Chrysler’s new “Imported from Detroit” positioning may not be directly responsible for helping the automaker move cars off the lot, but it's certainly creating some memorable audio branding.

Through July, Chrysler has sold nearly 40,000 of the new 200 model sedan that was featured in the epochal Eminem Super Bowl commercial, in a segment where it sold only 24,000 cars the year before. Yet the latest version of the larger 300 sedan, fresh as of March, only moved 6% more units in July than the old version did a year ago, and Chrysler relies on the same basic positioning for its 300 advertising campaign. 

Yet there’s no doubt that the Chrysler brand has benefited from its willingness to embrace Motown again as a place of authenticity where you really can build fine automobiles.Continue reading...

New York's Grand Central Terminal is about to become a whole lot busier, and branded.

In a final vote today, New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority gave the go-ahead to Apple to a 23,000 square feet store in Grand Central. The retail deal will create of the largest stores to ever be built in the iconic station’s main concourse, and the largest in the Apple brand’s retail footprint, bumping its current largest retail location, in London's Convent Garden, to second spot.Continue reading...

As part of MasterCard Worldwide’s iconic "Priceless" campaign, the brand has created a New York-based promotional event for its Priceless Cities in-market branding campaign.

Given that it's summer in the Big Apple, Priceless New York centers around — what else? — the New York Yankees, creating a game for baseball fans to play by hiding Yankee’s seats throughout the city in partnership with Facebook Places.

Find the chairs and check-in via Facebook Places to be eligible to win special prizes, including meet-and-greets with Yankee greats, a “safari sleepover” at the Bronx Zoo, “V.I.P. treatment” at Marcus Samuelsson's red-hot Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem, and access to a new section of Yankee Stadium known as Batter’s Eye View – which includes a MasterCard Batter’s Eye Cafe.Continue reading...

If you don’t know them already, you will now, as Rhett & Link, seen above, take on their latest starring role as judges in the celebration of low-budget, local commercials in IFC’s launch of its first LoCos awards.

Voters are eligible for a $250 cash prize for casting ballots for the greatest stars, jingles, taglines, mascots, special effects and more, as the LoCos join a tradition of local advertising built on the shoulders of off-beat characters including New York’s hi-fi king Crazy Eddie, ice cream magnate Tom Carvel, and LA’s car painting pitchman Earl Scheib.

And then there are the ads themselves.Continue reading...

Italian coffee maker Illy is hoping Americans infatuated with coffee culture, but burned by Starbucks’ roast will pause for a taste of Italy.

Illy is increasing its profile in the United States through a stealth campaign in independent coffee shops, signing agreements with 28 independent cafes to exclusively brew the Italian roast, allowing Illy to intervene in order to assure quality control.

The coffee maker launched the program three years ago in Italy: "Artisti del Gusto," or Artists of Taste. In the US, Illy is currently found in high end grocery stores, restaurants and hotels. The new partnerships will raise the brand's profile as cafes adopt Illy-branded merchandise: espresso machines, artwork, ceramic mugs and red stand umbrellas.

The “Artists of Taste” program offers benefits to the cafes, and a chance to compete with local Starbucks shops. Café owners, like Sean Lupton-Smith, find value in offering Illy as a “consistent experience to our customers," and sees it as a "strong enough [brand] to stand up to the Starbucks around the corner.”Continue reading...