In addition to new campaigns for Ford's "Hello Again" music project for the Lincoln brand and Kraft's "We are the World"-like music video for its Miracle Whip dressing during the Grammy Awards telecast on CBS, a host of other brands used the post-Super Bowl platform to make some noise.

Anheuser Busch InBev's Bud Light Platinum debuted its new new campaign by its new "creative director," Justin Timberlake, while Target also used the Grammys to kick off its tie-in with the singer's new album and promote its tie-ins with singer Pink and fashion designer Prabal Gurung:Continue reading...

2012 was a momentous year for Microsoft, building its devices and services foundation for the year to come. The company introduced the world to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, its family of Surface PCs, a new version of Microsoft Office and “Halo 4,” Microsoft celebrates "a steady rhythm of advancements across its most popular products for individuals and businesses" throughout 2012. See more in the video below and slideshow, and don't miss Bing's top searches of 2012.Continue reading...

You know the launch of the Windows 8 operating system, Windows Phone 8 and the Surface tablet is a big deal for Microsoft when it pulls out the big guns — chairman Bill Gates — to talk about why this week, with Friday's launch of Windows 8 globally and these new devices, represents a game-changer for the company and the brand. 

Microsoft is spending hundreds of millions of dollars and is the brand’s largest sustained global marketing activity in its 37-year history, including opening pop-up stores around the world in the brand's biggest retail activation to date. 

The Times Square holiday store in New York, for example, will give the first 100 people a year’s Xbox Music Pass (value $99.90) with purchase. The Big Apple will also be home to Microsoft's Microtropolis, a major interactive installation at Pier 57 on the Hudson River. Opening Friday, it's described as:

a stylized one hundred and sixty foot version of NYC in an art installation we are calling Microtropolis. Microtropolis is Manhattan experienced through Windows. It creates the ultimate hands-on demonstration of Windows 8, with the city of NYC as the backdrop. As you walk into the installation, you are literally walking through the avenues and streets with skyscrapers towering above. This interactive experience has hundreds of devices placed on rooftops within the city, customized to the neighborhoods in which they are placed.Continue reading...

Early look at new Windows 8 design baffles some users, but not three-year-old Julian, above, as Best Buy starts taking pre-orders for Windows 8 phones and gets ready to launch Surface tablet — and manage expectations ahead of growing thirst for tablets, and Oct. 23rd reveal of Apple's iPad Mini.

Lance Armstrong urges cancer supporters and celeb pals to stand by LiveStrong, as the New York Times and other media detail alleged doping cover-up.

Abercrombie & Fitch CEO sued by former private airline pilot over dismissal and eyebrow-raising requirements.

Apple sued over deal locking iPhone to AT&T network.

AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile will launch Isis mobile wallet on Monday.

Audi may help Mercedes-Benz overtake BMW in US.

Banana Boat recalls sunscreen due to flammability threat.

BBC roiled by "worst crisis in 50 years" and internal strife as its Jimmy Savile sex scandal handling goes public in broadcaster's own Panorama expose.Continue reading...

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is an excitable guy and if there is one thing that excites more than anything else (as far as we know), it is his employer. Ballmer threw his energy behind a letter to stockholders that was released on Monday, informing the investment community that Microsoft was in the midst of a changing world and now considers itself a devices and services company.

In other words, Microsoft is following in the footsteps of Apple. Don’t worry, Microsoft, as the master brand, will still be producing great software, but the company wants to push its device products, such as the soon-to-be-released Surface tablet. But, as Ballmer says in his letter, the company will be putting extra emphasis on "new form factors that have increasingly natural ways to use them including touch, gestures and speech."Continue reading...

Miami Heat and LeBron James win NBA title.

Abbott challenges ease of biotech drug copies.

Air France to cut 5,000 jobs.

Benetton takes Cannes award with "Unhate" campaign.

Best Buy tells investors its turnaround plan involves boosting training and services.

CBS plans to launch sports radio network.

Dow Jones plans to take Smart Money magazine to web only.Continue reading...

Barnes & Noble losses continue on Nook as e-reader competition intensifies.

Bridgestone surrenders Super Bowl halftime show.

Coca-Cola creates global TV series for Summer Olympics.

Facebook gains support for advertising from Ford and Coca-Cola.

FedEx CEO predicts industry shifts as airport-to-airport business stalls.

Ford uses big data to inform marketing and design decisions at Silicon Valley lab.

GM unifies global design strategy.

Kimberly-Clark enlists Mexican TV star for Huggies campaign.

J.C. Penney to tweak message but not strategy in wake of president's ouster this week.Continue reading...

The images may make it look like a notebook, but Microsoft's new Surface line is all about tablets. As the center of the computing industry continues to shift from PC to mobile, Microsoft, maker of keyboards and mice for three decades, is directly challenging Apple’s iPhone and iPad dominance with the Surface sub-brand.

"Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen made a big bet — a bet on software — but it was always clear that we had to push hardware in ways that sometimes manufacturers hadn't envisioned," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at Monday's unveiling. "We believe that any intersection between human and machine can be made better when all aspects, hardware and software, are working together."Continue reading...