To paraphrase Don Draper: At last, a beautiful product placement Jaguar can truly own.

And own it they do when it comes to the latest music video for Lana Del Rey's new track "Burning Desire."

"I drive fast / Wind in my hair / I push you to the limits / Cause I just don't care," sings Del Rey. With her on a dark lonely stage and a Jaguar F-type on a sunny lonely highway, the video might be something Don Draper and team would have cooked up themselves.

It's been nearly a year since Jaguar was ambushed with its unflattering product placement on Mad Men, where Jaguar was party to prostitution and a failed suicide attempt. Jag's appearance in Del Rey's "Burning Desire" video is the latest step on the march to the upcoming debut of the branded film, "Desire," which the luxury automaker is commissioning from director Ridley Scott's production company.

Everything old is new again as auto companies from Mercedes to Dodge are embracing the exploding auto-branded content format... again. Continue reading...

Pope Benedict XVI plans to resign due to poor health in move that hasn't been seen for centuries.

Grammys honors Mumford & Sons and FUN, as Chevrolet bows new "Find New Roads" campaign, Honda launches music-related campaign with the show, and Miracle Whip launches video campaign.

American Airlines and U.S. Airways are seen as likely to obtain U.S. approval of a merger.

Apple sees buzz develop about potential "iWatch."

Cadillac targets 35-percent gain in retail sales this year.

Chrysler donates $1 million to Future Farmers of America after Super Bowl spot scores with viewers as its dealers hunger for more Jeep Wranglers and Grand Cherokees.

Coca-Cola plans to relaunch Vanilla Coke in U.K.Continue reading...

Mercedes-Benz appears to have capitalized on its Super Bowl involvement.

Chrysler and Toyota have garnered the consensus nod for creating the most enjoyable Super Bowl XLVII spots for viewers to watch. But when it comes to drawing interest in vehicles, Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai already are emerging on top. And that means they're all winners of a mega-event that car marketers increasingly dominate.

Most reviewers appreciated the all-American sentiments and the magnanimity expressed by Chrysler's pair of two-minute anthem ads, "Whole Again" and "Farmer," the latter of which received attention for being based on a 2011 ad about the farming life. And Toyota's "Wish Granted" spot, starring Kaley Cuoco, scored as the most effective humor displayed by any of the eight car brands that advertised during the Big Game.

But Edmunds.com established on Monday that the Mercedes-Benz CLA Class model advertised during the game garnered the biggest jump in web traffic afterward, as measured by visits to the site's own home pages — a whopping 23,067 more product pageviews compared with the previous four Sundays on average. And on AutoTrader.com, Hyundai generated the top statistic of any brand last night: a 1,004 percent increase in searches on the site, according to Adweek.Continue reading...

"Brotherhood," Budweiser's 2013 Super Bowl ad, was among those which stood out among rather routine fare.

Super Bowl ads (the complete list) this year provided few gems, according to an emerging consensus of industry professionals.

Many were deemed lame or even confusing, and generally considered ineffective and off-brand. Several brands seemed to suffer rather than benefit from the frenzy of sneak peeks and full-commercial reveals in this year's rush for pre-Game exposure and social buzz.

Above, Chrysler's well-received 2011 Super Bowl ad, "Imported From Detroit," featuring Eminem.

Chrysler's  earnings report today made it apparent that its sales and financial recovery remains well on track, though there are new snags in its product plans due to fiat's drag on the combined company.

Chrysler posted prelimary net income of $1.7 billion for 2012, up nearly tenfold from the year-earlier $183 million and exceeding the guidance that it issued previously. The gains came largely on the strength of an 18 percent gain in worldwide vehicle sales, most of it realized in a U.S. market that has re-embraced Chrysler brands and products. Chrysler U.S. sales have increased by more than 50 percent since 2010, and its U.S. market share climbed two percentage points, to 11.4 percent, last year. 

"While we are pleased to have achieved strong financial results in 2012, the enterprise we are crafting is not complete," CEO Sergio Marchionne said Wednesday in a release.Continue reading...

In this era of Super Bowl commercial sneak peeks—making coy marketers like Chrysler stand out in comparison—on YouTube and social media ahead of the Big Game, at least one brand has already bowed to complaints.

Taco Bell pulled a commercial criticizing Super Bowl party guests who arrive bearing veggie trays following complaints that the spot, well, bashes vegetables. The spot, which supported the brand’s Taco 12 Pack, ran during the college football’s Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and in general rotation. The quick-serve restaurant brand (now whetting fans appetites for Cool Ranch Doritos Tacos) is not, however, pulling its official Super Bowl spot, "Viva Young," above. 

The brand's Chief Marketing & Innovation Officer, Brian Niccol, defends the online pre-Game Day reveal, stating: “By releasing 'Viva Young' online before the Super Bowl, we’re rewarding our biggest fans and bringing them inside the brand. We want to share the spot with our Team Members, franchisees and online fans first so they’re in the know before Super Bowl Sunday, so we can engage with them in social and digital spaces.”

Volkswagen, meanwhile, is defying critics who feel its early Super Bowl spot, featuring a faked Jamaican accent, is racist and should be pulled—even though Jamaica's minister of tourism apparently loves it:Continue reading...

Many of our questions about Super Bowl advertising storylines are already answered days ahead of the Big Game itself.

Few of the ads will still have us hanging on the edges of our couches, waiting to see how the commercial ends and wondering how all the strands of the plot or the joke or the jolt will be resolved.

Is that a good thing? Brand after brand is betting it is. Here are some recent developments:Continue reading...

Boeing sees Dreamliner pass a battery inspection in Japan but planes are still grounded, and company faces possiblity of a $5-billion writedown.

Barnes & Noble plans to close as many as one-third of its retail stores over next several years.

Daimler, Ford and Nisssan ink deal on fuel-cell cars.

ABC sees advertisers such as Hyundai and University of Phoenix connect with network for Oscars telecast.

Apple shares may not be as important as IBM stock in terms of a market bellwether.

CBS scores nearly $4 million for average Super Bowl spot.

Cracker Barrel rolls out plan to expand into groceries.Continue reading...