Nokia faces key test under new CEO, launches mobile streaming music in US and expanded app library as part of today's reveal of Windows Phone 8 Lumia devices. HTC's Windows Phone series will also be branded under 8 series following Samsung's mobile rebranding move.

Audi to build plant in Mexico as automaker markets S series with NFL tie-in.

Method sold to European green-cleaning rival Ecover.

3M drops planned acquisition of Avery Dennison under U.S. antitrust threat.

Amazon adds movies to streaming service in new challenge to Netflix.

American Airlines can reject pacts with pilots, judge says.

Apple is embarrassed by data leak ahead of iPhone 5 reveal on Sept. 12.

AT&T and Texas to test text-to-911 safety initiative.

Best Buy's new CEO hits the store floor in first week.

BP dinged as U.S. reiterates gross negligence charge in oil spill.Continue reading...

Looking for fried chicken in Vladivostok or Nairobi? You may be in luck. Yum! Brands is looking to grow such brands as KFC and Pizza Hut internationally, particularly in emerging markets including Russia and Africa, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. 

Yum execs said Wednesday that its Yum Restaurants International division could show a 10 percent growth by year’s end, the site notes, and that it is planning to “double its annual net openings over the next five years.” Many of those openings will be Africa and Russia, though China and India also are providing good sources of revenue.

According to Nation’s Restaurant News, most of the international launches have been KFC, with Pizza Hut a distant secod. Meanwhile, Taco Bell “has yet to become an international growth vehicle,” the site reports. Continue reading...

AIG pushes plan for independence from U.S. government.

Burger King says that menu and marketing changes have boosted bottom lilne.

Campbell Soup creates limited edition to help food bank.

Chick-fil-A supporters (and Wendy's) show up for "Appreciation Day."

Christina Aguillera lends her voice to a good cause.

Costco experiences strong U.S. sales.

Crocs celebrates milestone a little too exuberantly.

DirecTV sees U.S. subscribers decline for first time.Continue reading...

Unmetric, a social marketing benchmarking company, lets brand marketers compare their social media efforts against their competitors. Many of them in the quick-serve restaurant space will be consuming the firm's just released Fast Food Report, detailing social media efforts of the top 16 U.S. fast food chains from January through April 2012.

Beyond "how many followers?" or "how many friends?" Unmetric analyzes which campaigns are working, with whom, and how effectively. The proprietary Unmetric Score, “is a scientific blend of 24 qualitative and quantitative social media metrics, weighted and balanced to produce a single benchmarkable number.”

McDonald’s takes the trophy for the most astute fast food chain in social media, followed closely by Taco Bell, but for growth and conversation in 2012, it’s the McDonald’s vs. Burger King rivalry that stands out.Continue reading...

JPMorgan Chase reaches nearly $6 billion in losses on "whale trades" but posts multi-billion-dollar quarterly profit.

Digg, a social-media pioneer, sells for pittance and gains new CEO.

Richard Branson takes on Stephen Fry in new Virgin UK campaign.

Axe replaces bikini-clad women with Kiefer Sutherland in new spot.

Coca-Cola launches Hispanic campaign for Olympics and reintroduces controversial drink colors in Freestyle dispensing machines at UK Burger Kings.

Olive Garden owner Darden to buy Yard House for $585 million.

Facebook starts automating home-page ad buying and monitoring chats for criminal activity.Continue reading...

KFC's command of American Chicken is under assault on a number of fronts. But the chain that made fast food out of chicken isn't about to give up its territory without a big fight.

This week KFC US introduced Original Recipe Bites, the chain's answer to McDonald's success with its limited-time Chicken McBites earlier this year and the Spicy Chicken McBites that the No. 1 fast-feeder is currently promoting. KFC, of course, also faces more competition from the likes of Chick-fil-A, which consumers find easy to love wherever the brand pops up.

"Only KFC could introduce big, bite-sized chicken with the famous flavor of Original Recipe," said Jason Marker, KFC's U.S CMO, venturing into tautological territory in the company's press release, predicting that the "bite-sized 100 percent breast meat chicken [will] be a hit with adults as well as kids."Continue reading...

McDonald's, facing aggressive competition by quick-serve competitors including Burger King and Wendy's, needs more to crow about. It's been a tough year for the burger giant and a tough year for many of its customers. So what's the answer? Hint: It has wings, a beak, and a penchant for hot sauce.

Its new U.S. promotion — for Spicy McChicken Bites — is part of a global trend for the hamburger chain. Chicken may be flying to the rescue of a chain that withstood the headwinds of the Great Recession in pretty good shape but whose leadership senses more storm clouds building in the global economy. For McDonald's US CEO Don Thompson, offering more menu items based on chicken, compared with beef, poses "a tremendous opportunity," he said at a recent conference for analysts.

"Some great examples include our large wrap in Europe and snack items like Chicken McBites," which McDonald's introduced in the U.S. on a "limited-time basis" last year and which proved very popular, Thompson said. "Our customers have given us permission to stretch our brand, so we are entering new categories with new products," he said at the conference, according to Bloomberg.Continue reading...

For Applebee's, the key to accelerating growth may be "fresh" and seasonal entrees. For Wendy's, the path to continuing to compete with Burger King for the No. 2 spot in U.S. fast-food sales may be strewn with bread and buns. Both chains have selected mid-year for significant new pushes behind their brands, their positioning and their products.

Applebee's just launched a new ad campaign, "See You Tomorrow," the first effort by new agency CP+B. It highlights what the chain calls its "culinary credibility" by sharing where its fresh ingredients come from. Ads show Applebee's chefs standing in fields of vegetables and fruits that are part of a new "Fresh Flavors of Summer" menu that includes entrees such as lemon shripm fettucine and garlic rosemary chicken pasta.Continue reading...