Even though we haven’t yet had Halloween, retail brands are gearing up for the holiday season. Target raised eyebrows by releasing its holiday TV commercial before Halloween, which is the marketing equivalent of wearing white after Labor Day in the U.S. But even that hoary old rule no longer applies, so get ready for the holiday blitz to start earlier than ever this year.

Toys “R” Us is already promoting its Marine Toys for Tots Foundation campaign, which is back for the ninth year with Shaquille O’Neal ("Give Back With Shaq!" for the fourth year) offering “Shaq’s Santa Sack,” the first-ever Toys for Tots Wish List filled with donation suggestions.

More than 16 million children are living in poverty in the U.S. according to the United States Census Bureau, and now through December 2, consumers can “Give Back with Shaq” by donating new, unwrapped toys at Toys“R”Us and Babies “R” Us stores or online through Christmas Eve.Continue reading...

If Amy Sedaris pitching Downy in a perky new campaign rings a bell, it's because celebrities have been sudsing up for brands since the early days of Hollywood. Think back to the golden days of radio, when Jack Benny plugged Jello in his opening line, "Jello, everybody, this is Jack Benny," and Bob Hope promoted Pepsodent toothpaste. And in the early days of television, George Burns and Gracie Allen peddled Carnation Milk, Groucho Marx touted Prom Shampoo and Ozzie and Harriett shilled for Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix. Before he was President, Ronald Reagan stumped for Chesterfield cigarettes.

In today’s world of 24/7 social media, celebrity endorsement, backing and entrepreneurship (from Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop to Jessica Alba's Honest Company) have reached new digital platforms. This week Stamped, a mobile app and website that lets people share reviews of anything they like, announced new celebrity backers including Justin Bieber, Ryan Seacrest and Ellen DeGeneres, and investments from Columbia Records, Eric Schmidt and The New York Times Company, bringing its financing to over $3 million.Continue reading...

Despite Discovery Communication’s recent infusion of an additional $12 million into its joint venture with Oprah Winfrey, OWN, the high-profile cable network that launched on January 1st is still losing money.

Recent ratings from Nielsen Media’s OWN coverage ratings report viewership growth, with Oprah’s Lifeclass debut in October, anchoring primetime at 8 p.m., up across key demos. Oprah’s Lifeclass live webcasts, including interaction with viewers, posted 3.5 million plus video views to date on Oprah.com and OWN’s and Oprah’s Facebook pages.Continue reading...

Oprah is finally taking OWNership of her fledgling TV channel.

The Oprah Winfrey Network (aka OWN) announced today that its namesake founder is stepping up to CEO and chief creative officer, effective this fall, in addition to her current role as chairman.

Erik Logan and Sheri Salata, current presidents of Harpo Studios, the television arm of Winfrey's Harpo Productions, will assume co- presidency of OWN, effective immediately, in a clear signal that Harpo will now focus all production on OWN, while Winfrey will now focus her energies on the Discovery-backed cable channel.

"I am ready to dedicate my full creative energy and focus as the full time CEO of OWN," said Winfrey. "By aligning the mission, talent and leadership of Erik, Sheri, the OWN team, the Harpo team, along with expertise of (Discovery Communications CEO) David Zaslav, Peter (Liguori, OWN's interim CEO) and all of Discovery behind us, we can unleash the full potential of the network."Continue reading...