As Facebook gets ready to unveil its new ad-friendly newsfeed on Thursday, concerns are rising over Facebook's efforts to improve its revenue streams with sponsored posts and paid placement on newsfeeds, though Facebook is far from the only social company exploring new ad options as the global mobile ad market is predicted to reach $11.4 billion this year and $24.6 billion by 2016, according to Gartner.

When the New York Times’ Nick Bilton observed the "Likes" on his Facebook page “Disruptions” dropping while his followers increased, he began paying $7 for sponsored advertising of his posts that resulted in a 1,000 percent increase in "Likes" and "Shares."

“This may be great news for advertisers, but I felt slightly duped,” writes Bilton. “I’ve stayed on Facebook after its repeated privacy violations partly because I foolishly believed there was some sort of democratic approach to sharing freely with others. The company persuaded us to share under that premise and is now turning it inside out by requiring us to pay for people to see what we post.”Continue reading...

American Airlines and US Airways finalize merger details.

Comcast buys balance of GE's stake in NBCUniversal for $16.7 billion.

Yahoo CEO Mayer looks to focus mobile, expresses disappointment in Microsoft search deal.

Adidas will reveal Boost running innovation at New York event.

Apple CEO Cook feels brand's stores are too small; a Google payday might help.

Barclays CEO pressured to get moving on revamp.

BBC Worldwide appoints global editorial director.

Blockbuster UK closes 164 more stores.

Dior sees former designer John Galliano re-offend Jewish community.

Facebook eyes books, movies and TV content as Zuckerberg's full philanthropy revealed.

Ford assures dealers on Lincoln MKZ supplies.Continue reading...

This week's brand headlines from China: McDonald's and KFC brands play chicken with chicken... iPhone 5 on installments... the business of schooling... Moutai, Jay Chou scoots... Jack Ma phones home... Lenovo... airlines dump meals... and more.Continue reading...

Here it comes. You can’t avoid it. It’s “the most prestigious art show in the Americas.” It’s Art Basel, the annual art festival that takes over Miami Beach as soon as it turns nippy in New York and other climes. This year it's running from Dec. 1-4, pulling in “more than 260 leading galleries” from around the world, according to its site.

When you put that kind of art into that kind of location, a whole lot of money is likely to change hands. And where there is money, there is opportunity. At least, that’s what the folks at Christian Dior seem to think. So they set up the company’s very first pop-up shop in order to take advantage of the number of moneyed folks who will all be in one small geographical area.

Don’t think the space is going to be little, though. This pop-up is 3,100 square feet, “an explosion of fluorescent color and visual stimuli, a meld of Plexiglas and endless video screens” with “mannequins (that) sport black wigs dip-dyed in party pinks and purples,” according to Women’s Wear Daily. There’s a nail salon in the back and a food truck out front that serves French pastries and coffee. There’s a photo booth and rotating DJs and a game night that will feature “pinball and foosball tables” that have “designs inspired by the various necklaces, rings and bangles in the collection.” Naturally.

The pop-up isn’t the only ground broken by the iconic design house. The featured line is the first to be a partnership between Dior and an outside artist, German Anselm Reyle, WWD reports.

When Dior initially asked, Reyle didn’t exactly jump at the chance, WWD reports: “I waited a bit at first because it’s not the usual thing for artists to do such a collaboration,” he says, according to the site. “I had to think about it.” Three days later, he agreed.

Prices on the fluorescent-camouflage items in the Dior x Reyle collection, by the way, “range from $310 for a resin bangle to $4,500 for a metallic lambskin Lady Dior,” Women’s Wear Daily reports. Naturally.

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It's getting to the point where one might consider LVMH the European Union of brands.

The French conglomerate, which legitimately calls itself a "world leader in luxury goods," owns 60 upper echelon brands, many of which have the kind of global cachet most brands can only dream about. These brands accounted last year for more than 20 billion euros in sales and 3 billion euros in profit.

The LVMH stable includes Dom Perignon, Krug and Hennessy in wine and spirits; TAG Heuer and DeBeers in watches and jewelry; Celine, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton in fashion; Christian Dior, Emilio Pucci and Fendi in perfumes and cosmetics; and beauty products purveyor Sephora in specialty retailing.

Add the one billion-euro Italian luxury jewelry brand, Bulgari to the list, acquired this week by LVMH.Continue reading...

According to commercial rules by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, this TV commercial for Miss Dior Chérie perfume, directed by Sofia Coppola and starring nominee Natalie Portman, can't air during the Oscars telecast near the Best Actress category.

It's fine during the red carpet pre-show broadcasts, where it has already aired during E!'s red carpet coverage — where Portman was spotted wearing Rodarte in a nod to the Mulleavy sisters' costume designs for her Black Swan outfits, which were snubbed in the Best Costume category. They are, however, on display nearby at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.

Kelly Brook is a heroine to dye for in A Kind of Blue. The normally brunette glamor model turned tabloid fixture stars in a new short film for Armani that just debuted at London Fashion Week.

The collaboration with UK's Love magazine riffs on Hitchcock's passion for ice-cold blond femme fatales, while Price's heaving bosom shows his clothes aren't just for stick insects, as her fellow Brit Bridget Jones might say.

Another fashion/cinema collaboration pegged to the Autumn/Winter runway shows: a frisky Natalie Portman in an artsy commercial directed by Sofia Coppola for Christian Dior's Miss Dior Cherie perfume —

As the luxury goods market looks to rebound next year, we're already seeing some interesting jockeying for position.

Shares of Hermes and LVMH rose sharply today on news that LVMH had acquired as much as a 17 percent stake in the high-end luxury brand Hermes.

LVMH, a French conglomerate, already has ownership of iconic luxury brands in a variety of markets. In fashion and perfumes, the company owns Christian Dior, Donna Karan, Fendi, Givenchy, and Louis Vuitton; in jewelry and watches, De Beers, Hublot, and TAG Heuer; in wines and spirits, Dom Perignon, Hennessy, Krug, and Moet & Chandon.

Increasing its holdings in Hermes is a "friendly" move, not a takeover bid, says LVMH. According to the company, "The objective of LVMH is to be a long-term shareholder of Hermes and to contribute to the preservation of the family and French attributes which are at the heart of the global success of this iconic brand." Continue reading...