As brands around the world celebrate Earth Day, it is becoming more apparent that creative, effective marketing will be a vital factor in the adoption of green consumer products and practices. Years have passed since terms like "green" and "sustainability" became part of the lexicon, but little has changed when it comes to consumer behavior that effects the environment. Joel Makower, author and chairman of GreenBiz Group blames "half-hearted, humorless and uninspired," marketing efforts that push "underwhelming, overpriced, inconvenient, ineffective or unavailable," green products. 

Initiated in 1970 by Denis Hayes, 20 million Americans gathered for peaceful demonstrations in favor of environmental reform. Today, more than one billion people in nearly 200 nations recognize Earth Day and its goals. This year's Earth Day theme revolves around climate change and all those affected by it, from "a man in the Maldives worried about relocating his family as sea levels rise," to "the orangutan in Indonesian forests segmented by more frequent brushfires and droughts."Continue reading...

Android beats Apple for global market share while Samsung becomes top-selling mobile brand in Europe, and Apple and Samsung court battle continues.

Citi tests foreclosure rentals, steps up digital marketing.

Eli Lilly seen as last hope for Alzheimer's drug as Pfizer and J&J bow out.

Betsey Johnson rebounds from bankruptcy with lower-priced collection set for New York Fashion Week.

BlackBerry-maker RIM stock jumps on Samsung rumors.

Carmen Steffens expands fashion brand from Brazil to US.

Chiquita restructuring plan calls for new CEO.

Dairy Queen promotes Orange Julius brand.

Esprit hires Zara exec as new CEO.Continue reading...

American Airlines faces record safety penalty, tests hotel baggage delivery service.

Amazon sees pay-off from locker service, looks to acquire more patents.

Apple shelves "Genius" TV campaign, puts former designer on the stand against Samsung and plans to beef up security.

AT&T sees 20,000 employees go on strike.

Bank of America brings discounts to bank statements.

Chiquita seeks new CEO as Undercover Boss star exits.

Chrysler’s Dodge pulls out of NASCAR.Continue reading...

Six months ago we looked at an interesting campaign by Chiquita to crowdsource the designs of its iconic banana stickers. Aiming to add a little refresh to the brand in heavy competition in the produce section, we cautioned against going overboard and losing the brand's distinct color combo. In the end, Chiquita's selection of winners stuck with its brand identity.

Now Chiquita is making another bold move, securing Nancy Bailey & Associates to license its brand into both non-food and new food categories.Continue reading...

In a recent episode of the quirky, provocative CBS reality series Undercover Boss, the CEO of DirecTV, Michael White came across as authentic in a role that requires deception and covert activity. 

White recently joined DirecTV, so he's a newcomer to the satellite-TV business. His humility — watch him deal with a customer service call above — played well in this surreptitious milieu, including the revelation of his son’s battle with addiction and his own humble beginnings.

No wonder AOL's DailyFinance called this episode the best one of the series yet — high praise for an executive running an aggressive brand in the cut-throat world of U.S. subscription television.Continue reading...

Some people stick them all over the refrigerator. Others stick them in the trash. But nearly everyone recognizes the iconic blue and gold Chiquita logo stickers found on bananas. In fact, the Chiquita logo is likely the most famous banana brand in history, going back to the Disney-produced Chiquita banana cartoon from the 1940s. So it's shocking that Chiquita is going to change the logo.Continue reading...

Consumers are doing it for themselves — but designers and creatives don't have to quit their day jobs just yet. A checkered path of twists and turns has led to an unholy alliance: brands soliciting user-generated content, incentivizing users with prizes, and essentially doing an end run around agencies and specialists trained in the arts of creating and selling.

Has UGC run amok? Let's take a look at the latest fad in crowdsourcing: contests for product labels, as exemplified by Chiquita and Knorr, Unilever's largest brand, as MediaPost points out.Continue reading...

* The oil industry is on edge after a second accident in the Gulf of Mexico, although an apparently minor one. Meanwhile, BP says it has spent about $8 billion so far in response to its own much worse Gulf disaster.

* Amazon and Apple are in the midst of an epic brand battle, being fought on the TV front.

* Andean Resources, a major prospective gold company in Australia, has become the subject of bidding by two Canadian concerns.

* Chiquita is among food brands on the cutting edge of a new social-media trend: allowing consumers to help design special product labels.

* Febreze marketing campaign with the National Football League shows that Proctor & Gamble understands that women are football fans too.

* General Motors needs to focus on finding U.S.-based investors for its IPO, the federal government believes.

* Mercedes-Benz launches MBrace 2.0, a new version of its onboard infotainment system.Continue reading...