In the News: Irene Ravages, Amazon Lobbies, Chipotle Shines, Kia Reprises

Posted by Dale Buss on August 29, 2011 08:58 AM

Industries, businesses and governments up and down the Eastern seaboard are still toting up the economic damages created by Hurricane Irene, which included a deep impact on weekend movie box office numbers.

Amazon spends millions to fight Internet sales tax.

Chipotle tops limited-service restaurants among Gen Y, survey says.

Clean Energy Fuels draws investment as natural-gas automotive market heats up.

ESPN officially launches the Longhorn Network.

Kellogg targets dads in new ads for Frosted Flakes.

Kia brings back hamsters for new Soul campaign.

LivingSocial gets used to life in the fast lane.

Mentos produces app to help "improve friends."Continue reading...

More about: Amazon, Monsanto, Wal-Mart, Living Social, Clean Energy Fuels, Chipotle, Panera, Toyota, Pandora, ESPN, The Longhorn Network, Kellogg, Supervalu, Kia, Mentos, Saks, Roche

week in review

No Junk Food Ads? No Jobs, ANA Says

Posted by Dale Buss on July 11, 2011 12:30 PM

On the day that the Obama administration had to ruefully acknowledge that the unemployment rate is rising again – to 9.2% in June – the US Association of National Advertisers tried a clever tactic that attempted to leverage renewed fears about joblessness to advance what probably ranks as the ANA’s No. 1 public-policy concern these days.

The ANA produced a study purporting to show that a cross-agency federal proposal to curtail marketing of certain products to kids could translate to the loss of at least 74,000 American jobs in the retailing, marketing and manufacturing of foods and beverages that the government believes contribute to childhood obesity.Continue reading...

More about: Food, CPG, Advertising, Obesity, Health, Kids Marketing, ANA, CDC, FDA, FTC, USDA, Michelle Obama, Let's Move, s General Mills, Kellogg, PepsiCo, Nickelodeon, MTV, Viacom, Cartoon Network, Warner Bros., Time Warner

brandcameo

Brands Ride Shotgun With Cars 2

Posted by Abe Sauer on June 22, 2011 05:00 PM

So there's this little Indie film opening this weekend. Maybe you've heard something about it. Cars 2?

While Disney's original Cars only (only!) made $460 million at the box office, its merchandising efforts have raked in over $2 billion a year since 2006, enough to get any sequel's motor running. Just two weeks after the release, some estimates valued sales of Cars merchandise in excess $600 million. In June 2006, just a month after the film's release, Disney announced that Cars-licensed products had already broken merchandising records, racking up a volume ten times that of Finding Nemo.

Cue Cars 2. Target, the film's official retail partner, has been running heavy tie-in ads letting consumers know here to get even more Cars merchandise. Target currently offers over 150 different Cars 2-branded products, from bedspreads to a "Bubble Mater." Landing Cars 2 deal was a huge "get" for Target, as Walmart was the retail partner for Cars.Continue reading...

More about: Brandcameo, Product Placement, Entertainment, Movies, Cars 2, Disney, Best Global Brands, Pixar, Licensing, Goodyear, Hasbro, Huggies, Juicy Juice, Kellogg, Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, Lego, Monopoly, Rayovac, State Farm, Target, USDOT, Walmart, PSA