In June 2011, the Dutch financial services giant ING Group agreed to sell ING DIRECT USA to Capital One as part of a restructuring agreement with the European Commission. As part of the deal, ING Group permitted the use of "ING DIRECT" only until February, 2013, so the companies adopted Capital One 360 as its new brand name.

As a result, the distinctive ING Direct orange ball is rolling into the archives, to be replaced by Capital One's red-and-blue logo with the addition of a red ball enclosing the number “360” with a sideways chevron. But not all current ING Direct US "Savers," as they like to call their Facebook followers, are convinced. Some fans just can't let go of the ball.

ING Direct customer David Mejias started a “save the orange ball” petition on Change.org, while another brand loyalist, Maria Elena Villegas, posted on Facebook: “So, Capital One bought the rights to the orange ball only to destroy any brand recognition and customer loyalty amongst ING customers? If anything, they should have rolled everything over to look and feel and work as ING Direct works. This is an absolute waste of branding, customer loyalty, and potential goodwill or at least neutrality from current ING customers by Capital One.”Continue reading...

Barclays got out of the branch-banking business in the United States in the early 1990s, but now the British bank is making a digital run at the U.S. by wooing Americans to its new online banking service.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Barclays, which will have its name on the side of the new Brooklyn Nets arena when it opens later this year to basketball (and Barbra Streisand) fans, is looking to “diversify funding for its growing credit-card operations” in the U.S. The British bank, as Marketwatch notes, today went live in the U.S. with a high-yield savings account and certificates of deposit through its Barclays Bank Delaware subsidiary.Continue reading...

AARP rolls out new Betty White spots as organization ends opposition to cutting Social Security benefits.

Alibaba revamps consumer business.

BJ's Wholesale gets a serious bidder.

BP's former CEO Tony Hayward sees payday in new venture IPO.

Capital One to pay $9B for ING Direct, subject to regulatory approval.

Casey Anthony case dubbed "social media trial of the century."

Chrysler faces high expectations for 300.Continue reading...

Airbus may develop longer-range plane to rival Boeing.

Apple tucks Newsstand into WWDC announcements.

AT&T's bid for T-Mobile is supported by Microsoft and Facebook.

Barack Obama's chief economist, Austan Goolsbee, resigns.

Bayer prostate-cancer drug shows promise.

BHP Billiton starts first US Gulf well since BP disaster.

BP tries to salvage Rosneft deal.Continue reading...

"Sentiment analysis" is becoming increasingly important form of analysis, one that has been made possible by the vast increase in content and social chatter across the web, when customers are more than ready (see above) to air their grievances online — particularly when it comes to brands that have a hand in their wallets.

General Sentiment is one of the firms that scours and analyzes over 40 million sources of content, "listening" in real time to public opinions expressed regarding, among other things, brands. With bank brands such a hot topic of social chatter in these cash-strapped times, the social-media analyst just released its Retail Banking Report  for Q1 2011.Continue reading...

Carl's Jr. taps Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Olivia Munn for a cameo, above.

Below, new spots from Newcastle Ale, Lady Gaga, ING Direct, MSNBC and more.Continue reading...

ING Direct in Italy doesn't need to let its ads do the talking; its ads are talking.

The new spots above and below riff on the online bank's 2010 Italian campaign that featured talking actors on the sides of buses, billboards and other outdoor ads for the brand, which uses a pumpkin in Italy instead of the orange ball used in its North American marketing.Continue reading...

Arkadi Kuhlmann, CEO of ING Direct, explains the philosophy behind the online banking brand's seven cafes in the US: making the virtual real, with employees on hand to answer questions and help customers. Check out the NYC cafe after the jump, and hear more from Kuhlmann on the ING brand's social media and mobile touchpoints with consumers.Continue reading...