Anheuser-Busch InBev tries to get customers to return to its brands.

Annie's IPO surges.

BMW begins delivering fleet for use in London Summer Olympics.

Bertelsmann considers IPO.

BlackBerry-maker RIM plans to report turnaround progress today.

Bojangles unleashes "Chicken Cops" campaign.

Chevron and Merck disclose funding of attack-ad groups.

Depend campaign features non-incontinent celebrities.Continue reading...

Adidas releases spot featuring David Beckham, Lionel Messi, Derrick Rose, and Katy Perry, whose single ("Part of Me") is the featured soundtrack.

Apple products can now be found in half of all U.S. households.

Charles Barkley cross-dresses in new Weight Watchers campaign.

Facebook stops secondary market trading ahead of May IPO.

Jeremy Lin meets with ESPN employee fired over racist headline.

JetBlue's unhinged pilot charged with a criminal complaint.

Netflix appears to follow through with Qwikster plan after all.

News Corp. said to plan sports network to rival ESPN.Continue reading...

It’s a good thing Mad Men’s Don Draper lived in the 1960’s, when Madison Avenue executives were thriving and “style, confidence, debauchery, lust and action” defined the job (as the Emmy Award-winning AMC series would have us believe).

Today, of course, it's not quite so swinging: "the job market is pretty rotten. Opportunities are limited. Agencies aren't doing the same kind of hiring they were five years ago, and there's no denying that those closer to 55 are going to have a harder time,” Nancee Martin, director-talent at Omnicom Group's TBWA Worldwide, commented to Ad Age. "In the past, advertising spoke to the audience, now it's more of a conversation. There are a lot of great Don Drapers out there today, and the really great ones are the ones who've learned to add to their game and keep their eye on the prize," observed Robert Manni, president of Agent16, to the Guardian.

Indeed, Ad Age estimates that agencies accounted for 189,700 jobs in pre-recession 2007, but by January 2010, that number was down by 30,000 jobs. As of November 2011, agencies had regained 17,000 jobs, but not the same jobs, and the majority were being filled by younger digital talent. As the fifth season of Mad Men kicks off with a two-hour special on AMC on Sunday night, what is thriving is the marketing of products related to the franchise and the concomitant glamorization of that era.Continue reading...

Is the head of a company or brand the most effective spokesperson? Not every CEO, after all, can be Richard Branson or "Papa John" Schnatter.

Ace Metrix’s latest white paper, “CEOs in Advertisements: What Happens When the Boss Steps into the Spotlight?” reveals that the CEO doesn't need to have a cult of personality and be a household name to help put a positive face on the brand.Continue reading...

You may remember Sara Blakely as a contestant on Rebel Billionaire, Richard Branson's 2005 reality competition series on Fox. Now she can claim the title as a rebel billionaire, and just like Branson, she's a self-made branding phenom with a flair for promotion — and she owes it all to Spanx.

Call it shapewear, support wear, body shapers, slimming intimates, "hosiery crack" — Spanx has conquered the worlds of retail, fashion and business school case studies, first by helping firm up women's wobbly bits and then, of course, men's. That's right: move over, mantyhose — Blakely got there first, one of many sparks of inspiration and innovation that have propelled her to become the first self-made female billionaire on Forbes' annual billionaire ranking.

“At 41 she’s the youngest woman to join this year’s World’s Billionaires list without help from a husband or an inheritance. She is part of a tiny, elite club of American women worth ten figures on their own, including Oprah Winfrey and Meg Whitman,” writes Forbes in a cover story on their March 26th billionaires ranking annual issue, which is now on newsstands. “Today Spanx is to slimming undergarments what Kleenex is to tissues: a brand that stands for the category.”Continue reading...

If nothing else, it has to be a lot of fun being associated with businesses owned by Virgin. Behind them all, whether it's Virgin Bingo or Virgin Hotels or another of the myriad Virgin-branded businesses, you can always bank (literally) on the sometimes loony but always shrewd iconic entrepreneur, Richard Branson, Virgin's brander-in-chief. Don't think of them as brand extensions so much as Branson extensions — reflections of the Virgin founder's personality, passions and interests.

You can pretty much depend on Branson's trademark wit and showmanship in the promotion of a Virgin brand. The latest campaign from Virgin Mobile USA is testament to that, going so far as to depict what it must have been like "growing up Branson."Continue reading...

Amazon's original programming plans draws speculation.

Apple prepares for iPad (HD?) reveal frenzy today while new device also could be boon for Verizon Wireless; and company receives key patent for iWallet.

Arby's uses holistic approach to social media to boost Klout score.

Bank of America is bullish on girl power.

Bentley's 'ugly' SUV the talk of the Geneva Motor Show.

Boeing forms alliance with Chinese jet maker.

Carbonite sees stock price drop after withdrawing advertising from Rush Limbaugh, as radio host sees 30+ advertisers leave, including Netflix.

Chevron faces criticism after gas-rig fire off Nigeria.

Cosmopolitan reaches 100K paid digital subscriptions.Continue reading...

There really seems to be no end to the far-flung Virgin brand empire. Richard Branson, the entrepreneurial and brash personification of the brand, is always pushing his way into new and often unrelated business ventures. Just weeks ago, Virgin Money took over Northern Rock's 75 bank branches in the UK, acquiring four million customers in the bargain.

It isn't Virgin's only foray into the world of money; in fact, you might say its Virgin Games division revolves around cash (or is a license to print money). The business unit includes Virgin Casino, Virgin Mobile Casino, Virgin Poker, and Virgin Bingo, which offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in progressive jackpots. And it's Virgin Bingo's latest ad campaign that may have a Brit or two raising an eyebrow — and asking how far the elastic brand that is Virgin can stretch.Continue reading...