Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world with more than 237 million residents and more than 60 million of those people smoke. But while it seems that the rest of the developed world is doing all it can to cut down on tobacco use, Indonesia is being inundated by tobacco marketers looking to gain a few more patrons before stricter regulations are put into place. 

British American Tobacco sends “coquettish models wearing short white dresses” into cafes and clothes shops to encourage consumers “to buy Dunhill’s new ‘Mild’ cigarettes and sign up to a marketing database,” the Financial Times reports. The same company runs ads on television, something it can't do in many other parts of the globe, including America.Continue reading...

How low can you go? If you're Carlos Ghosn, you want to build a car cheap enough that Nissan finally can compete in the very lowest-priced segment of auto sales throughout the developing world. So as promised earlier this year, Nissan — up 30 percent on Interbrand's just-released 2012 Best Global Brands report — is moving forward with a plan to delve into the ultra-low-cost car market by offering a model for about $3,000 to $5,000.

And the Nissan-Renault alliance has promised to do so through a revival of the Datsun brand. Nissan plans to offer six Datsun vehicles, beginning in 2014, at a price range lower than all but a handful of smaller car makers in China and India, Ghosn told the Wall Street Journal. A $3,000 Datsun would be about one-third of the price of the currently least expensive Nissan, the $8,000 Tsuru compact.

By not doing so previously, the CEO of Nissan and Renault said that the company has left itself out of about 40 percent of the potential market in countries including India, Indonesia and Russia. "We just see an opportunity," Ghosn explained earlier this year. "Today, in all the markets we are present, there is a level of price below which we cannot compete, we have no offering. The risk is to do nothing."Continue reading...

Barclays' new chairman may end free banking.

Barnes & Noble cuts Nook pricing to "lowest ever" ahead of new Amazon Kindle Fire.

BuzzFeed expands to radio with SiriusXM.

Chinese consumers counter economic gloom with travel boom.

CNN reportedly talks to reality TV producers to turn around ratings slump.

Dell challenges — insurmountable?

Fox backs new MundoFox channel for US Latinos.

GM CMO Ewanick's flame-out, re-parsed.

HSBC moves to squelch Occupy protest in Hong Kong.Continue reading...

In the video above, Nike chairman and cofounder Phil Knight narrates the philosophy behind the company's Better World corporate citizenship platform. He articulates its goals for sustainable packaging and product design, giving back to the community, and looking beyond the bottom line to improve lives (hence the "better world" tagline). He also admits that Nike could do more to improve the lives of the factory workers around the world who make its shoes and branded goods.

So Knight can't be too pleased by the latest news about its longstanding battle with human rights and labor activists regarding its global contractors. The Associated Press today released an expose documenting how dozens of factory workers making Nike's Converse sneakers in Indonesia are routinely abused on the job.Continue reading...

On the heels of announcing it's giving officials India the right (and means) to intercept BlackBerry Messenger users' data (a move that boosted its shares), Research in Motion has released a new campaign for the Indian market.

The description for its spot, above: "Sisters Divya & Dipika Israni followed their passion & took over their mom's boutique in South Mumbai right after college. They use the Sapphire BBM Group to network with their clientele, and to keep them updated with the latest offerings from their boutique!"

RIM also just agreed to Indonesia's request for BlackBerry devices to filter (and block) porn.

McDonald's may be the first brand name that comes to mind when you think of fast food restaurants, but it is actually the restaurant empire of Yum! Brands Inc. that leads the world in QSR (quick service restaurants), with more than 37,000 outlets in over 110 countries and territories.

Yum! is better known, of course, by its brand portfolio, which includes KFC, A&W, Long John Silver's, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Wing Street. The good news for Yum!, according to information the company shared at an investors meeting this week, is that it projects robust growth from areas outside North America and China through its Yum! Restaurants International division.Continue reading...

Indonesian consumers have a bone to pick with Giorgio Armani. It seems that Armani Exchange had recently been selling a $42 Studded Eagle T-shirt on their website and in stores featuring a military-inspired eagle. Said eagle had a striking similarity to Garuda Pancasila, a mythical bird-like creature and the coat of arms of Indonesia.
 
According to the Jakarta Globe, some members of the Indonesian House of Representatives threatened to sue Armani Exchange for willfully desecrating the Garuda Pancasila. The offense carries a prison term of one year or a $10,700 fine. Consumers found it offensive and started taking it to their blogs.Continue reading...