Every August, IKEA fans look forward to the thunk of the furniture store's new catalog in their mailbox or doorstep. Those days may be packing up — IKEA US has announced that its 2013 catalog being shipped to homes next month will be pre-released as a digital version on July 31, including relaunching its IKEA Catalog App for smartphone or tablet with a digital twist this year: augmented reality.Continue reading...

P&G's Gain brand enrolled comedian and actress, Wanda Sykes, to help consumers find their perfect scent match.

On the brand's YouTube channel an interactive video questionnaire features Sykes as a virtual matchmaker ("like Cupid, for your nose!"), guiding users through a tongue-in-cheek personality test to determine the Gain variety scent best suited to their likes.Continue reading...

Domino's Pizza is thanking its U.S. digital customers for passing the $1 billion mark in digital sales between April 2011 to April 2012 — that's one billion dollars in digital sales in one year, folks — with 50% off all pizzas ordered online at menu price. The deal is available through Dominos.com and mobile.dominos.com, and iPhone and Android apps through Sunday, June 17 (conveniently, also Father's Day).

"We love our online customers, and have learned so much from them during the past five years about how we can continue to deliver the best online ordering experience in the industry," said Russell Weiner, Domino's CMO, in a press release. "Reaching $1 billion in online sales during a one year time period is a major milestone, and we hope offering this amazing deal for an entire week lets our fans and customers know how much we appreciate them."Continue reading...

Four years shy of turning 100, Boeing just launched its first official app for iPad, 'Milestones in Innovation', in Apple's App Store. The app celebrates nine decades of aviation innovation through beautiful imagery and an interactive timeline, from its first 1916 launch (above) to the Boeing 787, winner of the 2011 Collier Trophy for aviation excellence, below.Continue reading...

Brands can ask their fans to do some crazy things to show their love, but Nike Japan has found a new way to get its devotees to make themselves look a little crazy while helping to spread the Nike name.

Their marketing team's latest stunt: Free Face, which asks consumers to, well, load an image of their face that the magic of technology will use to create an oddly similar image of a Nike shoe. This, of course, has led to some hilarious results.Continue reading...

The insatiable Chinese consumer is one of the big reasons luxury brand marketers like the French conglomerate LVMH took the recent economic downturn in stride. 

LVMH, owner of iconic brand names including De Beers, Fendi, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton, recognized years ago that China represented a burgeoning luxury market. Along with European competitors like Hermes and Burberry, LVMH aggressively sought out Chinese retail channels for its products.

Even though luxury products continue to enjoy popularity, there are signs that store sales may be leveling off in China. That's why LVMH is looking to the Internet as a new way of engaging upscale Chinese consumers, as evidenced by the launch of a Chinese-language version of its Nowness.com portal.Continue reading...

Above, Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts discusses Burberry World, the luxury brand's relaunched website-as-social network that went live last year (powered by Salesforce) to engage its customers and serve as an interactive platform from which to live-stream its fashion collections and bring the brand's heritage to life.Continue reading...

Next Issue Media, a consortium of five of the world’s largest publishers—Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, Time Inc. and News Corp—is betting consumers will download "the world's greatest magazines" from their digital newsstand. It's a big bet.

Almost a year ago the publishers launched the first iteration of the "Hulu-Meets-Magazine" app on the Galaxy Tab and since then consumer resistance to pay-per-issue or per-subscription offerings has grown.Continue reading...