Some people have suggested that Linsanity is pretty much over as the New York Knicks haven’t won (surprise!) every single game that Jeremy Lin has started as point guard, and have actually lost a few with him taking charge.

But anybody who says that obviously hasn’t been hanging out in Taiwan recently. Focus Taiwan reports that the 23-year-old Harvard grad’s influence is extremely strong there. A local magazine there released poll results Friday that show Lin’s continuing influence.Continue reading...

Less than a month ago, the idea of Nike giving Jeremy Lin his own shoe was completely laughable. Before his breakout game Feb. 4 against the New Jersey Nets, Lin had scored only 32 points in the nine games he had appeared in for the New York Knicks. He hadn’t even stepped onto the court for 13 of the team’s first 22 matchups.

Then, of course, he became the toast of New York and a worldwide phenomenon, rising up from his brother’s couch to seemingly save Gotham and strike a pose for underdogs everywhere (though it’s hard to imagine too many situations where a Harvard grad is considered an underdog). With all that love coming his way, marketers were suddenly calling. And Nike was apparently was early to the phone, especially since they had signed Lin to a deal back in 2010. Now it was time for their payday.

In the wake of last week's early sighting, Nike started to sell “Jeremy Lin-themed shoes” in the New York Knicks' team colors, in time to be worn by Lin last weekend. They can be created by fans online for $130 a pair, based on the basketball sneaks (Nike Zoom Hyperfuse Low) the brand built especially for the rising star. Just don't consider it Nike's official Lin shoe — yet.Continue reading...

The world, in case you hadn't noticed, has gone nuts for New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin. He finally started a game Wednesday during which he didn’t score 20 or more points. Instead, he provided 10 points and a season-high 13 assists in the team’s seventh straight win.

Now Nike is planning to give the people what they want: to be #Linning too. According to ESPN Radio's blog, the shoe manufacturer is "set to release the Nike Hyperfuse 2011 Linsanity PE," a shoe that features New York Knick's iconic orange and blue with ‘Lin’ written in script, "sweeping across the side of the heel" — they even got a sneak peek, as you can see from their photo above.Continue reading...

A week and a half ago, you had probably never heard his name; now you're no doubt sick of the puns. If you had heard of Jeremy Lin, he was as an undrafted, backup backup backup NBA point guard who had been dumped by the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets before signing on with the guard-needy New York Knicks this offseason.

Now he’s set the NBA world afire, becoming the first player in history to score 20 or more points and assist on seven or more baskets a game in his first four starts, all New York victories. Take that, Michael Jordan.

Lin is being paid $800,000 this season, the league minimum for a second-year player, but his brand has risen exponentially in the past week. According to Forbes, Lin’s brand is worth $14 million right now. Not bad for a guy who was couch-surfing — crashing at his brother's NYC apartment — not long ago.Continue reading...

On the 40th anniversary of his historic Madison Square Garden bout with Muhammad Ali, boxing legend Joe Frazier passed away last night at the age of 67 following the biggest fight of his life — with liver cancer.

Smokin' Joe was not the commercial juggernaut that fellow former boxing champ George Foreman became, but Frazier appeared in his share of ads. Incidentally, he was often singing in those ads.Continue reading...

Transparency is, and has always been, a hot topic in political and business circles.

Run a news search on "transparency" and reams of recent articles turn up. The most notable brand to made the headlines for transparency? Groupon.

Now, Corporate Responsibility Magazine has released its annual "Black List" of the large companies who with the worst transparency and corporate citizenship.

Surveyed companies are selected from the large-cap Russell 1000 companies list. The Black List's rankings are based on an audit of seven categories from publicly-available data. And it's not pretty.Continue reading...

HBO has won numerous awards for marketing and brand image campaigns — here's its latest.

Promoting its 2011 programming slate, it features the shortened "It's HBO" tagline and touts programming including the upcoming concert film Lady Gaga at Madison Square Garden, new series Game of Thrones, the new seasons of Boardwalk Empire, Treme, Bored to Death, Curb Your Enthusiasm and the final season of Entourage, original movie Too Big to Fail, and acquired movies Inception and The Town.Continue reading...

Japan assesses damage from the quake and tsunami as officials battle the continued threat from destruction at nuclear plants, US. nuclear-energy interests ponder the ramifications for America, the Nikkei falls and the central bank of Japan promises liquidity to help the economy, and Japanese auto plants remain closed.

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt also vows help for Japanese dealing with reactor woes, as GE designed 23 U.S. nuclear reactors similar to the troubled ones in Japan.

Amazon is pressured by states wanting it to collect sales taxes.

Apple chalks up strong sales for iPad 2, seeing 70% first-time buyers.

Bank of America is the latest WikiLeaks target.

BP dispute over Russian JV intensifies.Continue reading...