Netflix announced in July that it was going to expand to 43 Latin American and Caribbean countries by year’s end. Now it is known where a good chunk of content for that marketplace is coming from.

Telemundo International recently announced a program-licensing deal with Netflix, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Telemundo, owned by NBC Universal, will be providing 1,200 hours of content to Netflix annually that Latin American subscribers can get via streaming, the Reporter notes.

Netflix is already getting 3,000 hours of content from Televisa as well as 1,500 hours from Azteca.

In April, Netflix announced it had 23.6 million subscribers. It looks to increase that number substantially once it begins streaming content in Latin America.

It’s about to get even easier to find a Slurpee in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Retail chain 7-Eleven, based in Dallas, announced Tuesday that it “has agreed to buy retail interests" in 51 Exxon Mobil Corp. sites, according to the Associated Press.

Nearly all of the sites are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The gas stations will continue to be branded Exxon, while the 7-Eleven brand will be flying high on most of the rest of the retail locations. Many of the stores are now simply called “On the Run.”

The deal should close by the end of the year. Rebranding and reconstruction should take till the close of 2012.Continue reading...

Single malt Scottish whiskey is certainly the fuel for many good times, but now whiskey (or at least its byproducts) is fueling the Bruichladdich distillery – as well as a Nissan Leaf electric car.

The 130-year-old distillery, located on the remote Scottish island of Islay, uses waste products of whiskey distillation to produce gas, which powers a generator that provides enough power for all the electricity needs of the distillery operations. Mark Reynier, managing director of the distillery, also uses the whiskey-based electricity to power up his 2012 Nissan Leaf, which handles his 16-mile round-trip commute with one charge a week.Continue reading...

It makes perfect sense that two of the biggest brands in business and entertainment, Xerox and Cirque du Soleil, would come together in a time when event sponsorship is a more serious decision as dollars and marketing resources are scarcer.

As the New York Times reviewed the Montreal-based troupe's current show, Zarkana, “What remains appealing about Cirque du Soleil shows is this emphasis on the human ability to create excitement from sheer physical prowess and perfectly drilled gymnastic feats.” 

Now, that prowess will be supported by Xerox, a new official partner of Cirque du Soleil, which will take on behind-the-scenes handling of Cirque's business processes and bring deft finesse to Cirque's cross-media marketing needs.Continue reading...

General Motors isn’t the only company hoping to benefit from its current summer promotion: a test offer of a free year of car insurance to new-vehicle buyers in Washington and Oregon. MetLife, the policy provider, is looking for a potentially significant bump as well.

The Warwick, R.I.-based insurer and the Detroit-based automaker have structured the marketing as a sort of co-branded arrangement designed to do just that. 

MetLife is hoping for greater exposure in a weak geographic market for its brand, Bob Lundgren, VP of product development for MetLife Auto & Home, told brandchannel. GM also is seeking to boost its market share in a traditionally sub-par market, although the company has done a bit better in each state this year than last year so far.Continue reading...

After teasing the 2012 Beetle on Oprah's year-end giveaway and then with a Super Bowl spot (and memorable YouTube interactive), Volkwagen announced April 18th as the global reveal for the next generation Beetle.

The event will be simulcast online from three cities on three continents (New York, Shanghai and Berlin) in partnership with MTV, in a musical kick-off aimed at the under-40 crowd.Continue reading...

Procter & Gamble is unloading its stake in the Pringles chip brand to Diamond Foods, in a $2.35 billion deal that gets P&G out of the food business.

Diamond Foods, which also owns Emerald Nuts, the Kettle chips brand and Pop Secret popcorn, "is contributing stock it values at $1.5 billion and assuming $850 million of debt from Pringles" as part of the M&A deal, notes the Wall Street Journal.

"Pringles is an iconic, billion dollar snack brand with significant global manufacturing and supply chain infrastructure," said Michael J. Mendes, Chairman, President and CEO of Diamond Foods in a press release.

"Our plan is to build upon the brand equity Pringles has established in over 140 countries. This strategic combination will create an independent, global leader in the snack industry with a focus on quality and innovative products.  Not only is this combination immediately accretive, it also creates a platform that we believe will allow us to build shareholder value for years to come."Continue reading...

American Express OPEN is launching an original series on Nov. 1 which aims to help small business owners get smarter about branding.

Originally dubbed Project Revive and now itself rebranded to Project RE:Brand, the series on OpenForum.com pairs three small brands with big ambitions and three agencies in a reality TV-style brand makeover series.

The participants, all based in or around New York City: Citra Solv is paired with The Apartment (which calls the project "a secret branding experiment"); AirEast Airways teams with Pandiscio; and ArtYarns is shown working with OfficeLab.

The pitch: over the course of the eight-week series, each small brand will learn how to sharpen their image and brand values, forge stronger connections with customers and, judging by the teaser trailer above, potentially rename their companies.