Jamba Juice is stepping out in a big way — with a major promotional effort around the fourth film in the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn, Part 2, which premieres in November. The Emeryville, Calif.-based brand has been gradually expanding its product line and distribution points and looking for ways to become a lifestyle brand a la Starbucks.

While its fans are used to sucking on smoothies, the vampire fan demo may seem something of a departure for the smothie stalwart — but teaming up with what is still one of the hottest movie franchises around is bound to resonate with Jamba's female target audience. That's why Jamba has partnered with Lionsgate's Summit Entertainment for a multi-element campaign around the new Twilight installment.

The tie-in includes a new mixed-berry smoothie flavor called "Berry Bitten," a collection of Twilight slap bracelets, a Facebook-based sweepstakes offering tickets to the movie's Hollywood premiere on November 12, full-pages ads in magazines in cluding In Touch and Life & Style, and regional promotions run by franchisees.Continue reading...

BBC sees editor step aside amid Jimmy Savile sex scandal as director goes before government inquiry.

McDonald's teams up with Rovio for Angry Birds promotion in China.

Google defends trademark challenge to its AdWords service.

Adobe campaign uses blunt language.

Apple tests ability to stay ahead of the curve with new iPad reveal today.

Brand India is promoted with China trade show.

Denny's launches menu inspired by The Hobbit.

DuPont cuts outlook and plans to cut 1,500 jobs.

Facebook surges in fan engagement with restaurants.Continue reading...

When one thinks of Target, it's certainly fitting to imagine the retailer as an outlet for the teenage girls that form the bulk of The Hunger Games' most dedicated fan base. What may not be so fitting to the Target brand and clientele are the terms like "14-carat gold replicas" and "$999 each." Yet, this is what Target is dangling as one of the marquee features of its exclusive Hunger Games DVD release event.Continue reading...

If Amy Sedaris pitching Downy in a perky new campaign rings a bell, it's because celebrities have been sudsing up for brands since the early days of Hollywood. Think back to the golden days of radio, when Jack Benny plugged Jello in his opening line, "Jello, everybody, this is Jack Benny," and Bob Hope promoted Pepsodent toothpaste. And in the early days of television, George Burns and Gracie Allen peddled Carnation Milk, Groucho Marx touted Prom Shampoo and Ozzie and Harriett shilled for Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix. Before he was President, Ronald Reagan stumped for Chesterfield cigarettes.

In today’s world of 24/7 social media, celebrity endorsement, backing and entrepreneurship (from Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop to Jessica Alba's Honest Company) have reached new digital platforms. This week Stamped, a mobile app and website that lets people share reviews of anything they like, announced new celebrity backers including Justin Bieber, Ryan Seacrest and Ellen DeGeneres, and investments from Columbia Records, Eric Schmidt and The New York Times Company, bringing its financing to over $3 million.Continue reading...

With libraries reporting waiting lists in the thousands and retailers reporting over 10 million copies sold in just a month and a half, the popularity of 50 Shades of Grey and its siblings 50 Shades Darker and 50 Shades Freed has not only dominated The Hunger Games trilogy but (mercy!) "ripped through the virginity" of America's familiarity with, and openess to, BDSM.

Much to the delight of its publisher, the trilogy by E.L. James is being banned in libraries across the nation, where "pornography," not "literature," is used to describe the tome. And the only thing nearly as popular as reading the book is writing about how terrible it is as a book. (True fact: The books started as fan fiction featuring characters from the Twilight series — now it's inspiring fan fiction.)

Capitalizing on the new craze for "mommy porn" is "leading fetish company" Stockroom.com, which reports a "a remarkable surge in inquiries."Continue reading...

Target is an old hand at partnering with brands, tapping into the zeitgeist with key partnerships to get shoppers stampeding into their stores and website.

The retailer has brought pop-up stores to Manhattan with great success, such as a Liberty of London collaboration in 2010. So when Target partnered with Missoni for a New York Fashion Week pop-up store in September to promote a slew of zigzagged limited-edition products for the mass retailer, consumers behaved as if it were 1983 and the Cabbage Patch Dolls had just come out. (Well, OK, maybe a little better than that.)

Fashion-lovers were so excited when the Missoni collection went on sale that they crashed Target’s website, which left some customers unhappy and without their products. Now hopes are high for Target's big cross-promotions next month: a Valentine’s treat for fashionistas with an exclusive Jason Wu collection (the theme is "An American Girl in Paris") launching on February 5th; and whipping Twihards into a frenzy, a midnight event to promote The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 on Feb. 10.

It all creates buzz for Target, but the retailer needs another shopping lure after the less-than-stellar November and December that followed. So for its next big idea, Target “will soon have exclusive shops selling everything from candy to clothing as the discount chain tries to stand out among the growing ranks of retailers offering trendy, often low-priced merchandise,” Reuters reports. In addition, 25 of its locations will feature Apple products, in a first for that brand too.Continue reading...

Arnold Palmer re-brands for a generation who never knew the golfing legend.

Audiovox rebrands to Voxx International.

BlackBerry-maker RIM warns about profit outlook.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz race to the wire for 2011 luxury-sales crown in U.S.

Boeing takes its Dreamliner on a "world tour."

Chick-fil-A spat with t-shirt maker hits the New York Times.

Corona brings beach experience to London.Continue reading...

Opening Dec. 21, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is the fourth installment of the Tom Cruise franchise in which agent Ethan Hunt accomplishes, as promised, very possible missions. The movie will be a blockbuster, no doubt, at the box office and for its partners who've ponied up for marketing tie-ins and in-movie product placements.

But this Mission: Impossible installment has, fittingly, a clandestine brand partner — Apple. It's a brand that the spy series has not teamed up with since its first mission 15 years ago. And, like all good agents, nobody is talking about it.Continue reading...