola has spent plenty of bucks on making iconic ads in the past, but its latest 60-second spot is coming from a low-priced source—a fan of the brand—while the company just revealed a trio of new cans designed by global creative director Marc Jacobs. The details on the latest moves in the cola wars:Continue reading...

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...

At the start of the year, the folks at Nike and a few of its star athletes it supports made a very big deal about the new FuelBand, a digital wristband that keeps track of every piece of data you could possibly imagine while you’re working out. Since then, Nike has added the ability to “keep track of the sights they've visited while out for a jog or a bike ride and share said moments / achievements with their mates,” according to Engadget.com.

FuelBand also is getting some love for its latest campaign, while landing Nike and W+K a Grand Prix at the recent Cannes Lions ad festival for its digital efforts to launch and make FuelBand a must-have item. 

Now collectors and fans will be falling over themselves to get their hands on the latest iteration of FuelBand — the limited-edition Ice Fuelband model, shown at top, which Serena Williams debuted at Wimbledon and launches July 27th in London (just in time for Olympics fever), San Francisco and New York at select retail locations, and on Aug. 12th at nikestore.com — marking the first new colorway since the original FuelBand debuted in January.Continue reading...

Two months after pulling its paid ads from Facebook, General Motors is "in talks" to return to the site as a paid advertiser in return for access to "better data," according to the Wall Street Journal (which broke the original story of the pull-out on May 15th). GM CEO Dan Akerson and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg have spoken about the issues — GM's desire for better measurement and analytics to gauge the effectiveness of any paid Facebook advertising — that led to the falling out, WSJ reports.

GM's chief marketing officer Joel Ewanick and Facebook's global ad sales head Carolyn Everson reportedly met for the first time at the recent Cannes advertising festival to discuss what would bring the automaker back to the table, the Journal heard from a source. At that meeting, "Everson said Facebook is willing to provide GM with better data on how their ads can turn into dollars, as it has agreed to do with other advertisers, this person said. Facebook won't provide any special treatment for GM, however."

Whether or not GM can take credit for getting Facebook to improve its metrics and reporting (or receives any "special treatment," cheaper ad rates or additional data), it's certainly good news for other marketers feeling a similar need for more granular data in the never-ending quest to "prove" the ROI of paid Facebook advertising.Continue reading...

Facebook is starting to migrate its "sponsored stories" (user-generated ads) onto other websites, starting with that of social game behemoth Zynga, in order to expand its marketing reach. And in another telling move, the social media giant is backing away from its philanthropic Credits program — launched with high hopes in 2009 as the virtual currency for the social network.

They're the latest steps by a social giant struggling to shore up its revenue model. The site's new partnership with Unilever on Waterworks, a cause marketing app that lets users donate online credits while revealing key ad targeting data, signals how Facebook is evolving its commerce platform in order to boost F-commerce opportunities.Continue reading...

Motown icon Smokey Robinson, social media savvy celeb activist? That's right, the iconic crooner known for hits such as I Heard it Through the Grapevine this week launched Smoke Alarm, described as a “a social media-based emergency broadcast system for causes.” 

Robinson is asking people to “Donate your social media feeds and help sound the alarm when projects need attention.” In partnership with ad agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky and David Clark, the idea is to create "Cause Swarm" as people contribute to specific causes activated by hitting "send" on a "Smoke Alarm" from his Robinson’s already active Twitter account, @Smokey_Robinson.

"I want to promote the basic idea that all people should have equal access to simple things like food, water and medicine. My inspiration comes from icons of equality I have known over the years, like Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Robinson. "In this digital age, we have the tools to level the playing field for those in need, so I'm calling on my friends and fans to lend their voices to mine, so we can collectively make a difference."Continue reading...

As Facebook stock continues to live below initial expectations after the company's IPO, investors and marketers keep parsing the zeitgeist for signs of whether Facebook is gaining momentum — or losing it — in one important area that will determine the shares' future value and the ultimate fate of the company: paid advertising.

Three more big-time marketers have weighed in on that topic: Ford and Coca-Cola indicated this week that they intend to expand their use of the social network in advertising, while a Dannon USA executive told brandchannel that the yogurt giant isn't persuaded that Facebook advertising is a great idea.

Coca-Cola CMO Joe Tripodi commented at the Cannes Lions ad conference this week that Facebook ads probably drive its beverage sales. "If we can get 40-million-plus fans, or even some subset of them, talking positively about the things we're doing, ultimately that's a good thing for us," he said, according to The Wall Street Journal.Continue reading...

McDonald's UK will introduce Mad Men-inspired uniforms at London 2012 Olympics venue.

Kia Soul scores in J.D. Power auto quality study while Lexus repeats as #1 overall and Ford and Chrysler slip in key automotive rankings.

Starbucks to open first tea-only store under Tazo brand.

Facebook Credits system is being phased out for new payment platform, while IPO attracts Capitol Hill inquiry, "like" button migrates to third-party mobile apps, and unique visitors drop.

Apple fined in Australia for misleading iPad advertising.

BlackBerry-maker RIM downsizes workforce.

Cabot to buy Norit for $1.1 billion.

Cannes Lions announces winners for creative effectiveness, media, mobile and outdoor.Continue reading...