HTC One, a.k.a. the Facebook Home phone that's coming to AT&T and other carriers, is just one focus of the company’s impending brand refresh and aggressive marketing campaign to get better market placement against competitors like Samsung. 

HTC has been known for good hardware and not-so-good promotion, but squaring off against marketing-savvy Samsung requires the former to up its game. "It's one thing to make a great device—HTC has done that before," Mike Woodward, president of HTC America told the LA Times. "What is a little different this time is the way that we're going to market. We want to really get that down to the streets and get that down to consumers." 

HTC had been using “quietly brilliant” as its slogan, but the brand is looking to step out of its shell with a new marketing message that has “bold,” “authentic” and “playful” themes. The new tagline, "Everything Your Phone Isn't," is courting "Generation Feed" (what HTC calls tech-savvy, early-adopters). "Tech millennials are hard to connect with," Erin McGee, HTC North America VP Marketing told Ad Age. "We wanted to create a closer connection by targeting passion points."Continue reading...

Analysts had thought that Nike’s third quarter earnings would come in at 67 cents per share, but when the info was finally doled out Thursday, the company surprised with a 16 percent increase in net income to $662 million. That’s 73 cents per share. Not too shabby.

The sporting brand saw growth across the globe, except for a teensy consumer market called Asia. Apparently, Nike is doing just fine without China and Japan, as stocks hit a 20-month high at $58.69, Bloomberg reports.

"Our team delivered strong results in Q3. We did it with a relentless flow of innovation into our key categories," said Mark Parker, president and CEO of Nike. "Given the diversity of our portfolio, we're able to capture big opportunities that drive sustainable, profitable growth. At the same time we continue to invest in new ways to enhance athletic performance, build strong consumer communities, and improve how we design and manufacture our products. That’s how we increase our potential and drive shareholder value."Continue reading...

For Audi, it's the best of times and the worst of times. It depends on whether you're talking about selling vehicles to Americans, Chinese—or Europeans.

Overall, Audi executives stated in a conference call detailing the company's 2012 performance and results on Tuesday, they're bullish as can be about beating the company's global vehicle sales record of 1.46 million last year and increasing deliveries to more than 2 million vehicles by 2020, with the aim of snatching the luxury-sales crown from rival BMW by that year. They also expect to reach 1.5 million annual sales worldwide earlier than their previous plan by 2015.

However, Europe stinks for selling cars right now as the continent sinks into recession and even luxury buyers are pressed. "Overall development in western Europe was recessive [last year] and economic output contracted," Audi CFO Axel Strotbek commented, according to Automotive News Europe.Continue reading...

Ford reported a tale of two continents in its quarterly earnings today, with robust North American profits but deepening losses in troubled Europe.

In the United States, Ford has become a sales and earnings juggernaut, posting pretax profits of more than $8 billion last year, including $2 billion in the fourth quarter on the strength of a 4.7 percent increase in U.S. auto sales last year and an increasingly healthy pickup-truck business. Ford's U.S. employees will share in the bounty to the tune of a profit-sharing check averaging about $8,300 per hourly worker for 2012, up from about $6,200 each in 2011.

Yet Ford could only report an increasingly woeful picture in Europe, which is slipping into a continent-wide recession. Ford Europe lost $732 million in the fourth quarter and $1.75 billion for the full year — more than Ford's previous forecast of $1.5 billion in European losses for 2012.Continue reading...

Starbucks is certainly feeling bullish these days. Just a few years after scaling back its US retail footprint in a rocky economy, the coffee giant is now eyeing "accelerated global growth" with plans to open thousands of new locations. It's even offering a luxe "superpremium" gift card that'll cost $450 to put in a Christmas stocking.

In a presentation at the company's biennial investor conference today, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz glowed with the news that he plans to boost the number of Starbucks cafes in the Americas by more than 20 percent — opening more than 3,000 new shops over the next five years, including 1,500 in the United States, still its biggest market.Continue reading...

Burberry has opened its second largest store in North America, and while its new Chicago store may not be quite on the scale of its relaunched London flagship, it was feted with a unique local event that continued its theme of "retail as theater" and meshing digital, entertainment and fashion in one seamless experience. The store also boasts its first beauty consultation counter in North America.

The luxury brand's Chief Creative Officer, Christopher Bailey, hosted the Nov. 29 opening as a celebration of the Windy City, showcasing the city's iconic landmarks and creative community through the brand's digital platform, Art of the Trench. Music for the evening was provided by British musician Carl Barat from the Libertines, who performed a live set, followed by DJ Matt Roan. Guests at the event included actors Charlie Barnett, Billy Zane and Alex Holden, American former football player Jerry Azumah, DJ Kid Color, artist JC Steinbrunner.

According to Luxury Daily, "Burberry is partnering with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to bring $2.2 million in funding to the Chicago Hive Learning Network to celebrate this store opening. The funding will go toward inspiring young people in Chicago and creating innovative educational experiences."

You know summer's over in North America when Starbucks starts hyping (watch below) its Pumpkin Spice Latte — which it wants fans to associate with the return of fall and call "PSL" — and and its related menu of pumpkin pastries. A second annual Facebook challenge brought the seasonal beverage to Leavenworth, WA, ahead of its national rollout today.

And for the first time, this year Pumpkin Spice Latte will be offered beyond North America. Starting in October, according to a blog post, the beverage will be available at Starbucks stores in the UK, Ireland, France, Austria and Switzerland. Its VIA line of instant flavored coffees is also adding, er, PSL to its lineup.Continue reading...

It's 7-Eleven Day, so slurp it up! Highlighting the obvious tie-in between its brand name and event marketing manna from heaven, 7-Eleven stores long ago picked July 11 (7/11) at the height of North America's summer to throw a party and drive customers to the Slurpee machine.

To celebrate the convenience store chain's 85th year in business, 7-Eleven is giving away free 7.11 (of course) ounce Slurpee drinks between 11 AM and 7 PM local time (not, alas, 7 AM-11 PM) on 7/11/12. Last year, 7-Eleven handed out 5 million Slurpee drinks on 7-Eleven Day. This year, how many do you think they expect to distribute? Why, 7 million, of course.Continue reading...