It’s easy to discount professional golf as a brand-sponsorship proposition given the leveling off in the number of American golfers, the shaming and slumping of Tiger Woods, and the fact that Buick has been headed in only one direction – up – since shedding both Woods and its PGA partnership a couple of years ago.

But it’s spring, the Master’s is almost here, and Mercedes-Benz executives simply can’t resist the idea of tying their brand in the competitive U.S. market to the most patrician sport in the U.S. mainstream.

That's why Mercedes is establishing a mobile golf tour co-branded with the PGA of America that will be visiting U.S. golf tournaments and Mercedes dealerships in nearby markets.Continue reading...

With banks in the forefront of the global financial meltdown that is still a recent memory, you might think that credit unions would be more popular with consumers. But credit unions fly largely below the public's radar; traditionally, they don't advertise much.

One reason: a customer of a credit union must become a "member," since the credit union is actually structured like a membership organization, and credit unions have typically targeted and sometimes restricted their memberships to a particular audience, like teachers or nurses.

Trading on the public's dislike of banks, credit unions have been more prominent of late. Many credit unions have opened up their memberships to anyone and they're beginning to promote themselves, often as "friendlier" alternatives to banks. Credit unions have also adopted a tried and true strategy of much bigger advertisers — using celebrity endorsements.Continue reading...

Japan assesses damage from the quake and tsunami as officials battle the continued threat from destruction at nuclear plants, US. nuclear-energy interests ponder the ramifications for America, the Nikkei falls and the central bank of Japan promises liquidity to help the economy, and Japanese auto plants remain closed.

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt also vows help for Japanese dealing with reactor woes, as GE designed 23 U.S. nuclear reactors similar to the troubled ones in Japan.

Amazon is pressured by states wanting it to collect sales taxes.

Apple chalks up strong sales for iPad 2, seeing 70% first-time buyers.

Bank of America is the latest WikiLeaks target.

BP dispute over Russian JV intensifies.Continue reading...

"When will I win again? Whenever it happens, it happens. I'm just going to keep trying to progress. As I've said, my swing is still a work in progress, and it takes time to get comfortable with everything. It's hard to implement all these changes. I just have to keep moving forward. I'm light years ahead of where I was at the end of last summer." — Tiger Woods blog post on his website, as the now fifth-ranked golfer prepares to battle Phil Mickelson.

It used to be that the celebrity endorsement game was mainly played in an arena wired with TV, radio and print. Now, with Facebook and Twitter at brands' and celebrities' fingertips alike, the rules of that game have changed. Witness the uproar over paid tweets, as CNN highlights above.

It's a tricky area, which has created an opportunity for firms such as Ad.ly to help brands and celebs navigate the choppy seas of celebrity endorsement in a highly social, visible and transparent era.Continue reading...

In 2008, The Tiger Woods Dubai, a high-end resort featuring a Woods-designed championship golf course, was announced. Work on the luxury development, which was slated to include residences valued at more than US$10 million each, continued throughout the golf pro's annus horribilis, but work has just been halted.

“The decision was based on current market conditions that do not support high-end luxury real estate,” Dubai Properties, a unit of Dubai Holding, said in a statement statement to Bloomberg. “These conditions will continue to be monitored and a decision will be made in the future when to restart the project.”Continue reading...

Eager to put a winless 2010 behind him, Tiger Woods will make his PGA season debut this weekend at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, CA. 

“I had some things to do at home, I worked at those things at home, then I came out here,” the embattled golf pro told reporters at a press conference today. He  also said this was the first offseason he’d had in nearly six years where he wasn’t trying to recover from an injury or personal problems.

“It’s nice to have an offseason where I wasn’t in pain and recovering [from] something,” he added. “I’ve had so many darn surgeries. It’s been awhile since I had an offseason like this where it’s been nice to start up again, nice to practice and build, and that’s been fun.”

Woods appears to be loosening up his image.Continue reading...

While there's something to be said for brand names that stand the test of time, one that seems to hark back to the golden days of radio is RadioShack. The company got its start in the early 1920s as a supply house for radio and electronics hobbyists.

Over the years, RadioShack remained a source for hobbyists and, later, for consumers who needed batteries, cables, and esoteric electronic components they couldn't find anywhere else. Then technology changed. Boy did it change.

But the name RadioShack hasn't changed. And that may be the biggest problem of all for this retail brand, which just saw its CEO step down and fighting for its life.Continue reading...