No doubt, Ford could stand to generate a little excitement these days.

It has done a great job of instilling the confidence of American consumers in its ability to field a highly competent and very competitive lineup of vehicles across every important segment, but the new F-150 pickup truck won’t come along until next year, and in the meantime the most buzz the brand can generate has to do with a newly redesigned—yet decidedly middle-of-the-road—Fusion mid-size sedan.

So hype for the 50th anniversary of the Mustang is coming along just in time. Not only that—Ford has come up with a perfect vehicle for an integrated marketing campaign that will keep the original pony car and its golden anniversary front and center right up through when the actual occasion is marked in early 2014.Continue reading...

Sometimes serendipity brings marketers together in a partnership that makes great sense for both. That appears to be what has happened in a California-only linkup between Fiat and Jones Soda.

Fancying themselves on the cutting edge of American culture, the two brands were already talking, but when they discovered that Fiat was planning to roll out its new California-only 500e this spring at the same time that Jones was planning to launch distribution of its new Natural Jones Soda in California, a fated promotion took shape.

Thus, the newly announced "Jonesin' for a Fiat 500e" summer-photo contest promotion featuring the new all-electric version of the Fiat 500 and the lighter-calorie, reduced-sugar line of new sodas introduced by one of the original boutique-soft-drink brands. They'll be seeking submissions of photos of any Fiat 500 model via social media, partnering in sampling Natural Jones Soda and providing peeks at the 500e at California surfing events and other showcases, and even giving away Natural Jones to visitors to Fiat "studios" in the state.Continue reading...

In its latest collaboration with BuzzFeed, GE’s Wonderground allows users to explore five US cities via virtual tours, offering up bites of interesting trivia along the way. The multi-platform game avaialble via iOS or online makes use of the media site's photo content pages in order to immerse users in an eye-opening look through science, design and industrial technology. 

The game lets users explore New York City, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, in which fun facts like "LAX is the 3rd busiest airport in the United States,” and “the Getty Museum hires goats each spring to eat away at brush around the hills of the building,” which are featured in the L.A. video, voiced by BuzzFeed’s EVP Video, Ze Frank, with the headline, "See what others miss."Continue reading...

More than 50 million Americans are “food insecure,” according to a 2011 US Department of Agriculture study. In its latest designer collaboration, Target is partnering with FEED Projects to help change that. 

Target is joining forces with Lauren Bush Lauren's FEED Projects, which has previously partnered with Gap, Bergdorf Goodman and Pottery Barn, but the Target partnership is the largest to date. The collection is due to launch June 30. The duo just wrapped up a five-city tour of Feeding America programs that took them to food banks and local pantries in San Francisco, Minnesota, New York City and more. Target and FEED are hoping the partnership will generate 10 million meals for Feeding America.

"Target (has) such a massive reach that we just don't have," Lauren told USA Today. "So it's wonderful when we can partner with Target to really just blow it out and have such a big impact in a short amount of time."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...

BlackBerry recently announced it's tapping the creative mind of Alicia Keys as "global creative director". Polaroid did the same with Lady Gaga. 

As of today, combine another major brand with a celebrity "creative director:" American fashion designer Marc Jacobs and Diet Coke. The soft drink, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, made the announcement just as Fashion Week is ready to kick off in New York.

Jacobs will provide general creative input and what Women's Wear Daily called "whimsical, feminine" packaging for the brand, according to the Stylecaster blog, while Diet Coke's new commercial ("Photo Booth Break") reveals Jacobs as its latest fashion designer collaboration.Continue reading...

eBay has partnered with seven leading fashion designers on an exclusive new collaboration: the eBay Holiday Collective—an original, limited-edition gift collection of men's and women's apparel, jewelry, travel and electronics accessories and home décor items for the 2012-13 holiday season. Starting November 12, the capsule collections will be available globally, exclusively on eBay's fashion portal, at accessible, "Buy it Now" prices from $50 to $100 and will include free U.S. and international shipping. Above, watch designer Steven Alan discuss the partnership, and below, the designers behind the Fallon, Ruffian and Billy Reid labels. Also involved: Chris Benz, Tibi and Jonathan Adler, who taped his own homage to eBay as part of the brand's "eBay Thanks You" campaign:Continue reading...

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney aren't the only ones who want the votes of women this fall: Chevrolet is also pursuing women for the new Malibu, and so the brand has enlisted designer Isaac Mizrahi to get some fashion-forward attention for a vehicle that hasn't been known for being on the cutting edge of couture.

Mizrahi has designed a preppy collection (in patriotic colors of red, white and blue) of Chevy Malibu-inspired clothing, Malibu Style. It's exclusively being sold on the LivingSocial deals website, with its six pieces ranging from a bright blue totebag to an oversized watch, at prices ranging from $78 to $298.

The New York-based Mizrahi has colllaborated in the past with the likes of Target and QVC, but this collaboration aims at getting women to take a closer look at a nameplate that otherwise might not get their attention.Continue reading...