Since 2006, Macy's has carried the Martha Stewart Collection of home products under the banner, "Only at Macy's." So when Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia struck a 10-year deal last month to sell some branded products at rival department store J.C.Penney, which also acquired a large stake in MSLO, Macy's legal department took notice.

Today Macy's filed a New York state Supreme Court filing to stop Martha Stewart's company from moving ahead with the J.C.Penney arrangement, which includes launching an e-commerce site and branded in-store boutiques in 2013, and to reinforce its existing contract.Continue reading...

Paula Deen confirmed this morning to Al Roker on The Today Show that she has had type-2 Diabetes for the past three years but chose to keep it "close to her chest," despite continuing to espouse butter-laden comfort food (stuffing on a stick or donut burgers, anyone?) on the Food Network.

Deen, who told Roker that she doesn't intend to change the way she cooks now that her diabetes is public, has timed her announcement to the signing of a deal to be a paid spokesperson for Novo Nordisk, which produces the diabetes drug Victoza. The drug company is featuring Deen on a new website (called "Diabetes in a New Light") that offers "recipes, lifestyle tips and support"). Deen's ads for the diabetes drug are slated to appear later this month.Continue reading...

About 900 cities across America have named streets in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. since he was gunned down in 1968, but not Memphis, where he suffered his assassination (unless you count a stretch of nearby interstate highway). It appears that that all is about to change – just in time for Martin Luther King, Jr., Weekend.

The Associated Press reports that Memphis officials “will consider naming a key downtown street for the civil rights icon.” The subject is due to come up before the Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board Thursday and is expected to pass.

"It was something that had a place in my heart for some time," former city councilman Berlin Boyd, who proposed the change when he was still in office, told AP. "Here is a city where Martin Luther King's blood cries from the streets, and we don't have anything to pay tribute to him."Continue reading...

If there is one thing NBA stars LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Derrick Rose need, it's more exposure, don’t you think? Forget their break-ups and make-ups... basketball's major personal brands are making sure their names are out there in bold print across the nation with three totally different deals.

You’d think the Chicago Bulls point guard, Rose, who is making almost $95 million over five seasons, had enough cash in the bank to survive for some time, but the word from Business Insider is that he’s bolstering his accounts by signing a “lifetime endorsement” deal with Adidas that will pay him $250 million. Not bad for a 23-year-old in a rough economy who may or may not have had someone else take his SATs for him. It’s actually a 10-year deal, according to ESPN, that would have Rose serve as the “face” of Adidas. As ESPN hears it, Rose’s shoes outsell LeBron’s in China.

Meanwhile, James is shoring up his name and fame by opening his own retail store in Miami over the holidays, while Bryant is having fun spoofing his image for Nike.Continue reading...

As Tebowmania faces its biggest on-field test come Sunday, when the surging Denver Broncos host the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots, five myths have emerged about the Tim Tebow phenomenon. Brand marketers might want to pay attention.

There is no bigger marketing vehicle in America than the National Football League, and the Broncos' second-year quarterback is the biggest story in the NFL this fall. Consider the mileage that ESPN is getting today with a viral remix tribute to Tebow, "All He Does is Win," by DJ Steve Porter.

Myth No. 1: Tebow is doing it all alone. While the quarterback has emerged as a leader nonpareil of fourth-quarter comebacks this season, he's getting loads of help from the Broncos' defense, rushing game, offensive line and even special teams. They have all stepped up their games concomitant with Tebow's tenure as starting quarterback. They feed his success and vice versa. And at least for now, Broncos General Manager John Elway — who knows a thing or two about fourth-quarter comebacks — has warmed up to this winning formula.Continue reading...

The stakes for Ryan Braun, last season's National League Most Valuable Player in Major League Baseball, couldn't be higher after word has leaked out that he tested positive for a substance the game has banned. Not only his reputation is at stake but also a 57-game suspension and about one-third of his 2012 salary, should he not be able to overturn MLB's finding on appeal.

Braun, the left fielder for the Milwaukee Brewers, apparently is pleading that the tests somehow have been mishandled or misinterpreted amid the league's complex process, but no player ever tested positive has won on appeal. In any event, the league's final ruling isn't likely to come until January.

Meanwhile, the brands behind Braun's increasingly significant commercial endorsements are bound to be none too happy about any of this. Nike, AirTran Airways, and Cytosport, makers of Muscle Milk, had ties with Braun before he was bestowed the MVP award in November. Presumably, a number of other brands have been exploring the rising endorsement potential of the young star who is telegenic and, until now, has had a squeaky-clean reputation.Continue reading...

Back in the day, you didn't need to hear a last name to know who "Arnie" was any more than you now need one to know who "Tiger" is.

But these days, nearly six decades after a young Pennsylvanian named Arnold Palmer stormed to his first major victory in the 1955 Canadian Open, arguably even more Americans know who he is and have some idea of his engaging, larger-than-life persona. Now, that's personal branding with longevity.

Even as the young-golfer phenom, Woods, begins to restore a brand that he badly tarnished — Palmer, at 82, remains not only relevant to consumers but about to embark on an overhaul of his brand and associated properties to make him even more relevant to today.

"We're at a crucial point in Mr. Palmer's career," Cori Britt, VP of Arnold Palmer Enterprises, told Ad Age. "We're looking forward to ensuring the Arnold Palmer brand is positioned for success 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now."Continue reading...

Soon after Tiger Woods had his fateful car crash during Thanksgiving weekend of 2009 that led to the world discovering that he had cheated on his wife with a dozen women, if not more, his golf tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, was to be played.

As Woods attempted to figure out if there was a way to save his marriage and good-guy public image that he had just destroyed (evidently, there wasn’t), he decided to not play in the event or any other for some time. Chevron, amazingly, stuck with the event since then ... until Sunday, when the brand announced that it won’t be back next year.

The news comes just after Woods, a winner of 14 major events in his career, brought the competition a boatload of PR by making it the first golf contest he’s won since his infidelities became known (and his 2009 Australian Masters victory).

And he took the 2011 Chevron World Challenge title the way he used to as well: in grand style. He was down a stroke with two holes to play and somehow found a way to work his way back for the win. Last year, he had a four-shot lead that he couldn’t hold onto. Things were different this time around.Continue reading...