If yo-yoing was a major sport, Chinese athletics brand Li-Ning would have a lock on the market for yo-yo gear. In the last four years, the brand has gone from potential global dominance to firing its CEO to moderate success at the London Olympics.

But struggling Li-Ning may be about to catch a big break. If rumors are true — and they appear to be — Li-Ning just drafted NBA superstar Dwyane Wade.

As first reported, and then confirmed, by blog Sneakerwatch, two-time world champion, NBA Finals MVP, and Miami Heat star Wade is going to pass on renewing his deal with Michael Jordan's Nike-backed Jordan Brand and instead sign onto Li-Ning's roster. That's huge news for Li-Ning, and a blow to Jordan Brand.Continue reading...

McDonald's continues to look less and less like a food-police "Most Wanted" corporation with a rap sheet to match its notoriety. Instead, the global fast-food leader keeps adding to its shift toward better-for-you fare and toward making healthier food not only accessible to its customers but palatable as well — even including the health of its own employees.

Today, McDonald's USA announced a number of nutrition initiatives, including the news it's adding calorie counts on restaurant and drive-through menus nationwide starting Monday and introducing menu items next year in line with the latest obesity-targeting federal dietary guidelines.

"We recognize customers want to know more about the nutrition content of the food and beverages they order," McDonald's USA president Jan Fields stated in a press release. As the Associated Press notes, "The move comes ahead of a regulation that could require major chains to post the information as early as next year. 'We want to voluntarily do this,' Fields told AP. 'We believe it will help educate customers.'"Continue reading...

Forget martinis and even Heineken if you want to Be Bond. Coca-Cola would like you to think, and drink, Coke Zero to get your 007 on.

When the twenty-third James Bond film, Skyfall, hits screens worldwide on October 26, Bond and brand watchers will paying close attention. The upcoming movie got an unprecedented plug from the monarch atop Her Majesty's Secret Service during the opening ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympics. The film also created a bit of stir to fans of the series because beer giant Heineken struck a deal to get some product-placement within the film, even though Bond has long been known as a fan of mixed drinks, particularly the martini.

You might say fans were shaken, not stirred, by the news — but thanks to the marketers at Coke, they have a non-alcoholic way to imbibe Bond.Continue reading...

Long before the London Games kicked off in July, the International Olympic Committee made it very clear to big businesses and small that you don’t want to mess with them, that they would come after anybody who used the Olympic name or image or implied an affiliation with the Olympics.

The IOC- and LOCOG-empowered ambush marketing squad of branding police got busy, so a small café once called Olympic suddenly became the Lympic and a British florist and shopkeepers were made to take down the bras and window displays set up to look like the sainted Olympic rings.

Areas were designated around all Olympic sporting venues where only official sponsors of the Games, all of which had rolled out barrels of dough, were allowed to show off their logos.

Leave it to Nike, the supposed founder of guerrilla marketing, to break through, though, with not only a rules-testing "Find Your Greatness" TV campaign that featured everyday athletes going for the gusto in other Londons around the world as well as track shoes that were worn by a number of gold medalists and given a bright greenish-yellow chartreuse hue that “the human eye is most sensitive” to, according to NBC News.Continue reading...

BP sells Gulf of Mexico oil fields for $5.5 billion to help pay for spill settlement while Petrobras seeks partner for development of its Gulf sites.

HP expands workforce reduction to 29,000 positions.

AIG will see U.S. slash its stake to become minority shareholder with $18 billion sell-off.

Apple cuts reliance on Samsung for iPhone chips as iPhone 5 mania and rumor mill heat up.

Audi threatens BMW's seven-year luxury auto crown.

Google charges retailers in growing competition with Amazon, as Google Fiber launch site takes off and Google Glasses hit the runway at New York Fashion Week.

NBC faces Paralympic TV deal scrutiny while the UK celebrates the end of the summer of the Olympics with London 2012 parade.Continue reading...

The London Olympics have been over for nearly a month and most Americans have pretty much forgotten – if they ever even knew – the names of such competitors as wrestler Jacob Varner, diver David Boudis, and boxer Claressa Shields.

Sure, they all won gold medals, but in sports that Americans watch by the millions. Gymnast Gabby Douglas and swimmer Ryan Lochte, who were two of the biggest American brands coming out of the Games, are lucky enough to have selected sports that more U.S. residents care about. So these two, along with the marketing geniuses assigned to them, are doing everything they can to help Americans stick their names into the permanent memory book that already features such folks as Bruce Jenner, Mary Lou Retton, and Eric Heiden.Continue reading...

Jay-Z may only own a smidgen of the NBA’s new Brooklyn Nets team and the rusty-looking arena that was just built for them to play in, but he’s definitely playing his role to the hilt. The rapper supposedly helped design the team’s logo and pick the color scheme and sold out a slew of shows at their Barclays Center home.

And now, he and his wife, Beyoncé, are continuing to spread their influence for the Nets wherever they go — including, over Labor Day Weekend weekend, in Philadelphia for the Budweiser-sponsored Made In America festival, a music festival that Jay-Z had organized and headlined.Continue reading...

Old Spice is following up on last week's viral hit — an interactive "muscle music" video with former NFL player Terry Crews — with a new campaign featuring a current NFL player who's preparing for life off the football field: the Green Bay Packers' Greg Jennings. Check out the first of seven spots featuring Jennings above.

The wide receiver, a 2006 Super Bowl champ who played with Brett Favre and has been trying his hand at acting, has fun touting Old Spice's Champion line of "man freshening" products — which were previously promoted with an Olympics-themed spot and a sand car commercial with the tagline, "Believe in your smellf."Continue reading...