If love is the universal language, snacks may be the universal food. And that's one reason the spinoff of Mondelez International from Kraft Foods last year looks more and more like a good move, at least for Mondelez and its shareholders.

Mondelez's portfolio of global snack brands—ranging from Oreo to Cadbury to Trident—relies on emerging markets for about 40 percent of its revenue right now, and by 2020 the company projects that 110 million households in India, Russia and Brazil will move into the middle class, the socioeconomic stratum where serious snacking begins in most markets because consumers have achieved the economic wherewithal for recreational eating.

"As they do, we believe they'll step up their chocolate consumption by about three times," Bharat Puri, Mondelez's senior vice president of global chocolate, told analysts recently, according to Advertising Age.Continue reading...

Pepsi took YouTube by storm last month according to Google’s YouTube Ads leaderboard. The brand is benefitting from its latest viral branded content hit "Test Drive", which has over 33 million views. 

The video, which is the brand's second attempt on a spoof video, garnered more plays than any of 2012's leaderboard ads, earning 13 million more views than 2012's top performer, Nike's "My Time Is Now."

Samsung made the chart twice in March with its Galaxy S4 launch, while newcomers EA Sports, Adidas, ConAgra, ESPN, Doritos and the Anti-Defamation League’s "Imagine a World Without Hate" video, (the first non-profit to be so feted) all made it as well.Continue reading...

A little over a year ago, Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Tacos hit the market. There was no way to predict that the new menu item would become a phenomenon of sorts—selling one million per day last year. Neither Taco Bell or FritoLay, Doritos' parent company, could let the potential of massive sales slip from their fingers, so they did it again, launching a Cool Ranch version earlier this month to much fanfare. 

The launch created a nationwide spectacle as ravenous consumers scoured local Taco Bell locations for the updated version, which the company teased with an 'early release' (which ended up backfiring). Unaffected, the actual launch went off without a hitch, with millions of customers walking away finger-licking happy. "Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos have been one of the most anticipated new menu items we've launched, and will be the biggest in our company history," says Rob Poetsch, a Taco Bell spokesman, in an email to MSN. "We're pleased with the overwhelmingly positive reaction from our fans, in fact, we've seen twice as many social media conversations in the first few days we launched."Continue reading...

Walmart will test in-store lockers for online deliveries a la Amazon. 

CBS aquires 50 percent of TV Guide Network for $100 million.

Southwest Airlines becomes the official airline of golf.

California shoe company sues Under Armour for trademark infringement.

Facebook and TiVo continue to battle over thumbs-up symbol.

After weeks of rumors and potential leaks, the Miami Dolphins will unveil their new logo on April 25.

Doritos officially launches new global campaign and redesigned packaging.

Human Rights Campaign's red equal sign logo for gay marriage goes viral on social media.Continue reading...

FTC clarifies rules for social and mobile advertising.

Reader's Digest reports big gains among advertisers and readers.

Samsung deals with high expectations for Galaxy S IV as it outspends Apple on marketing.

BBC World News launches global marketing campaign.

Boeing gets FAA initial approval of battery fix for Dreamliner and wins $15 billion order from Ryanair for current 737 plane, report says.

Cadbury's Silk undergoing brand "renovation."

Chevrolet accelerates dealer infotainment training.Continue reading...

SXSW epitomizes how the cutting-edge becomes the status quo and eventually (but not yet) borders on the edge of passé. This year, “the event has a different feel, nearly as much a marketing event as it is about tech,” notes Digiday. 

The week-long festival in Austin, Texas is ever more a breeding ground for flashy campaigns, giveaways and concerts, a far cry from the festival's roots as a geeky tech meet-up. Brian Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter Group told CNET, "The original posse is probably aghast at what [SXSW] has turned into." While there is still plenty of tech and start up presence, the event is now, more than ever, a joint digital venture between the marketing teams of the biggest brands and emerging tech stars peddling cool products and innovations.Continue reading...

Taco Bell is relying on marketing media both tiny and humongous to build on the momentum of its launch of Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos this week.

On the one hand, the Yum!-owned QSR staple is trying to tamp down scattered grumblings from social media mavens who got notice of the early availability of the new flavor on Wednesday—a day before the product's official launch—only to find that their local Taco Bell hadn't gotten the memo.

"I've been waiting for this taco for a long time and heard the announcement via Facebook and Twitter," one disappointed fan, Brian Terwilliger of Kissimmee, Fla., said in an e-mail to Nation's Restaurant News. "Driving around to be denied [at three Taco Bells] is outrageous considering the advertisement you guys [Taco Bell] released on this taco."

Continue reading...

Emboldened by the performance of its ads during the Super Bowl, riding the wave of the massive marketing push for its Doritos Locos Tacos partnership with Taco Bell and bolstered by PepsiCo's increasing moves toward global brand platforms, Doritos is adopting a new, more consistent look across the 37 countries where the chips are sold and is launching a new worldwide marketing campaign.

Doritos is planning to punctuate its new plans with a four-story-high, Twitter-controlled rap concert (hashtag: #boldstage) on its boldly branded vending-machine stage at SXSW next week.

"For the Bold" is the tagline for Doritos' first global marketing campaign. It'll start with the U.S. launch of a new ad on cable TV networks beginning in mid-month.

Called "Best Summer Job," the commercial will tell the story of a "college-aged valet making bold choices which lead to an epic joyride, inspired by Doritos chips," as Ram Krishnan, VP of marketing for PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America, told Ad Age.Continue reading...