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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: branding

branding stories: 20 news summaries

Pepsi Buys Branding Rights to MTV Award

Congrats! You win
best 'Pepsi Rock
Band Video' honor

Sep 12, 09 2:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - This Sunday, MTV will bestow its first Video Music Award on a non-professional. It also happens to be the first time the network has sold naming rights to an award, reports Advertising Age. Hence, the prestigious “Best Performance in a Pepsi Rock Band Video Award.” The winner will... More »

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entertainment • television • music • Pepsi • award show • branding • Rock Band • MTV Video Music Awards • Moonman • Harmonix

(Newser) - So much of our search engine experience is based on branding, but who would come out on top without all the window dressing? Blind Search may help you figure it out. Designed by a Microsoft employee, it spits out unadorned results from Google, Bing, and Yahoo, only telling you which... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Yahoo • Google • search engine marketing • search engine • branding • Bing

OPINION

Newspapers: Forget Paywalls, Take Content Live 

Only 'experiences,' not content, can save the news: Jenkins

Aug 11, 09 9:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - Suddenly every newspaper is talking about a Journal-style online paywall or a "freemium" subscription model, but Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins is resigned that "stunned and traumatized" papers are on their way out. Instead of paywalls, Papers should learn from the battered music industry, which has used "... More »

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newspaper • branding • long tail • newspaper industry • paywall • Guardian Media Group • Guardian

 Behind KFC's 
 Marketing 
 Meltdown 

How does a TV ad blitz and an Oprah endorsement result in a brand nightmare?

May 11, 09 11:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - How to engineer a marketing disaster: Make offer, rescind offer, turn away hungry customers. Kentucky Fried Chicken’s grilled-chicken promotion was to be the largest launch in the chain’s history but turned out to be a promotional nightmare, Advertising Age reports in a look at how a massive TV... More »

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marketing • Oprah Winfrey • KFC • branding • ad campaign • Kentucky Fried Chicken • Jay-ZTV

(Newser) - Wary of being associated with fast food, Disney and others are leaving Happy Meals behind and targeting young buyers—well, their parents—by branding everything from eggs to apples, the Big Money reports. Disney properties like Mickey Mouse, Miley Cyrus, and Zac Efron appear on packaging as well as the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
food • entertainment • nutrition • eggs • Mickey Mouse • Disney • banana • supermarket • Zac Efron • branding • Hannah Montana • Miley Cyrus • apple • fruit and vegetables

To Rake in Funds, Just Drop Her Name

Palin helps raise money on both sides
of partisan issues

Apr 16, 09 9:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - Political fundraisers on both sides of polarizing issues have a secret weapon: Sarah Palin. Mere mention of the Alaska governor helps bring in the big bucks, Politico reports. “I can’t tell how many invitations I’ve seen with ‘Gov. Palin’ in 25-point font and ‘invited’ in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Alaska • GOP • Republican Party • branding • Sarah Palin • fundraising

 Here Comes Kid Rock Beer 


Feb 17, 09 5:18 PM CST
(Newser) - The auto industry may be tanking, but Michigan has a new small-scale savior: Kid Rock Beer. A Michigan brewery has landed a tax credit to produce a line of beer with the rocker's name and image, the Detroit Free Press reports. It's expected to create about 400 new jobs in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
beer • Michigan • University of Michigan • branding • Kid Rock • tax breaks • brewery • brewing • Drinks America

Fans Get Prime Seats for Eternal Extra Innings

Logo coffins, urns make case for 'long-term' devotees of Sox, others

Dec 1, 08 12:35 PM CST
(Newser) - Die-hard baseball fans can now continue showing their team pride even in the afterlife. A Boston-area funeral home is offering its first-ever Red Sox casket, emblazoned with the team’s logo and accented with baseball-bat-type wood. “It's really a beautiful thing,” the funeral-home director, a Sox fan himself,... More »

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MLB • Boston Red Sox • coffin • casket • New York Yankees • branding • funeral home

 LiLo Launches 
 Branding 
 Company 

Lohan's 6126 will sell leggings, tanners

Sep 18, 08 11:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - In yet another attempt at reinvention, 22-year-old Lindsay Lohan has launched a brand development company that will hawk her merchandising ideas, Women’s Wear Daily reports. Expensive leggings are en route to boutiques this fall, but the company, called 6126, also plans to develop a cheaper spandex line, natural self-tanners,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
fashion • Lindsay Lohan • business • celebrity • branding • clothing

analysis

McCain Strays Off Message, But Which Message?

Candidate ad libs as staffers attempt to strategize

Jul 31, 08 1:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - John McCain relishes interacting with voters and sparring with the press, a style that's helped earn him his "maverick" reputation even as it ties his advisers and staff in knots. The campaign as a whole is turning to Karl Rove-style tactics, but the candidate's unpredictable behavior is making it... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • John McCain • Karl Rove • branding • negative campaigning • attack ad • Steve Schmidt

France's Latest Craze: A Dance or a Brand?

Radicals mumble about commercialization, but the kids love it

Jul 19, 08 7:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - There’s a dance craze gripping France—or is it an unabashed commercial scheme, hawking t-shirts and chewing gum? Either way it’s called Tecktonik, and kids are crazy about it, the Los Angeles Times reports. The mix of hip-hop, techno, and random arm movements is championed by dancers... More »

MORE ABOUT:
France • dance • merchandise • club • Paris • branding • suburbs • Tecktonik • craze

NATO Hires Coke Exec to Boost its Brand

Alliance hopes image makeover will prove to people it still matters

Jul 16, 08 2:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - NATO: the Real Thing? The alliance is seeking an image makeover in the face of public apathy and has hired a Coca-Cola executive to help, reports the New York Times. Support for NATO has waned in many of its 26 member nations since the end of the Cold War, and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
NATO • Cold War • public relations • alliance • branding

Teacher
Who Branded Students Fired

He slammed evolution, burned crosses onto 8th-graders' arms

Jun 21, 08 8:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - An Ohio school board has voted unanimously to fire a science teacher who used an electrostatic device to brand 8th-graders with a cross, the AP reports. Science teacher John Freshwater, who says the marks were simply Xs, had been in trouble with the board before for teaching creationism, slamming evolution... More »

MORE ABOUT:
creationism • school • branding • science education • middle school • teacher

Is That a Commercial or
a Game Show?
Maybe Both

Advertisers creating their own TV programs

Jun 12, 08 5:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - The days when a TV host would serve up a tasty bowl of Alpo or light up a Lucky Strike on-air and sing its praises are long gone, but in-show sponsorship may be making a comeback, the New York Times reports. Meow Mix will launch its own game show this... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • marketing • game show • branding • advertisers • Dos Equis • TV advertising

Turnaround King Sees Gold in Margarine

Marketing guru aims to make Smart Balance
a billion-dollar brand

Jun 5, 08 7:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Hailed as a marketing magician for successes with Healthy Choice and Tropicana, billion-dollar brand legend Steve Hughes is at it again, Fortune reports. Turning Smart Balance’s “good” cholesterol into an industry-leading line of spreads is the goal, though stiff competition, rocketing commodity prices, and strapped shoppers could work... More »

MORE ABOUT:
cholesterol • American Heart Association • branding • omega-3 fatty acids • margarine • Healthy Choice • Smart Balance • Steve Hughes

Mega-Brand Rollout Revives Ol' Blue Eyes

Warner deal brings back digitized Sinatra as ad pitchman

May 11, 08 2:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ol' Blue Eyes is still doing it his way—or his heirs' way, to be more precise. Frank Sinatra's family has inked a deal with Warner Music Group to ensure the singer's return on the 10th anniversary of his death: A postage stamp and new CD and DVD collections are... More »

MORE ABOUT:
music • death • Rat Pack • Warner Music • branding • stamps • resurrection • Frank Sinatra

 John McCain: the Brand 

Campaign uses decade-old image to sell GOP hopeful

Apr 12, 08 2:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - John McCain is more than a candidate, he's a brand—and a successful one at that, the Washington Post reports. His image of independence, experience, and, of course, straight talk endures in the public eye and explains why he keeps rising in national polls despite his support for an unpopular... More »

MORE ABOUT:
John McCain • marketing • branding • campaign tactics

 Britney to Front Furniture Biz 

Spears' dad trying to wrangle endorsement deal with Danish line

Apr 8, 08 9:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - Britney Spears, who once ditched a custody hearing to await a furniture delivery, may be going into the ottoman and end table business herself. In an attempt to salvage his daughter's bleeding fortune, Jamie Spears has spent two months on a deal whereby the struggling pop star would endorse a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Britney Spears • California • Denmark • branding • endorsement • Claus Hjelmbak • Jamie Spears • Scandinavia • furniture

Ethiopia Stirs Up Coffee Industry

Fair trade to get a lot more fair if trademark approved

Nov 10, 07 3:33 PM CST
(Newser) - Ethiopia is trademarking its distinctive coffee crop, a move that could bring $88 million a year to the impoverished country, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Coffee connoisseurs happily pay up to $10 per pound for beans from Ethiopia’s Yirgacheffe region, but less than $1 of that goes to farmers... More »

MORE ABOUT:
coffee • Ethiopia • branding • developing world

GOP Heads to Brand Rehab

Republicans look to private sector for pointers on revitalizing party's image

Sep 5, 07 12:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - As the Republican Party continues to languish in the polls, leaders are hoping that the GOP can be reintroduced to Americans with a bit of corporate-style rebranding. House minority leader John Boehner has convened an ad hoc committee to develop a new pitch for the party as one of small... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Republican • GOP • Republican Party • John Boehner • branding

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