If any brand name seems to be loved by all who come in contact with it, it is Moleskine. This 14-year-old Italian iconic brand became known for a simple notebook. 

But today, writes the company on its website, "the name Moleskine encompasses a family of nomadic objects: notebooks, diaries, journals, bags, writing instruments and reading accessories, dedicated to our mobile identity. Indispensable companions to the creative professions and the imagination of our times: they are intimately tied to the digital world." Companies with legacy products anxious to hook on to the digital bandwagon could take a lesson from this.

It isn't just the brand's positioning that makes it so special — it is the manner in which the company nurtures and interacts with its fiercely loyal fans and retailers.Continue reading...

As promised, The Knot Inc. is now officially XO Group Inc., and trading on the NYSE with new ticker symbol “XOXO,” as celebrated yesterday with a memorable bell-ringing at the New York Stock Exchange.Continue reading...

Singapore is a hotbed of fashion, innovation and culinary excellence. Now this independent Asian city-state that sits at the tip of the Malay Peninsula wants the rest of the world to get a taste of what it has to offer.

The Singapore Tourism Board has created "Singapore Takeout," a unique pop-up restaurant housed in a custom-fabricated shipping container, to allow consumers around the world to sample Singapore's famed cuisine.Continue reading...

It’s a long-running conundrum for better-for-you food and beverage marketers: How do you leverage a “natural” positioning for new, healthful products compared with marketing new “organic” items?

USDA standards have defined and regulated organic labeling for several years now, but the meaning of “natural” is something that still remains unaddressed by regulators and, consequently, by marketers.

American consumers remain vastly confused by the two terms, with studies showing that they tend to credit many more important nutrition and health attributes to products labeled “natural” than they do to those labeled “organic” – even though the latter are the only ones consumers really can count on.Continue reading...

Julius the monkey is an unparalleled soccer player, (as seen above) and like others in his league, is now preparing for his Hollywood debut.

Saban Brands, the Haim Saban business that last year bought Julius and his creator, Paul Frank Industries, has begun pre-production on a Christmas television special for 2012, featuring Julius and his buddies. Touted as combining the heart of Modern Family with the spirit of The Simpsons, the holiday special is being produced by Mike Reiss, Emmy-winning producer of The Simpsons.

Since Los Angeles billionaire and entertainment mogul Saban bought Paul Frank Industries last year for $50 million, the quirky, wide-mouthed sock monkey’s star has been steadily rising.Continue reading...

What do you get when you put 480 Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars together, 20 shoes high x 24 shoes wide, weighing 400 kg, with 20 modules, and each shoe mounted on a servomotor that can rotate 180 degrees? 

Converse's European ‘The Canvas Experiment,’ an experiential project that handed over the brand's iconic Chuck Taylor All Stars to artists to reinvent.Continue reading...

There’s nothing like driving a car to decide whether you want to buy one. And for U.S. car buyers, it’s even better if the dealership salesperson isn’t hovering around somewhere to see if you like it. That’s why General Motors and Ford, among other automotive brands, are putting more resources into test-driving events and other experiential marketing.

GM, for instance, is taking its Chevrolet, GMC and Buick brand vehicles to 25 U.S. markets this year — most recently, last weekend to CitiField in Queens, N.Y. The show features 130 vehicles, 70 GM models, and about 20 non-GM vehicles that consumers can drive for comparison purposes. There are seven driving courses including an on-road course for Chevrolet Volt, the extended-range hybrid to which GM is still trying to accustom American drivers.

“We’ve done a lot of ride-and-rives throughout the country, and that’s an awesome way to get people to understand the product and really appreciate it,” Cristi Landy, Volt’s product-marketing director, told brandchannel. “You can do all the talking you want, but getting behind the wheel really does it for people.”Continue reading...

Brand marketers have long been intrigued with the use of scent as a potential differentiating feature. Maybe it all started with Smell-O-Vision, an ill-fated technology that was used to pump different smells throughout movie theaters in 1960. Smell-O-Vision stunk — it died after just one movie.

Nowadays, scent is a key part of any number of beauty and cosmetic products, typically targeting women. Increasingly, though, scent plays an important role in men's products, especially deodorants. And the latest innovation is a masculine knock-off of a concept that was first aimed at women in 2005 — the scented razor.Continue reading...