AIG reports a profit.

Apple CEO Tim Cook says company has more money than it needs and moves to appease shareholders as Proview brings China iPad trademark spat to US.

Best Western launches Facebook hotel reservations.

BP Gulf spill settlement looms.

Burger King eyes India's fast food market.

Cadbury Dairy Milk promotes fair trade chocolate in UK campaign.

Chevy-Ford rivalry heats up via NASCAR.

Chrysler and Carhartt discuss clothing collaboration.

Clorox CEO targets healthcare brands for acquisition.Continue reading...

As Facebook's Timeline feature rolls out globally (although not for brands — yet), the social media behemoth is jumping into a new revenue stream: mobile advertising. It's getting ready to leverage the shift to tablets and smartphones just in time to boost its coffers prior to a projected $10 billion IPO. It’s a long awaited, preemptive move against Apple's iAd and Google's mobile ad(ventures).

According to Bloomberg, the social network with 800 million users will put ‘Sponsored Stories’ ads in the mobile News Feed. Up until now, Facebook apps on iPhone and Android have remained ad-free. Although flush with cash, CEO Mark Zuckerberg and team have been chomping at the bit to capitalize on their 350 million users who access Facebook via mobile devices. 

If Facebook embraces mobile ads, “it could set off a fascinating corporate strategy fight with Apple and Google,” writes Business Insider. 

Google is “virtually printing money from mobile ads running on its Android system,” says BI, with CEO Larry Page projected $2.5 billion in revenues from mobile ads this year. The search giant has cut a fertile and broad swath for Facebook until now, but with FB selling ads, the relationship will require readjustment so Google reaps a revenue cut.Continue reading...

“If you’re going to waste your time playing games on Facebook, you might as well do it and help build a better world while you’re at it,” writes Techcrunch.com about Sojo Studios’ WeTopia, an online game launching today that’s designed to have fun while raising money for children’s charities.

It’s a free-to-play Facebook game where players build villages and help their neighbors – all for ‘joy’ currency, in-game coins for real charitable works. They're convertible to real-world non-profit donations to promote healthcare and education. WeTopia is advancing the collective notion of gaming rewards beyond points, discounts and coupon redemption.

“Each purchase results in a direct donation to a real world cause. Buying an in-game fountain, for instance, leads to the contribution of a donation of clean water,” notes Venturebeat.

WeTopia heralds the next iteration of combining social games with non-profit beneficiaries. It's backed by former Facebook employee, Path CEO Dave Morin, with digital doyenne Esther Dyson on the advisory board and an exclusive partnership with Ellen DeGeneres.Continue reading...

This week, coffee giant Starbucks announced that the free rides were over. Specifically, the rides on the brand's porcelain thrones.

Starbucks plans to convert its public restrooms to employee-only in New York City. A source told the New York Post that Starbucks is tired of being"the public bathroom in the city" as its own employees wait in long lines to use the facilities. So just as they're apparently getting tired of Wi-Fi sippers camping out for hours in their stores, they're taking away the amenities that make Starbucks a home away from home for many freelancers and job-seekers?

Turns out it's not true, as Starbucks subsequently denied the Post's report. The hullaba-loo came just days before World Toilet Day, a global day of recognition of people who lack adequate sanitation — and giddy writers in desperate need to relieve themselves of scatological puns.Continue reading...

Scripps Networks owns some of the most powerful brands on cable television with HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel and DIY. All of the cooking shows on these networks have thus far avoided the temptation of dabbling in product placement. After all, in the first half of the year, Food Network pulled in $283.2 million in advertising while HGTV earned $300.2 million in the same time period, according to Kantar Media. 

However, the company’s Cooking Channel, which launched last year, is still trying to figure out how to make dough on the scale of its sister networks. Kantar reports that the channel brought in $12.3 million in the first half of the year. Enter product placement.

Ad Age reports that the network's business side sees a plum opportunity with a series titled From the Kitchens Of, which doesn’t have a set air time and is broadcast sporadically, not only visits the kitchens of corporations including Pillsbury but also features each company’s products within its show and recipes. For that right, the advertiser foots half the costs of producing the episode, Ad Age reports.

"We wanted to be able to offer advertisers something different than" Food Network, stated Jeff Stettin, VP of ad sales for Cooking Channel. "We feel that with a network that was just starting out, we could take a little bit more risk."

Other brands that have been involved the first season’s 10 episodes include Clorox, Sara Lee, Kellogg, and Sears’ Kenmore, Ad Age notes, with all series one sponsors already signing on for a 13-episode second season run.

In America, everything remains political, and that includes brand preference. According to YouGov BrandIndex, Republicans and Democrats (surprise!) do not completely see eye to eye on brand trustworthiness.

But there is hope that our nation's partisan divide will be healed… with Cheerios.Continue reading...

News Corp. executive accepts Rebekah Brooks resignation from News International as Rupert Murdoch is defiant as U.S. congressman calls for probe into his company over possible hacking of 9/11 victims.

Amazon tablet is coming in October.

Borders’ fate hangs in the balance as liquidation looms.

BP oil found to still be washing ashore in the Gulf of Mexico, reports Bloomberg.

Campbell addresses criticism for adding salt to 'healthy' soup line.

Clorox draws bid from Carl Icahn.Continue reading...

There's a battle being waged in laundry rooms throughout the world and it's all about environmentally friendly laundry products. This product category has seen significant growth recently, and the fight among brands isn't always friendly. 

Witness the dispute last year over the use of a yellow daisy — that's right, a daisy — in product packaging. Clorox, maker of Green Works, took legal action against Method, the manufacturer of non-toxic laundry and personal care products, because Green Works wanted the exclusive right to use the yellow daisy in its product packaging. Method, it seems, was displaying a yellow daisy in some of its promotional material, claiming that a yellow daisy couldn't be owned by anyone, since it was a product of nature.

That's old dirty laundry. This month, Method sprouted a new campaign called "Laundry Love" that has nothing to do with flowers.Continue reading...