Lance Armstrong came back from his deathbed to win one of the most grueling races in sports, the Tour de France, seven straight times. Along the way, he inspired a kazillion folks with his autobiography, It’s Not About the Bike, and by founding one of the biggest cancer-research foundations around, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

While Armstrong supposedly took performance-enhancing drugs during the time of those races and has seen his personal brand take a huge hit, with results from that time period now wiped from his record and his sports legacy in tatters, but many fans don’t seem to care: Lance Armstrong is Lance Armstrong, one of the world’s most incredible athletes with one of the most incredible recovery tales.

So, after a rough year of dealing with those drug allegations and watching his record get wiped clean, the 41-year-old got to celebrate on Oct. 2nd. A highlight of the Foundation’s 15th anniversary (that’s the crystal anniversary for you married folks out there) is the release of a limited edition line of Livestrong apparel by Nike for the holidays. The all-yellow (of course) gear reflects Nike's continued support of the philanthropic organization that Armstrong launched in 1997.Continue reading...

For 50 years, James Bond has been finding his way out of life-threatening situations and winning hearts on the world’s silver screens. Friday, Oct. 5th marks the 50th anniversary of Bond on the silver screen, which is being promoted as Global James Bond Day. And in about a month, the British spy will come striding onto the big screen once again, so that means the heavy media push is now on.

The upcoming Bond film, Skyfall, has already been raising some eyebrows with the news that 007 will enjoy a Heineken during the film and not his typical martini tipple, with fans encouraged to help the new Bond girl, Severine, "crack the case" in a Facebook mystery game. But plenty of other marketers are jumping on the film’s release as well to encourage consumers to be more like the women-objectifying, consistently drinking, hidden-weapon-wielding Bond.Continue reading...

While the Boy Scouts brand has been rocked by the organization's mishandling of pedophilia charges, the century-old Girl Scouts have gone from strength to strength in their centennial year. The latest change: the iconic Girl Scout Cookies are getting a redesign for the first time since 1999, honoring the significance and continued growth of the $790-million girl-led business. 

The iconic packaging highlights five financial, literacy and entrepreneurship skills that the Girl Scout Cookie Program teaches: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics and the redesign matches the embodiment of Girl Scouting in 2012, part of the brand’s 100th anniversary celebrated in March. 

“We have more than 50 million cookie customers across the country, and the cookie box is the most tangible and powerful way for us to communicate directly with consumers,” stated Girl Scouts USA CEO Anna Maria Cháve about the new cookie box packaging, which features "stories of what Girl Scouts do today."Continue reading...

The Oreo Daily Twist campaign is fulfilling the brand's mission to help people celebrate the kid inside us all and since June, has been offering a new visually punning "ad" each day to the more than 27.9 million people who “like” Oreo on Facebook or check in on Oreo.com, Pinterest or Twitter. 

The tongue-in-cheek graphics, ideal for pinning, sharing and tweeting, riff on topics in the news and pop culture, ranging from the iPhone 5, Emmy Awards, and Mars Rover to rainbow-striped gay pride, Psy's Gangnam Style phenom and the just-resolved NFL substitute referees blow-up.

The campaign spanned 100 days in honor of the 100th anniversary in March of Kraft's "World’s Favorite Cookie," and as the final day approaches on Oct. 2nd, Oreo will set up a “virtual office” in Times Square on Oct. 2nd to craft the final Daily Twist ad in mere hours based on real-time suggestions from fans.Continue reading...

Through the seven kazillion James Bond books and movies, the guy has tipped back a few boatloads of alcohol. It’s a small wonder he can find the dexterity to operate his tear gas cartridge disguised as talcum powder or dodge the dagger shoes worn by SPECTRE agents. Along the way, he’s been labeled a vodka martini man – "shaken, not stirred," of course — even though Champagne is the most frequent tipple he’s served.

In the soon-to-be-released Skyfall, though, Bond will reach for a Heineken since the Dutch brewer has forked over a reported $45 million to have its brand incorporated in the film. The product placement announcement earlier this year got a few fans' knickers in a twist, including one who played 007 in days gone by.Continue reading...

Tiffany celebrates its 175th anniversary today, opening its doors on Sept. 14, 1837. Fans are posting congrats on the brand's Facebook page — with some celebrating by buying a bauble or two from its 1837 anniversary collection and special edition Rubedo rose-gold jewelry, and others lusting after "the one and only" yellow Tiffany diamond, all 128.54 carats, re-set for its 175th anniversary.Continue reading...

On the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks last year, a few brands saw an opportunity to show the world that they will never forget and they’ve got good hearts so next time you want something, think of them. 

Hooters Girls smiled and informed us of their feelings. Best Buy sponsored good deeds in various cities across the land. NASCAR drivers and their fans had a moment of silence from laps 9 to 11 in Richmond, Virginia. Ten years ago, Budweiser had set a very high bar for 9/11 tie-ins. Its reverent 2002 Super Bowl commercial, which aired only once on broadcast television but has been seen more than six million times on YouTube since, certainly got the company a lot of notice at the time.

It can be risky to link your brand to a tragedy, of course. You don’t want to appear self-serving but you still want to show empathy, and for consumers to be left with the idea that what you did was a fitting tribute. And marketers hope the tribute is so fitting that consumers will remember their company’s name the next time the wallet is pulled out.Continue reading...

"成功在任何地方都不是赐予的. 尤其在中国."
— Howard Schultz

"No where is success a given, especially in China." That's a rough translation of Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz's August 29 column at Chinese business site Wabei.com.

Schultz is right, Starbucks success in China was not a given, and its future success is not a foregone conclusion. But just a week later, Starbucks (星巴克) was the fifth highest trending topic on Weibo, China's 400-million user microblog network. Many of the posts were photos of lines dozens of people long, queues that Coca-Cola didn't see for its massive Olympics giveaway Monday in the U.K.

The reason? Starbucks locations in southern Guangdong were giving away free cups of drip coffee to celebrate the brand's 10th anniversary in the province — creating a physical rush akin to the social frenzy in the U.S. for the java giant's LivingSocial deal this week.Continue reading...