For 50 years, James Bond has been finding his way out of life-threatening situations and winning hearts on the world’s silver screens. Friday, Oct. 5th marks the 50th anniversary of Bond on the silver screen, which is being promoted as Global James Bond Day. And in about a month, the British spy will come striding onto the big screen once again, so that means the heavy media push is now on.

The upcoming Bond film, Skyfall, has already been raising some eyebrows with the news that 007 will enjoy a Heineken during the film and not his typical martini tipple, with fans encouraged to help the new Bond girl, Severine, "crack the case" in a Facebook mystery game. But plenty of other marketers are jumping on the film’s release as well to encourage consumers to be more like the women-objectifying, consistently drinking, hidden-weapon-wielding Bond.Continue reading...

With consumer and business travel down, most hotel chains have been ducking for cover. But Carlson Hotels Worldwide, owner of the Radisson hotel brand, is doing the opposite: The company is investing US$ 1.5 billion to upgrade the brand in the US so it's more in keeping with Radisson's global image.

It's an interesting dilemma for Carlson's president and chief executive Hubert Joly. He says Radisson has enjoyed success outside the US because it has properties in many world-class cities that are "stunning." In the United States, however, Radisson Hotels are not regarded as luxury hotels; on the contrary, they compete with mid-range chains, such as Holiday Inns, which recently announced its own program to "contemporize" its properties.Continue reading...