Apple dodges $9 billion in US taxes with bond deal.

Google named Advertiser of the Year. 

Volkswagen makes $10 million donation to the National Mall.

Adidas sales drop on weakening Reebok brand.

Barnes & Noble begins support of Google apps on Nook.

Beam sales rise because of "formula run" on Maker's Mark.

Diet Coke slims down its vending machines.

Ford adds jobs and raises capacity to make pick-up trucks.

Geritol seeks new life with younger consumers.

Huffington Post brings rapid-response "native" ads to its home page.Continue reading...

Today is Génifique Day (formerly Genes Day), a one-day national event benefitting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and Lancôme will donate $7 from in-store or online sales of select Génifique products to St. Jude. Last year’s events and activities helped raise over $300,000 in support of lifesaving research and treatment.

"Our three-year partnership stands as a testament to Lancome's commitment to supporting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, an organization that shares many of our core values," says Serge Jureidini, president of Lancome USA, in a press release.

Lancome, the world's largest luxury beauty brand, sold at 2,000 counters across the U.S., applied ten years of research to Genifique, introduced in 2009, which “re-plumps, refines and re-illuminates the skin as if infused with life.” Fans of the product include "Mad Men" actress Christina Hendricks, Lancome ambassadress Julia Roberts, British songbird Lily Allen, supermodel Veronica Webb and star makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury.

Making it easy for people to spread awareness of Genifique Day, the Lancome Facebook page is inviting users to create and share photo booth photo strips about “occasions when they feel their best.”Continue reading...

Apple iPhone 5 launch today could reheat European carriers' price war, as other tech companies weigh the implications.

Acer to introduce smartphone using operating system by Alibaba.

Amazon cuts shipping times by building more warehouses.

Chesapeake Energy sells $6.9 billion in assets.

Digital Domain, Hollywood's hologram maker, files for bankruptcy.

Dish Network returns Glenn Beck to US TV.

Ford seems likely to pick North American chief Mark Fields to succeed CEO Alan Mulally.Continue reading...

Nationwide Insurance doesn't think it gets enough credit from customers and other consumers for being "on your side" in auto-insurance matters. Cue a new branding campaign tied to the biggest sports event on the calendar and to one of America's best-liked actresses to make the point.

On Friday July 27th, during the prime-time telecast of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics on NBC, Nationwide will debut new TV campaign featuring the distinctive voice of actress Julia Roberts, whose Lancôme campaign for L'Oréal was banned in the U.K. last year for airbrushing.

"'Nationwide Is On Your Side' is a familiar tagline and jingle, but not many people understand exactly what it means," Matt Jauchius, Nationwide's chief marketing and strategy officer, said in a press release about the new "Join the Nation" campaign. "Our goal wth this campaign is to tell the story of who we are as a company and what our On Your Side promise truly stands for — doing what's right for our members and protecting the things and the people they hold dear."Continue reading...

Lancôme has signed its first Muslim model — the 22-year-old gamine-cropped Tunisian, Hanaa Ben Abdesslem — as a global face. The brand features Hanaa, who debuted as a model in Vivienne Westwood's spring 2011 runway show and broke out a few months later after cropping her hair for Givenchy, in the short film above; check out her first campaign work for the makeup brand below.Continue reading...

Harry Potter's Hermione has won herself an endorsement for Lancôme's Trésor Midnight Rose perfume. But it appears Lancôme blew the budget on landing Emma Watson and, with what little was left over, hired a director whose previous credits include karaoke videos. Whoa, sepia!

AdFreak today asks, "Is Emma Watson's Lancôme‬ ad as bad as they say?" In a word, yes. From the pedestrian camera work, trying-too-hard arty lighting and corny "plot," to the fact that Watson appears to be a tween playing dress up with her mom's pearls and heels, it's mindboggling that a company as big as Lancôme would see this a fitting representation of its brand.

"It's not the end." Is that a threat?Continue reading...

Lancôme released its first TV commercial starring Emma Watson, for the brand's new fragrance, Trésor Midnight Rose. Directed by Mario Testino and co-starring Cyril Descours, the chaste spot features a bookstore (one for the Harry Potter fans?) and feels a bit like Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris.

Amazon results beat Wall Street estimates as ad-supported Kindle tops e-reader sales.

American Apparel partners with eBay.

Comcast and NBC launch TV's "holy grail" — dynamic VOD advertising.

Dunkin' Brands prices IPO at $19/share for $2.4 billion valuation; but can it grow coffee biz?

Facebook launches new portal to help brands better target their marketing.

FOX narrows window on free streaming of network programming, with Dish Network first to sign on.

Google targets small business ad market, while interest in Hulu raises speculation.

Kraft begins global pitch for Trident.Continue reading...