Google CEO Larry Page discloses vocal-cord condition as company plans music-streaming service.

Apple is being investigated for its role in e-book pricing.

Burger King rolls out BK Rib to bust McRib by McDonald's.

ABC tests expanding Nielsen ratings to mobile and plans to consolidate Dancing with the Stars to Monday evenings.

Amy's Baking Company goes rogue after Kitchen Nightmares rejection, shows what brands shouldn't do on social.

Bloomberg terminal-use issue highlights stress in corporate culture as Wall Street firms begin to regard it as competitor.

Dell will miss profit estimates.

Dollar General looks to hire 10,000 new employees this month.Continue reading...

As it stands, 1,127 lives were lost in the factory collapse in Bangladesh and over a dozen international retailers have signed on to the binding Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement as the May 15 deadline looms. 

In a move that was hailed as "game-changing," H&M, Bangladesh's largest producer, signed on to the agreement on Monday, which promises to ensure independent inspections of all factories and financial aid to improve factory safety. “With this commitment we can now influence even more in this issue," said Helena Helmersson, Head of Sustainability for H&M, in a statement posted on the fast-fashion retailer's corporate website. 

While H&M's decision may have influenced other signatories like Italy's Benetton, Spain's Mango and Britain's Marks & Spencer, it has yet to affect the decisions of North American retailers including Gap Inc. and Walmart.Continue reading...

Maybe all that JCPenney really needed to turn things around was to get rid of Ron Johnson as CEO. A couple of weeks ago, the chain apologized for how the brand had behaved under him in 2012 and told consumers it was listening to their concerns. Now, it appears that JCPenney management believes the worst is over—and already is thanking customers for coming back.

It might be a bit premature for JCPenney to be running its new ad in which it claims, "Now, we're happy to say, you've come back to us. We're speechless, except for two little words. Thank you." After all, later this week the brand expects to report that fiscal first-quarter sales dropped by another 16 percent compared with a dismal 2012, a further decline beyond the $4.3 billion in sales that JCPenney lost for all of last year, as former CEO Johnson attempted to "transform" the brand.Continue reading...

BMW is investing 3 billion euros in EVs and marketing. 

AP execs outraged over government probe of phone records.

Sony is targeted for breakup by American investor.

Airbus aims to steal limelight from Boeing at upcoming Paris Air Show.

Amazon workers go on strike in Germany.

BNP Paribas eyes mobile and online banking.

Citibank says "no fees" means "never."

Coach approached Tory Burch about a deal.

Coca-Cola faces claim that Coke top-secret recipe has been found.Continue reading...

SAP moves into cloud computing as brand projects $10B boost from banking software.

Coca-Cola plans to invest $2 billion in Florida orange groves.

Disney second quarter soars 32% on theme parks, ESPN ad sales as company withdraws trademark application for Dia de los Muertos.

Alibaba IPO anticipation grows on revenue surge.

American Airlines launches Klout-based promo.

AOL profits boosted by advertising.

AT&T presses case in lower bandwidth spectrum case.

Bitcoin startups begin to attract real cash.

Burger King makes bold move with delivery expansion.Continue reading...

JCPenney's Magical Makeup Tour continues. Right after it posted a video mea culpa and launched a new Facebook and Twitter campaign to reach out to disaffected consumers, #jcpListens, the brand has made another major flip-flop in the interests of appeasing its traditional customer base. It's one of the handful of interesting attempts at brand forgiveness going on these days, which also include Mtn Dew, General Motors and Hyundai.

The retailer has reversed field and now plans to restore the house brand St. John's Bay, a $1 billion marque that was eliminated by since-ousted CEO Ron Johnson amid the many other mistakes he made in attempting to transform the venerable retailer. JCPenney announced that St. John's Bay emerged as tops in its poll on Facebook asking what JCPenney brand was the voter's favorite.

"We heard you," JCPenney said after the poll results were in. "St. John's Bay is back! What will you snag first, pants or shirts?" the brand posted on Facebook.Continue reading...

Apple dodges $9 billion in US taxes with bond deal.

Google named Advertiser of the Year. 

Volkswagen makes $10 million donation to the National Mall.

Adidas sales drop on weakening Reebok brand.

Barnes & Noble begins support of Google apps on Nook.

Beam sales rise because of "formula run" on Maker's Mark.

Diet Coke slims down its vending machines.

Ford adds jobs and raises capacity to make pick-up trucks.

Geritol seeks new life with younger consumers.

Huffington Post brings rapid-response "native" ads to its home page.Continue reading...

JCPenney's brand-resuscitation efforts continued today with a digital-era form of a classic corporate move: the mea culpa.

The company launched a virtual apology tour on Facebook, YouTube (watch below) and Twitter to get the message out to customers—those same customers that now-ousted CEO Ron Johnson in large part ignored for more than a year—that the brand is sorry and wants them to come back.

According to Bloomberg, the campaign was developed on Johnson's watch and implemented by Sergio Zyman, the former Coca-Cola marketing executive who will go down in history as the architect of the New Coke fiasco.Continue reading...