The upcoming James Bond film Skyfall is a marketing juggernaut for its tie-in partners as well as for the products that will actually appear in the film. These placed products include Coke Zero, Sony, Caterpillar, gunmaker Walther and, of course, most famously, Heineken. Even Turkey and China are associating with 007.

One of the firms responsible for some of Skyfall's product placement is Seesaw Media. Brandchannel spoke with Seesaw Media Founder and Director Darryl Collis about the hullaballoo over the product placement in Skyfall as well as how all of the negative media might impact future product placement deals.Continue reading...

Lance Armstrong is stripped of titles and banned from cycling for life by international body.

Nissan joins hybrid parade.

Virgin's four-star hotels are coming to NYC.

AIG CEO defends company's "free lunch" to New York mag.

American Idol sees ad rates fall.

Ancestry.com agrees to $1.6-billion takeover deal.

Apple creates buzz with plans for smaller iPad as school sales buoy its tablet lead.

BP sells entire Russian stake to Rosneft.

Banana Republic plans to bring back Mad Men collection.Continue reading...

Just as it did with the last Spider-Man movie, Sony has released a movie tie-in commercial for the upcoming James Bond movie that showcases the Xperia TL, the official smartphone of Skyfall. Sony Classical has also announced that it will release the Skyfall soundtrack on Nov. 6th.

Sony joins Heineken, Walther, Coke Zero, Omega, Tom Ford and other brands tapping into Skyfall fever. As  Anderson Cooper's recent 007 profile on 60 Minutes reported, "companies don't pay to be placed in a Bond film but agree to spend millions marketing the movies. Heineken, 007's beer of choice in Skyfall, is spending $75 million on a worldwide ad campaign."

The sure-to-be-blockbuster's most unexpected product placement so far?Continue reading...

Japan's Softbank acquires 70 percent of Sprint for $20 billion.

Santander walks away from $2.7 billion RBS deal.

Microsoft makes new push into music via Xbox.

Red Bull basks in post-skydive glory.

ABA sues New York City over soda ban.

Advent offers to buy beauty retailer Douglas.

Allstate scores points with peers with "Mayhem" campaign.

Amazon flags e-book refunds.Continue reading...

AT&T unveils flagship store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

Amazon challenges Netflix with movie-streaming service.

Barclays names one of its own as new CEO.

Carrefour narrows loss.

Caterpillar says China growth may recover this year on government stimulus.

Chrysler sees sales of new Dodge Dart drift because of emphasis on manual transmissions.

Citigroup to settle suit connected to financial crisis for $590 million.

Daikin of Japan buys Goodman Global in U.S. air-conditioning market.

Facebook is cleared to buy Instagram by California authorities. Continue reading...

Apple launches Mountain Lion OS and fires pre-trial salvo including $2.5 billion damage claim at Samsung while reporting cooling iPhone sales soft earnings report.

New York Yankees look to leverage Ichiro Suzuki's personal brand.

Skype founders break up as eavesdropping concerns arise.

American Airlines ready to evaluate merger possibilities.

Ann Taylor brings back Kate Hudson for fall campaign.

Canon cuts full-year outlook.

Caterpillar begins to wear down some unionists in strike.Continue reading...

GM expected to announce Manchester United sponsorship today.

Nike is selling its Cole Haan and Umbro brands.

RIM shareholders see outright sale as best option for BlackBerry maker.

Amazon may end up sharing California tax as NJ tax collection kicks in.

American Idol owner rebrands.

CBS says Super Bowl advertising is more than half sold.

Caterpillar sees strikers hunkering down.

Chevron is sued in Canada by Amazonians.Continue reading...

Apple gears up for "incredible" new products and focuses on TV.

RIM prospects dim further as BlackBerry wanes.

Pepsi inks biggest marketing deal yet for Twitter.

Airbus woes give Boeing some breathing room on next plane.

Allstate leads insurers to best start in nearly a decade in wake of fewer natural disasters.

BYD defends electric car after crash.

British Airways touts "height cuisine."

Caterpillar faces resistance to deal from stirking machinists.

Charles Schwab confronts impulse buying in social campaign.

CNN signs Anthony Bourdain to weekend show.Continue reading...