In his short lifetime, the Notorious B.I.G. only turned out two studio albums with oddly prescient titles: 1994’s Ready to Die and 1997’s Life After Death.

Even though B.I.G., who also went by the name Biggie Smalls (or just "Biggie" to fans), was gone at the age of 24 after being shot in a ’97 drive-by shooting, his influence was huge and it’s still felt in hip-hop culture. Now, it appears that that branding will now go on to influence plenty more without any new material providing the soundtrack.Continue reading...

Sanrio is bringing Hello Kitty to China, with its first theme park in the country exporting the mouthless feline and her friends from Japan to mainland China.

The designated site is in Anji, a rural area in eastern China's Zhejiang province, about three hours drive from Shanghai, Nanjing or Suzhou — or less than a two-hour drive from Shanghai once a new highway is constructed by 2014, the target launch date for the opening.Continue reading...

Levi's has taken an unusual action that demonstrates the importance of the international market to the very American maker of jeans.

The denim giant is expanding its Asia-only brand, dENiZEN, with a countrywide push in India. Aaron Boey, president of Levi Strauss & Co. Asia-Pacific, told the Times of India that the company "started test marketing the brand in India and China simultaneously last year and now India is the first market where the brand is going national."

The dENiZEN brand was introduced last August in China, India, Korea (which has been running a dENiZEN dance contest), Pakistan and Singapore. Now ready for primetime in Asia with a serious marketing push by Levi Strauss, dENiZEN will replace the company's Signature denim brand internationally, although Signature will remain in the US market.Continue reading...

The commercial for Justin Bieber's new perfume, Someday, shows the tween idol flaoting in zero gravity with a model. There's also a free iPhone app, including a countdown to the perfume's June 20th release, in the Apple app store.

For more than 35 years, FMF (Flying Machine Factory) Racing has been making such aftermarket products as mufflers, tailpipes, and apparel for motorcycle enthusiasts. While it’s been around since 1973, it wasn’t till 1988 that it had a major hit in its marketplace with its chrome-plated exhaust pipes.

In recent years, the company decided to expand its product line again and expanded its brand to encompass performance drinks that are designed specifically for motorcycle racers. They apparently sold well, because the company has added two more flavors to the product line: citrus lemonade and fruit punch.

But as FMF is all too aware, just like motorcycle racing, the power drinks market is a competitive space. When gearing up for a workout, Americans already have plenty of choices on what to drink to pep up or cool down from whatever sweaty endeavor he or she decides to partake in.Continue reading...

Last week, we noted for the 40th anniversary of the release of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that the film was the "greatest reverse product placement of all time."

Now, with the fourth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean helping itself to moviegoers' booty —its weekend box office tally of $90.1 million in the US and $346.4 million worldwide makes it the fourth-biggest global movie opening in history, on track to become "the biggest film of 2011 so far" — we're declaring the franchise the greatest "branded content" reverse product placement of all time.

And it's a miracle it worked, considering nearly the same concept became an epic failure eight years earlier.Continue reading...

Justin Bieber's new women's perfume (about which the 17-year-old pop star tweeted "A real man knows what a lady wants") will hit stores next month.

"Someday," as it's called, departs from last year's unisex "My World" fragrance exclusive for Walmart by selling via a more upmarket retail network that includes Macy's, Sephora, Lord & Taylor, Dillard's, Nordstrom, "and other fine department stores." Priced at an affordable $25-$35, the proceeds, a least partly, will benefit charity. The TV commercial (which will debut during Tuesday's Glee finale) was shot "on a Boeing 737 that creates a zero gravity environment."

The design, however, isn't so much "giving back" as "taking from."Continue reading...

Fashion collaborations have produced some odd bedfellows before, but none that intrigue our inner child—while befuddling our outer grown-up—like the projects of Walt Disney Signature, Disney’s adult lifestyle consumer products brand extension.

Working with high-profile design talents in art, home and fashion design, the brand has produced a series of unlikely products, from Italian armchairs with a TRON: Legacy motif to $1,000 pavé diamond “dinosaur” bracelets inspired by Fantasia.

The latest Disney collaboration to set fashionistas abuzz is the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides collection from hip accessory label Hayden-Harnett. It seems an offbeat choice for the Brooklyn-based business, which is better known for It bags and retro rags than for swashbuckling style.Continue reading...