As brand loyalty continues to slide for the third consecutive year, Deloitte's annual American Pantry Study shows close to nine in 10 consumers are choosing private-label or store brands over national brands.

"Every manufacturer has been affected by this," said Pat Conroy, vice chairman and U.S. Consumer Producers Leader at Deloitte. "None of the manufacturers had as many must-have brands as they thought they did. The playing field has fundamentally changed. It will not go back to the way it was right before the recession…Manufacturers must find a way to differentiate the product and find a better way to get the product into the consumer's pantry."

As for consumers, an air of remorse hangs over their heads from a past filled with careless spending habits, which was exacerbated by the recession. “They tried various lower cost options and the vast majority of them found there was little noticeable difference in quality. This was an epiphany for the consumer," adds Conroy.Continue reading...

Blockbuster U.K. is rising from the ashes after plunging into administration—a form of bankruptcy in Britain—in January when accountancy firm Deloitte assumed day-to-day operations while looking for a buyer.

"We are working closely with suppliers and employees to ensure the business has the best possible platform to secure a sale, preserve jobs and generate as much value as possible for all creditors," said Lee Manning, joint administrator and partner in Deloitte’s restructuring services at the time. 

The pioneering DVD and video rental company that entered the U.K. market in 1989 is struggling to survive in a burgeoning and highly competitive world where digital real estate trumps physical and streaming is de rigueur. Since January, a number of the brand's 528 stores have been bought up by Morrison's supermarket, and now, Gordon Brothers, a private equity group, has stepped in to buy 264 stores for an unspecified amount, subsequently saving nearly 2,000 jobs.Continue reading...

While some version of HMV has been fighting the good fight for recorded music since the late 1800s, it looks like the retail chain’s ability to lift its fist to the air could soon be coming to an end.

While the brand outlasted plenty of other music retailers (Tower and Virgin come to mind), HMV is finally joining all those that have gone before it, seeking the British equivalent of bankruptcy protection and halting trading of its shares on Tuesday in the hopes that it will find a way to survive.

Not much has worked for the company since it started attempts to adapt back in 2007. Books, DVDs, and computer games are all not selling well there, either. As the BBC reported, the company failed to draw new customers as it broadened its offerings, causing disappointment among its core consumer base as CDs made room the number of CDs they could offer because of all of the new products.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...

GM pressures TV networks for discounts in upfront.

Ducati is booming in North America.

Facebook sees future in India, and explores access for under-13-year-olds as fallout from botched IPO continues.

Adidas sues Merrell over three-stripe design.

Apple/Motorola patent trial will feature Steve Jobs 'testimony.'

Big Tobacco goes to war in California.

BlackBerry-maker RIM victim of own 'identity crisis' (at least it's still cool with South African youths).Continue reading...

The way the world communicates with one another is ever-evolving as new technologies continue to appear and social media continues to introduce new avenues of expression. With that, brands are always finding new ways to touch their customers and all of the classic branding rules are being tossed out the window.

Olympic sponsorship has long been a way for major brands to reach consumers every few years, but international Olympic executives are looking to possibly shift how the model works in order to embrace this new world.

The sponsorship model now in place brings in $1 billion, according to the Financial Times, but the IOC is planning to “take a step back” and re-assess the sponsorship strategy going forward.Continue reading...

Google TV adds LG to the fold with Samsung, Sony and Vizio ahead of CES, and 2012 global rollout.

Louis Vuitton finally expands brand into perfume.

Apple pays $5M to settle patent lawsuit.

Barnes & Noble eyes Nook spin-off with eye to global markets.

BMW brings MINI to India.

Deloitte finds 9M U.S. cable homes have cut the cord.

Discovery urges investors to be patient with Oprah Winfrey's network.Continue reading...

Internet real estate as we know it will change irrevocably on January 12th, when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) starts taking applications for its new Top-Level Domain Program.

There are (currently) 22 generic TLDs (gTLDs) such as .com, .org and .net, and 250 specific country-code TLDs (ccTLDs) like .ca for Canada, .uk for the United Kingdom, .jp for Japan and .mx for Mexico. Come January, however, virtually any word or brand name can become a gTLD for a $185,000 application fee, proof of being able to pay for the gTLD going forward, and sufficient justification by the brand.

Dotbranding introduces a whole new way to surf the web, enhancing companies’ SEO strategy, heightening protection against interlopers and cybersquatters, and letting brand names serve as web addresses with the potential for a variety of sub-domains.

Deloitte, Canon, Hitachi, Motorola and UNICEF are filing for their .brand web addresses, according to Marketing Week in the UK.Continue reading...