Hailed as the "internet's highest honor" by the New York Times, the Webby Awards assess thousands of entries every year in an effort to recognize outstanding brands, initiatives, designs and individuals across the internet.

This year's awards garnered 11,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries, with people in more than 200 countries voting online in the People's Voice awards.

The 2013 winners include special honors for music artist Frank Ocean, the Obama for America 2012 presidential campaign, and Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, who spearheaded online activism in support of gay rights.

Brands taking home awards this year include Change.org, Google Maps and Glassdoor. brandchannel's parent company, Interbrand, was nominated in the Best Visual Design- Function category for its Best Global Brands 2012 website.

Here's how some other top brands made out this year:Continue reading...

This is not your grandfather’s retail environment.

In fact, with Target joining the likes of Nike, BMW and Mondelez in launching a mobile incubator/accelerator and funding developers to come up with apps that will take shopping into the future, it might seem more like your grandkids’. Target announced a contest earlier this month called “Co. Labs & Target Retail Accelerator,” that dangles a $75,000 prize to whoever develops the best new mobile experience for the company.

Target is looking for “transformative, technology-driven” ideas that should incorporate at least one of the company’s four priorities:Continue reading...

Analysts had thought that Nike’s third quarter earnings would come in at 67 cents per share, but when the info was finally doled out Thursday, the company surprised with a 16 percent increase in net income to $662 million. That’s 73 cents per share. Not too shabby.

The sporting brand saw growth across the globe, except for a teensy consumer market called Asia. Apparently, Nike is doing just fine without China and Japan, as stocks hit a 20-month high at $58.69, Bloomberg reports.

"Our team delivered strong results in Q3. We did it with a relentless flow of innovation into our key categories," said Mark Parker, president and CEO of Nike. "Given the diversity of our portfolio, we're able to capture big opportunities that drive sustainable, profitable growth. At the same time we continue to invest in new ways to enhance athletic performance, build strong consumer communities, and improve how we design and manufacture our products. That’s how we increase our potential and drive shareholder value."Continue reading...

Nike introduced the FuelBand wristband in January 2012, and it has apparently sold well enough for the company to further invest in its growth as the device at the center of the connected universe it envisions. News on how Nike plans to boost its mobile/digital offering sets the stage for the company's quarterly earnings call on Thursday.

The athletic-wear giant's inaugural Nike Accelerator mobile development incubator, announced late last year, this week awarded $20,000 to 10 different startups that are building apps for its Nike+ products. The hope, CNET reports, is “to create a platform in much the same way that Apple has created a platform with iTunes and Microsoft with Windows.”

Hundreds of app ideas were proposed to Nike and its partner, TechStars, and the 10 that will receive funding as well as mentoring from Nike include “games that encourage users to exercise and a corporate wellness app that espouses healthy living habits,” CNET notes. The companies will work on their apps in Portland, Oregon, near Nike’s campus, and then pitch them to Nike bigwigs, venture capitalists and angel investors in June.Continue reading...

Nike is engaging its legions of devoted FuelBand-sporting devotees with NikeFuel Missions, billed as "the first game powered by your all-day activity."

The Facebook app goes live on Dec. 11th, picking up on its "Game On, World" theme by inviting fans of the almost one-year-old digital monitor to come and play: "In a world conquered by cold, you'll have to earn your way out with the help of Calvin Johnson, Alex Morgan, Allyson Felix and Neymar Jr. Do more with your Nike+ Fuelband. Advance your avatar. Stand out on the leaderboard."

Watch the "In a world..." movie-style trailer (complete with Inception-style soundtrack) and find out more about Nike's other new digital push, below.Continue reading...

People used to fear the idea of Big Brother watching them. Now they are paying top dollar for it.

Sports wristbands that track every move you make are suddenly having their moment in the sun, partially thanks to the major marketing push made by Nike for its FuelBand at the start of this year. Jawbone had released a similar product previously but consumers weren’t loving it, according to ZDNet.com. But Jawbone isn’t backing down and has just released a new version of its Jawbone UP wristband to compete with Nike, which is now selling FuelBands in Canadian Nike and Apple stores.

Jawbone is pitching its new and improved UP as a “wristband and app system that helps you discover things about yourself that you never knew.” Allegedly, it tracks how you sleep, move, and eat, and then “gives you personalized insights to help you make smarter choices to feel your best.” Hope it at least buys the wearer dinner first.Continue reading...

God help the poor Pepsi-loving soul who wanders through London over the next few weeks. The dreaded brand police are swarming the country in search of any signs of anyone mentioning or attempting to showcase any corporate entity that is a competitor to the official Olympics sponsors, and anyone who even so much as thinks of sponsor Coke’s biggest competitor should fear the consequences. But that's nothing compared to what Nike is staging: the brashest act of ambush marketing in the history of the Olympics Games. And we'll bet they get away with it because, well, it's Nike.Continue reading...

The AT&T MLS All-Star Game taking place this week (July 25) in Philadelphia will be the world's first "smart soccer match" and will feature the new adidas micoach professional soccer team tracking system, billed as the next step in player performance analysis technology.

The tool measures everything an athlete does, and the All-Star game is a prelude to a broader rollout with Major League Soccer in 2013. That's when all 19 Major League Soccer teams will start using the micoach Elite System in a bid to make MLS the world's first smart sports league.Continue reading...