Anheuser-Busch InBev reaps volume gains from its big marketing bet on the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Apple, Method and Virgin Atlantic succeed in creating “brand experiences,” according to a new Forrester report.

Barnes & Noble is seen as likely to settle its litigation with investor Ronald Burkle.

Best Buy and Macy’s get behind store-based Shopkick mobile-phone app.

ESPN partners with Gas Station TV for brand integration.

Facebook objects to the net-neutrality plan hatched by Google and Verizon.

GM's turnaround continues with $1.3-billion second-quarter profit, bolstering the case for an IPO.Continue reading...

A mid-day look at brands making headlines, led by Steve Jobs' latest headache:

Apple faces China challenge with local company selling iPod-touch-to-cellphone hack.

Research in Motion's security stance sparks concerns, as Oman declines to ban the BlackBerry and negotiations continue with Saudi Arabia.

Barnes & Noble expands textbook rentals as Henry Blodget cautions Amazon bulls crowing over B&N's pending sale.

BP says it has deposited $3 billion into promised $20 billion Gulf disaster relief fund.Continue reading...

Shareholder activism, a significantly undervalued stock, and the massive consumer shift to e-books have put America’s largest book chain (with 720 stores) on the block. The digital book tsunami cannot be won, it seems, by bricks-and-mortar.

Despite an aggressive move to compete with Amazon’s Kindle by launching its own e-book reader, the Nook, with branded e-boutiques in every Barnes & Noble store, the news that B&N is itself for sale may sound the death knell for physical bookstores of any size. Bittersweet, ironic revenge for Meg Ryan's You've Got Mail character?

"Barnes & Noble has an iconic brand and unique competitive advantages we believe will position the company to succeed over time in a rapidly changing market," reads the official announcement. "The board is confident in Barnes & Noble’s strategy and fully supportive of the senior management team, which is delivering explosive growth in our fast-developing digital business." If that's the case, why put the brand on the block?Continue reading...

AT&T backs BlackBerry in the next round of the smartphone race: an "iPhone killer" dubbed the BlackBerry Torch, in a collaboration outlined in the video above. Meanwhile, RIM deals with increasing pressures for BlackBerry devices from governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates over its encrypted information.

Barnes & Noble puts itself on the block, pressured by shareholders who believe management isn’t coping with erosion by digital books.

BP achieves “static kill” of the well in the Gulf of Mexico, a significant milestone in its efforts to seal the well permanently.

CBS, P&G, Toyota and more after the jump.Continue reading...

Just when you thought a bricks and mortar library was an endangered species, they are starting to spring up in your favorite mall. Why mix reading with retailers and restaurants?

In a concerted effort to reintroduce the traditional library concept to their communities, the Public Library Association, a division of the American Library Association, is reinventing the concept for the 21st century, when book sales—and the joys of reading—are challenged despite the proliferation of e-readers and the efforts by tech giants such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google and other brands to promote e-books.Continue reading...

Google Editions, the search giant's e-bookstore launching this summer, will directly compete with, and may even trump, its e-book competitors: Amazon's Kindle; Barnes and Noble's Nook; Sony's eBook reader; and Apple's digital devices.

Determining its launch date: according to the New York Times, the Google Books team is close to a deal with the American Booksellers Association, which represents more than 1,400 independent bookstores.

The deal would make Google Editions the primary e-book source for ABA members, putting independent booksellers in the e-book game.

It's a significant development in Google's rocky history with the book publishing industry, which resulted in a landmark settlement over copyright concerns.Continue reading...

Apple releases iOS 4 and targeted ads as it starts collecting and sharing iPhone users' locations. Facebook also plans to add geolocation feature "soon."

Amazon cuts Kindle price as Barnes & Noble discounts Nook e-reader.

AT&T looks to repair image through customer care-based social networking.

BP CEO Tony Hayward is expected to visit Russia to shore up company's interests.

Coca-Cola, Heineken and Diageo support U.K. pub-rating website.

Foursquare teams up with C-SPAN for political education.Continue reading...

You may not be familiar with Chegg if you're out of college, but it has quietly become one of the fastest-growing, second-generation e-commerce companies around today. Think of it as “Netflix for textbooks,” a youth-savvy e-player that's poised to get bigger thanks to more than $140 million in backing.

Chegg boasts 4.2 million books, accessible to college students on 6,400 campuses. As TechCrunch comments in its look at the brand's growth, “Chegg is disintermediating the $5B+ college textbook market by providing a low-cost, short-term, nationwide rental alternative to the high-priced university bookstore.”

Chegg, short for “chicken and egg,” has built a loyal following and developed a sharp brand positioning in the red-hot market for virtual rentals.

If things pan out as its founders project, it has the potential for upending entrenched retailers and e-tailers such as Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Follet. Even traditional textbook retailers such as McGraw-Hill now offer electronic versions of titles.Continue reading...