1 in 88 children born today will have autism, according to the CDC's latest prevalence report. April is awareness month for the fastest growing developmental disorder in the U.S., and brands are doing their part to shine a (blue) light on those affected and contribute to research. 

JetBlue’s “Wings for Autism” program works with local autism awareness groups to aid families with special needs children while traveling. The program, which was initiated at Boston's Logan International Airport, allows families to familiarize their children with the flying process ahead of time, including the sights and sounds, which austistic children are particularly sensitive to. On May 6, the program will be featured at Long Beach and Burbank airports, with plans to host a similar event at New York's JFK International Airport later this year.Continue reading...

What do Veronica Mars and Patrick Robinson have in common? Kickstarter—their platform of choice for rebirth.

The power of the crowd just amped up as "Veronica Mars, the single best TV show about a smart-ass teen detective," may finally become a movie thanks to loyal and generous fans.Continue reading...

It’s fitting that the ancient mythical figure Icarus is the poster boy for marketing maven Seth Godin’s latest manifesto, The Icarus Deception.

A prodigious author of more than a dozen bestselling books translated into more than 30 languages, this aims to be more than just a book. It's Godin’s most provocative thesis to date, using the entire publishing process itself as a marketing experiment to illustrate how the connection economy works by creating and activating a community to participate by making and sharing their own "art" (he takes a broad view on art, as you'll see).

Godin’s aim is to reinvent the process of writing, making, funding, marketing and launching a "book" by sparking a public art-sharing project. On Monday he launched the first ever "Icarus Session," get-togethers organized via Meet-up and his website Squidoo, in a bid to create a worldwide event in 1,262 cities with 11,168 "Linchpins" and "Artists." 

The sessions invite strangers to share (in 2 minutes and 20 seconds) something they've made or something that inspires them. That passion could be a company or brand, a piece of art or literature, or another creative expression. Godin will pick the best to publish on YouTube.

As much about the process as the end result, Godin sold his publisher, booksellers and readers/participants on the concept by launching it as a crowdfunded project on the Kickstarter website. The creative trailblazer launched the project on June 18, 2012 and ended it July 17, 2012, having raised $287,342 (well above his goal of $40,000, which he passed within three hours of launch) from 4,242 backers.

A video that Godin co-produced with Squarespace and highlighted in a blog post, features Sasha Dichter (Acumen Fund), Sarma Melngailis (One Lucky Duck), Josh Rubin (Coolhunting), and Tina Roth Eisenberg (Swiss Miss/Tattly).Continue reading...

Neiman Marcus and Target join brands for unusual Christmas collaboration: 50 limited-edition American designer items, plus $1M donation to the CFDA.

Starbucks rolls out low-cal Refreshers drinks.

Marks & Spencer fires clothing head following worst sales in three years.

American Airlines and U.S. Airways keep dancing around a merger.

Apple removes green electronics certification from products.

Chase launches Chase Liquid reloadable card.

Coca-Cola takes stake in Mexican juice company Jugos del Valle.

Conde Nast confirms London location of namesake fashion college.

DirecTV could drop 26 Viacom channels in dispute.

Dodge places major ad push behind new Dart.Continue reading...

The notion of crowdfunding has actually existed for centuries as crowds gathered to hear and support pitches, but digital technology and social media have catapulted that notion to new heights and expanded the playing field and the playbook.

When President Obama signed the April 5th legislation, "Capital Raising Online While Deterring Fraud and Unethical Non-Disclosure Act" a.k.a. the Crowdfund Act, as part of his JOBS (Jumpstart Our Businesses and Startups) Act, the general public became empowered to fund startups and small businesses and receive stock (equity) in exchange, as well as legalized 'general solicitation,' which means that startups and companies can leverage social media like FaceBook and LinkedIn to raise funds.

Kickstarter’s modus operandi of crowdfunding individual projects has iterated to the next level of VC-like funding, which prior to the President’s action, could only be donation-based — making it illegal in the U.S. for a company to raise money from a crowd that would then grow the business.Continue reading...

Yahoo CEO and five board members step down as Ross Levinsohn named interim CEO and Scott Thompson discloses he has cancer.

Apple drops "4G" from UK iPad ads and reportedly bringing retina display to MacBook Pro while Foxconn prepares for Apple TV production.

Facebook co-founder renounces U.S. citizenship to avoid $600M in taxes as almost-over IPO roadshow focuses on mobile and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak wants in. (Also, wish Mark Zuckerberg a happy 28th birthday today.)

ABC bids adieu to Desperate Housewives.

Ally mortgage unit files for bankruptcy.

Avon weighs sweetened offer from Coty. (Update: Coty withdrew its offer late Monday.)Continue reading...

Pebble has set a record as the biggest crowdfunded launch in history, all for a new class of device (an e-paper watch?!) pitched to backers via its Kickstarter page. Credit the description for the chic, digital-savvy smartphone accessory:

“Pebble is the first watch built for the 21st century. It’s infinitely customizable, with beautiful downloadable watchfaces and useful internet-connected apps. Pebble connects to iPhone and Android smartphones using Bluetooth, alerting you with a silent vibration to incoming calls, emails and messages. While designing Pebble, we strove to create a minimalist yet fashionable product that seamlessly blends into everyday life.”

Pebble received $500,000 funding in a day, reaching $1 million in investments last week just 28 hours after launch on Kickstarter. By midnight Friday, the little e-paper wristwatch that could had pushed past the $1.5 million mark with 35 fund-raising days remaining. Now it has passed the $3.5 million mark.Continue reading...

The weather may be getting colder in its birthplace, but the Occupy Wall Street movement — which today rejoiced with news that Bank of America is backpedaling on fees — is heating up as more parties want a piece of it.

The unincorporated association of organizers behind the protests filed a trademark application last week (Oct. 24), seeking an official license to use the term in periodicals and newsletters, on clothing and bags and on a website with "photographic, audio, video and prose presentations." 

The bigger question: can a grassroots movement be branded, and who stands to win or lose? The trademark battle actually began weeks earlier, as brandchannel's Abe Sauer reported, with variations on the theme from "Occupy D.C. 2012" to "We are the 99%" and "I am the 99%."Continue reading...