For generations, Lego has been considered a pretty unisex toy. You could build anything with those colorful little plastic blocks, but that was before big-time partnerships and licensing ever became truly part of the marketing equation.

When you walk into a toy store and look at the Lego shelves, it’s not too hard to find Lego products aligned with things that are traditionally marketed to boys, and lately they've been co-branded: Lego Harry Pottery, Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Alien Conquest, etc. The strategy helped Lego engineer a massive brand turnaround, making about $1 billion last year in the U.S. alone. The next step, naturally? Creating Lego lines aimed at girls.

Having dipped a toe in the water with pink boxes containing brightly colored bricks and flowers, Lego went all out with the launch of Lego Friends, a line expressly targeted to girls, that launched in December. Not everyone, however, is convinced that gender-specific Lego is the way to go.Continue reading...

SillyBrandz, the maker of the widely copied and on the wane Silly Bandz, is trying to fan the flames of the rubber bracelet phenom this holiday season.

It just launched a Silly Bandz game for the Nintendo DS platform (right), and it's coming to the iTunes store next week with its first mobile app, a game for Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices which had been slated for September. 

Declining in popularity since they peaked earlier this year, the brand this year partnered with the hottest kiddy bait on the planet (Justin Bieber) and added pricier wrist candy with a Silly Slapz watch line.

Just as Silly Bandz overtook last year's hot holiday gift — Zhu Zhu pets — it's now trying to reinvent itself in the face of this year's hot collectibles for kids.Continue reading...

Activia-maker Dannon forced to drop yogurt hype.

AOL acquires content marketing platform Pictela.

Apple grapples with "made in China" iPhones.

Baidu sees growth rate slowing in 2011.

Bloomberg to begin publishing editorials and opinion pieces.

BYD brings electric car fleet to Los Angeles.

Coors Light launches first Super Bowl XLV digital marketing.Continue reading...