Pepsi has announced an exclusive global partnership with Michael Jackson’s Estate as part of its new "Live for Now" campaign, PepsiCo’s global platform to re-engage teens via pop music and culture influencers including Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry, whose upcoming movie the brand is sponsoring.

The deal coincides with brand's legacy with the King of Pop and the 25th anniversary of Jackson's multi-platinum Bad album (released August 31, 1987) and record-breaking tour, and Pepsi and Sony Music will share new mixes, as well as one billion — that's right, billion — special edition Michael Jackson Bad 25 Pepsi limited edition cans with an iconic silhouette of Jackson, as you can see below.Continue reading...

Ford's new "Go Further" tagline was introduced in January, and it's now being promoted with a new 60-second commercial (above), a pop-up gallery in San Francisco (more on that below), and on social media, including via the Twitter hashtag #gofurther.

No puppets, no testimonials, no Ford name or even a blue oval logo to identify itself, just a simple pitch: "What does it mean to Go Further? For a car company it means offering vehicles with innovative technologies, plug-in hybrids and EcoBoost® engines that combine power and efficiency. If you were offering a new car in today's crowded market, you'd do all this to go further. Learn more at http://www.gofurther.com"

Ford's social hub elaborates on why it's pushing out "Go Further":Continue reading...

Pepsi's biggest bid to re-assume brand and cultural relevance begins this week under the rallying cry and new global tagline of "Live for Now." PepsiCo is looking to this new pop-culture-based campaign to deliver on executives' promise to reignite growth in the company's flagship beverage brand.

Songstress Nicki Minaj will be the initial poster child for the campaign, which will get going with a homepage takeover of Yahoo.com on Wednesday by Pepsi, which will cross-promote Pepsi Pulse, as Pepsi's website is branded, reflecting the interactive hub that will serve as the social-media nexus for Pepsi's campaign.Continue reading...

Joseph Wharton founded the world’s first business school more than 130 years ago, building on University of Pennsylvania founder Benjamin Franklin’s belief that the desire and ability to serve mankind should be "the great aim and end of all learning."

Now Penn's famed Wharton School has turned its management focus onto intself to come up with a new brand platform, "Knowledge for... ", proffering its resources and assets around themes including "Knowledge for Life," "Knowledge for Global Impact" and "Knowledge for Action."Continue reading...

Forget the Old Spice Man; the P&G brand is all about the Old Spice Champ. The latest W+K campaign for the brand features a cameo by Heather Graham (getting dumped, above) in support of its Champion product line of antipersperant/deodorant, deodorant, body wash and body spray. The groan-inducing tagline: "Believe in Your Smellf." Check out the 15-second spots below.Continue reading...

Someday, the moves being made by Taco Bell brand stewards may be considered in business schools as a textbook case of how to turn things around. For now, they're at least bringing some smiles to executives of Yum! Brands — and to Taco Bell aficionados everywhere.

It seems that the introduction of the widely awaited Doritos Locos Taco, as well as a breakfast rollout on the West Coast, boosted the company's fortunes considerably during the first quarter, with Taco Bell same-store sales up a remarkable 6 percent during the period compared with a 2-percent drop in the fourth quarter.

The brand had been dragging cheese lately because of a certain boredom with its products by its teen-male cohort; a faux scandal over the content of its beef filling didn't help matters.Continue reading...

The state of New Hampshire loves its tourists. After all, tourism is where a good chunk of the state’s cash comes from. In 2011, those nickels and dimes added up to more than $4.2 billion. Looks like nobody can exactly do the first part of the state’s historic motto, "Live Free or Die."

(And what's the point of encouraging potential tourists to do the second part?)

Because of that, the state is looking to draw in more tourists and launched an advertising campaign Thursday that hopes to help potential visitors think of New Hampshire in new ways, according to the Associated Press. Part of the new tourism push includes a play on that old motto.Continue reading...

Cheeky start-up Dollar Shave Club has the $13 billion shaving industry on edge as its commercial featuring founder, CEO and improv actor Michael Dubin has gone viral— it's at 4.2 million views and counting—thanks in part to the brand’s cheeky motto, “Our Blades Are F***ing Great.”

The Santa Monica, CA-based e-commerce start-up, just a few weeks old, had 12,000 people sign-up in the first 48 hours for its razors and blades sold in an arrestingly simple way: select one of three razors, pay one low monthly fee, and have them delivered to your door. Continue reading...