Since 1931, the family-owned Cipriani brand, which got its start in Venice, has been known for its quietly elegant and luxurious bars, restaurants and clubs.

Five of Cipriani locations are in New York City, with eight others scattered around the world (London, Hong Kong, Porto Cervo, Venice, Abu Dhabi, and Istanbul). The firm's New York properties also includes the Cipriani Club Residences at 55 Wall Street and two event venues in Manhattan.

Now, Cipriani is leveraging its reputation in another area — hotels — with the launch of Mr. C, a new brand that kicks off with Mr. C Beverly Hills, which opened June 1st.Continue reading...

BabyBjorn, the baby carrier brand everyone loves to paint with the Yuppie label (but which non-Yuppie parents still swear by) has a new brand extension, high chairs.

The sensible new direction results in a new $300 chair that the brand swears is worth the price. Why? Technology, baby!Continue reading...

You might recall how we reported that Justin Timberlake's fashion brand, William Rast, had won the Indianapolis 500. We were mistaken. As with all things American, Ronald Reagan won the Indy 500.Continue reading...

Kim Kardashian is getting married — and it’s causing a minor rift with her mother. Not because Ma doesn’t like the fellow, New Jersey Nets forward Kris Humphries. And it’s not because of the wedding preparations for the reality TV star’s big summer event. No, it’s because 30-year-old Kim Kardashian plans to lose her last name, the golden family brand, and become Kim Humphries.

“I don’t think she should take his name and be Kim Humphries,” her mom, the 55-year-old Kris Jenner, reportedly said. “I think she needs to be Kim Kardashian because she’s worked so hard to get where she is.”

Of course Jenner ditched the last name of Kardashian, too, when she married Olympic legend Bruce Jenner. But her daughters — the K-named trio that is Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney — have made their names household ones since Keeping Up With The Kardashians debuted on the E! Network back in October of 2007.Continue reading...

In one of the most dramatic Indianapolis 500 race finishes in recent memory, "part time" driver Dan Wheldon zipped by rookie JR Hildebrand when the latter, leading the race, crashed in the final turn.

Wheldon commemorated his win by going above and beyond for his car's sponsors, especially William Rast, the brand co-owned by Justin Timberlake and sold at Target. But Wheldon wasn't the only race car driver throwing around the Wiliam Rast brand name on Memorial Day weekend, even if he was the only winning one.Continue reading...

The PBS annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, had a little surprise for its member stations: PBS executives announced that it was planning to insert "promotional breaks" within programs beginning in the fall.

Excuse me? Is this the same PBS brand that has for years boasted no commercial interruptions in its programming — one of the attributes that distinguishes a public television station from every other channel? Talk about messing around with a brand's DNA.

Some may feel that just as PBS was recently hacked, PBS is hacking its own brand integrity. But this latest move once again demonstrates that change is the only constant, even in the public television business.Continue reading...

Tesco, one of the world's top three grocery retailers, is looking to create more global retail brands, according to new CEO Philip Clarke.

Clarke's new seven-part strategy makes the case that Tesco needs to become more aspirational and give consumers new reasons to shop at Tesco stores — and that means creating new brands, and "highly valued" brands at that.

Consumers, said Clarke, "do not want to just buy Tesco Value shower gel. They want to have something sat in their bathroom that looks like it is a brand. So you create brands." He feels there's ample reason for Tesco to create addtional new brands, since the UK chain is underperforming on its home turf — and the company's Fresh & Easy chain of grocery stores in the US is losing money, too.

That's why he's anxious to add "highly valued brands" to existing private labels such as F&F (its clothing line formerly known as Florence & Fred), and Technika, a consumer electronics brand, both of which are sold globally.Continue reading...

During the season finale of American Idol last week, host Ryan Seacrest hit one of the few sour notes of his ten-year tenure on the show. In a segment in which Seacrest announced the giveaway of Ford vehicles to finalists Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina, as well as to each singer’s favorite hometown educator, Seacrest couldn’t resist calling his  guests “hot teachers.” And he also said something about the ladies primping themselves for being on the show.

But that was a little thing and understandable for a host who almost always has been light on his feet and dead-on in tone despite many verbal tangles with Simon Cowell and others’ jokes about Seacrest’s less-than-towering stature.

And it’s about the only thing Seacrest has done wrong lately, judging by the one-man entertainment conglomerate that he has become.Continue reading...