When it comes to headphones, it’s all about whose head they're sitting on. Last summer at the Olympic Games in London, plenty of companies shelled out millions to be official sponsors, but one that didn’t bother was likely the biggest winner. Beats by Dre headphones kept getting airtime on international TV as athlete after athlete seemed to be sporting them.

These days, the business started by one of the world’s most influential—and richest—rappers, Dr. Dre. is commanding top billing among audio equipment providers. Dre is sitting extra pretty after HTC bought a 51 percent stake in the company in 2011 to the tune of a reported $100 million. (HTC later sold back 25 percent to Dre and co-founder Jimmy Iovine for $125 million.)Continue reading...

Running is about to change forever. Well, that’s what the marketing minds at Adidas want you to think about their new running shoes, the Adidas Boost trainers, which will make their debut Wednesday.

To prove the point, Adidas has released a teaser video (below) that shows off three metal balls being dropped from the top of the frame onto the base material for Boost, EVA (or ethylene vinyl acetate, which is often used in running shoes), and concrete. Guess which ball bounces the highest by far? Spoiler alert: Boost it is.

The Adidas Running website and Facebook page are also teasing the big reveal at a global press event in New York, while promoting the #boost hashtag to stir Twitter conversations.Continue reading...

The list reads like a Who’s Who of A-list celebrities: Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Victoria Beckham, Swizz Beatz, will.i.am. But it's not a concert bill.

Instead, it's a list of stars who have recently agreed to serve as creative directors for brands — a trend that seems to blur the lines between star bling and business acumen.

Bud Light Platinum is the latest, announcing this week that it's inked deal with Justin Timberlake “to provide creative, musical and cultural curation for the brand.” The collaboration is to debut at Sunday’s 55th Grammy Awards via an ad, "Platinum Night," which features his latest single, "Suit & Tie." "Bud Light Platinum brings a refined, discerning aesthetic to beer that plays well with what I'm doing," Timberlake stated in a press release.Continue reading...

Coca-Cola ♥ the Olympic Games. After all, the soda maker has been lapping up the Olympics for every bit of marketing goodwill it can get for more than 80 years.

Now this year’s Olympics are in full swing and Coca-Cola can see the light at the end of the tunnel of its Move to the Beat campaign with singer Katy B and producer Mark Ronson that kicked off ahead of its sponsorship of the 8,000-mile Olympic torch relay. It's been a busy year with a variety of London 2012 marketing tie-ins.

And now Coca-Cola is extending its musical chops in a just-announced partnership with will.i.am to launch a sustainability-collaboration platform for brands dubbed EKOCYCLE, which is partnering to produce greener Beats by Dr Dre headphones — a brand that isn't music to the London Olympics organizers' ears.Continue reading...

As promised last month, Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning's Airtime has gone live, with the tagline "Create shared experiences with the people you know, and the people you want to know." The social video chat service from Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker is officially on the air, launching at a New York press conference with Jim Carrey, Julia-Louis Dreyfus, Ed Helms, Joe McHale, Jimmy Fallon, Olivia Munn, Alicia Keys and Snoop Dogg in attendance.Continue reading...

Sean Parker — Napster cofounder, Spotify cofounder, and Facebook's first president, as portrayed by Justin Timberlake in The Social Network — is teaming again with Shawn Fanning, his old Napster colleague, on Airtime, a new video chat service for Facebook users, which will be unveiled June 5th at Milk Studios in New York City.

Generating murmurs and speculation at SXSW earlier this year, the new platform will randomly put Facebook users face-to-face with each other, echoing the notorious Chatroulette. 

On the website is a Facebook sign-up button for early access, a countdown clock (18 days to go now!), and job postings for technical talent.Continue reading...

• Go ahead, customize that 2013 Mustang — but watch out for the little ballerina with the inner Black Swan.

• "For sale - a willing and able permanent or temporary employee." Unemployed woman auctions herself on eBay.

• "Eyevertising!" Unemployed Londoner offers ad space ... on his eye.

Below, check out Funny or Die's Kia Optima spoof with Blake Griffin and Jeff Goldblum; Salma Hayek's midnight run for the Milk Mustache campaign; will.i.am drives buzz for Chrysler; and more.Continue reading...

Above, guests at Monday's rain-making Burberry Prorsum women's Autumn/Winter 2012 collection at London Fashion Week including will.i.am praise the brand for being not only fashion- but digital-forward, while Vogue's Anna Wintour praises designer Christopher Bailey for bringing polish and global sophistication to British fashion. Check out the runway show below.Continue reading...