BlackBerry launches new Z10 smartphone in US today, as CEO says Apple's iPhone is outdated.

Pepsi introduces first new package design since 1997.

PPR, French owner of Gucci and Saint Laurent, announces rebrand to "caring" Kering with new owl logo.

Nike surges on China rebound, North American results in latest quarterly earnings report.

Asda pulls private-label corned beef from UK shelves over horsemeat discovery as new report finds consumer concern fading. 

Chrysler looks to Nike and Starbucks for inspiration.

Coca-Cola tops British grocery brands ranking as Walkers rises to #2.

Facebook tests yet another timeline design.Continue reading...

Adobe confirms its CTO Kevin Lynch has left the company for a job at Apple. 

Chipotle is risking its brand by venturing into the public debate about gay rights, LGBT community says #ThanksChipotle.

NBC to NYT: Jimmy Fallon is expected to succeed Jay Leno on the "Tonight Show" by fall 2014 as NBC struggles with weak ratings.

Aeropostale targets millenials with new in-store #tech. 

Aldi and Whole Foods to boycott genetically modified salmon.

Apple's plan for augmented reality amidst another lawsuit on patent infringement.

Barclays announces massive bonuses on UK budget day.

BlackBerry denies report that BB10 failed UK government security test. 

Global airline profits are flying high.

Harvard researchers have linked sugary drinks to 180,000 deaths a year worldwide.Continue reading...

American Airlines defends $20-million severance pay to CEO.

Deutsche Bank forced to restate 2012 profits due to U.S. lawsuits.

Google will package and brand chat services as Babble.

T-Mobile readies "Uncarrier" no-contract pricing plan and proposed board structure, while AT&T introduces no-contract wireless phone service and Sprintlaunches de-branded Android smartphones.

7-Eleven sues 7-SEVEN chain for trademark infringement.

Apple brand found to be less "inspiring" than it was three years ago in new consumer survey.Continue reading...

Interbrand announces the 2013 Best Retail Brands report.

Coca-Cola honored with first Clio brand icon award.

Starbucks names new global CMO in former Sephora marketer Sharon Rothstein, as McDonald's passes Starbucks as most social brand.

Apple rumored to pull out the stops for the next iPhone to take on Samsung, which has replaced Nokia as top smartphone brand in China and confirmed it's developing a smartwatch to take on Apple's rumored wearable computer.

BlackBerry prepares to bring million-selling Z10 smartphone to U.S. on Friday with 100,000 apps.

Burger King hopes folks gobble up new turkey burger.

Carl's Jr. and Hardee's introduce Jim Beam bourbon burger.

Clorox introduces smart tube technology to packaging design.Continue reading...

Alibaba names next CEO.

Denny's cancels franchise deal in China.

Google shows off sample apps for Project Glass a SXSW.

American Airlines and U.S. Airways prepare for merger bumps.

Apple and Samsung values soar.

Barney's New York rebrands Co-op stores as regular Barney's.

BlackBerry stock jumps on Lenovo takeover interest rumor.

BMW to build sub-brand for China.

Boeing sees investigators focus narrowly on batteries in Dreamliner probe.

China's Spring Airlines adds cars to in-flight sales offering.Continue reading...

Mention espionage and product placement and one name comes to mind: Zero Dark Thirty. Sure, Skyfall's James Bond used a Sony Experia and, in the other 2012 CIA thriller to feature waterboarding, Safe House, the agency man used an iPhone. Yet, in last year's true life tale spygame, the heroes killed Osama Bin Laden with the help of BlackBerry.

It's a placement the brand was involved with. But unlike other product placements—even some inside Zero Dark Thirty—BlackBerry faces a paradox when it comes to capitalizing on its role in Hollywood's definitive account of killing America's most hated enemy.

While there are many obvious details that Zero Dark Thirty suspiciously avoided, such as substituting the fictional Pakistan station chief "Joseph Bradley" for the real life Jonathan Banks, the production is also credited with paying obsessive attention to the smaller details. A precise replica of the bin Laden compound was built for Zero Dark's SEALs to storm. The film's SEALs wore four-prong GPNVG-18s, cutting-edge night-vision goggles favored by current "operators." And then there were the BlackBerry phones.Continue reading...

Carnival Cruise Lines sees brand perceptions drop to all-time low.

J.C. Penney losses snowball as boost in ad spending can't reverse sales declline.

Facebook inks deal to show ads based on shopping habits.

AC/DC rocks their own signature brand of beer.

American Express pushes e-commerce to TV commerce.

Apple preaches patience.

Boeing apologizes for Dreamliner fiasco.

Caesars looks to web gambling for financial help.

Flowers Foods set to buy Wonder, other Hostess brands for $390 million.Continue reading...

We may live in an increasingly virtual world, but often it's what happens at live tech trade shows that sets the tone for what is to come. Such was the case with the flurry of major product announcements at January's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. 

This week's Mobile World Congress (MWC13) in Barcelona, Spain has been just as interesting, albeit for different reasons. One couldn't help but notice, for example, Samsung everywhere and Apple nowhere. Coming off its recent glitzy Super Bowl campaign with Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen and Oscars ad campaign starring Tim Burton, Samsung had a dominant presence at MWC13, debuting the Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet as a competitor to the iPad Mini, touting its Android-powered Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II smartphones and proclaiming that it would double tablet sales from a year ago.

Samsung also aligned itself with the show introduction of Intel's Tizen, a new mobile operating system expected to challenge Google's Android. This could potentially put Samsung, which will launch Tizen-based phones this summer, on a collision course with Google, since Samsung currently makes more Android-based devices than any other manufacturer.

Of course, collision courses are nothing new for Samsung, the Korean behemoth that leads the world in cellphones.Continue reading...