What would you do if you knew today, what will be hot tomorrow?

_________________________________

• Jan 19th 06

- Louis Vuitton embraces art chic

- Absolut makeover

- In Toyko, unsexy is the new sexy

- The changing face of Avon

- Luxury cars get engines with Nascar power

- Hilton launches new luxury brand

- Honda speaks to the choir

- Gucci heads for highlands while Anglomania reigns

- 'Must-win' attitude gets Motorola back on hip track

- Singers like to drop the names of hot products

- Apple-Intel ad vs. Postal Service music video; you decide

- Videogame parody of the Kinko’s copy store

- Brits show appetite for mobile TV

- Localizing global brand packaging

- It's all in the jeans

- Fake brands have designs on your cash

- The media's crush on Apple

- Ads on your cellphone, silver bullet or unwanted intrusion?

- The confusions of selling in China

- A speak-up sales pitch

- Traffic-stopping billboards as Paris fights lingerie war with China

- The denim faithfuls of True Religion

- Cool's out for ever

- Marketers hear the cell phone's ring of success

- Starbucks goes to Hollywood

- New N.J. slogan: 'Come see for yourself'

- Playboy signs deal with Jacob & Co. to create luxury timepieces

- McDonald's beefs up chicken offerings

- Jail for Wendy's 'chilli finger' pair

_________________________________

• Jan 12th 06

- Deafness and apathy for the iPod generation

- Basquiatball - Reebok signs sneaker deal

- Blockbuster Video, Hollywood's new zombie

- 'Peaceful baby' dolls becoming a hit in Japan

- The Confucian consumer

- New models position Lincoln to chase Cadillac

- Hip-hop fuels male jewelry trend

- Why Howard Stern, Ted Koppel are moving from free to fee

- Garçon! Un Coca-Cola - exporting American brands

- Arrested man not called Harley Davidson

- American Apparel: Nice and sleazy

- Whole Foods switching to all wind power in U.S.

- New show for iTunes

- A bigger stick against Chinese fakes

- Ford puts luxury cars on new path

- New York Fashion Week schedule released

- US Postal Service – return to sender

- Forehead advertising pioneer at it again

- Tobacco firms get smoked out

- The future of newspapers

- Björk and Matthew Barney call Ikea

- The runway lighting guru

- All-news television spreading its wings

- Destiny's Child alumni a perfect fit for brands

- The marketing of cute

- Social services via IKEA

- Chinese car company Geely to enter U.S. in 2008

- Now high street stores bow to organic shopper

- Concept cars aren't that far from reality

- Chloé's next step

- The Starbucks economy

- When hip hop and ballet collide

- Fashion analyst: "Gap has lost its cool"

- Sony trying to balance demands of consumers, artists

- Dunkin' Donuts coffee for life

- Ford - "change or die"

- Automakers take pitch to blogs, TiVo, iPods

- Macho packaging for male moisturizer is a winner

- Denim land Sweden

_________________________________

• Jan 5th 06

- Western brands win Chinese counterfeit suit

- Toying with the muscle car gods

- Barbie accused of transgender agenda

- Super Bowl XL's extra-large ad sales

- Swedish jeans accused of Satanism

- Coca-Cola banned at University of Michigan

- Diamonds are Ferrari

- Internet shopping moves to cellphones

- Age downshift - 50 is the new 30

- Toyota launches 'music player on wheels'

- Jingles drop out of favor

- 50 Cent ad guilty of glamorising gun crime

- Paris patisserie opens for dogs

- Horizontal corduroys make you look phat

- Chloé designer quits

- TV ads clean up and dumb down

- Countdown to new Coke campaign

- The growing future of Trendspotters

- Virtual ads new reality on TV shows

- Arise Dame Vivienne Westwood

- Ricola launches Thanks A Million guerrilla scheme

- Battle rages for the luxury phone market

- Lincoln names: Words out, letters in

- RFID: Beyond the barcode

- Baltimore, 'Home of 1,000 slogans'

- Ikea booms in Moscow

- Coke, Pepsi face unlikely challenger

- Mercedes is hip-hop brand of the year

- Starbucks wins Chinese logo case

______________________________________________________

• June 3rd 05

- How pop will eat itself (and how that's OK)

- Levi's leads the metrosexual backlash (Watch new viral Levi's commercials)

- Bentley "pleased to witness" its appearance in soapy Miss Hilton ad

- Sega releases dancing iDog companion

- Brands go beyond product placement

- Outrage at Schwarzenegger's Pepsi product placement

- Wal-Mart - the high cost of low price

- Alexander McQueen teams up with Puma

- Political incorrectness is the new political correctness

- A Filipino sting for McDonald's

- A round of Grand Theft Auto with your burger

- Top designers, no brands

- The drag racer who sold his engine to the army

- Pregnant women advertises baby as billboard

- How Hollywood learned to time its releases

- Violent Japanese fiction causes cultural shockwaves

- TV RIP (again)

- Catholic Church to use beer mats to recruit priests

- Virtual game. Real profit

- Girls cruise Paris for Lagerfeld

- Snacks go on a diet

- Just Do It Yourself at Nike

- Actors strike looms against video game makers

- When Madison Avenue raids the mausoleum

- The power behind the Prada throne

- In music, laptops are 'new garage'

- Pfizer reports blindness for popular OTC pill

- 7-Up goes into orbit

- Bulgari keeps it in the family

- The raciest Maybach

_________________________________

• May 27th 05

- Video games and the product placement invasion

- Raf Simons takes over at Jil Sander

- Austrian takes VW to court over Nazi logo

- Tween boys develop interest in cosmetics

- Skater dudes for Jesus

- Budweiser signs the Jib-Jab brothers: WATCH JIB-JAB BUDWEISER AD

- Prada ponders outsourcing to China

- Hollywood steps up fight against Chinese pirates...

- ...Fox issues takedown notices to Sith downloaders

- Graffiti artists pour scorn on street art campaign

- How Budweiser became king of Chinese beers

- Critics take aim at 'Star Wars' meals

- Big brands move on viral...

- ...Is viral overexposed?

- Backlash over Carl's Jr. carwash ad: WATCH THE AD

- U.S. appetite for SUVs is stalling...

- ...U.S. Army appetite for SUVs also stalling

- Five common misconceptions about buzz marketing

- Tommy Hilfiger - the reality show

- Advertisers look to blogosphere

- Volez ce MP3!

- Fashion brands gain from primetime exposure

- Supersize Me: The update: PREVIEW MORGAN SPURLOCK'S DON'T EAT THIS BOOK

- Introducing the Maybach batmobile

- To support athletics, high schools court advertisers

- Music moves from consoles to concert halls

- Nicole Kidman's knee holds Hollywood hostage

- The Muppets take Madison Avenue

- New ways to drive home the message

- The U.S government bans billboards in space

- Television reloads for the future

- VW - 100 million cars and counting

- Tony the Tiger to roar no more

- Lexus comes home to Japan

_________________________________

• May 19th 05

- Wendy's finger finder fingered by police...

- ... Wendy's finger owner sold finger for $50

- How counterfeit brands damage China

- Britain cracks down on hoodies

- 'Spectator advertising' next frontier in gaming

- Louis Vuitton sues San Francisco hotel

- The rise of racy cell phone content

- In brands we (sometimes) trust

- Counterfeiting spirals out of control

- Brewers get into the spirits of marketing

- Cellphone gaming gathers pace

- Wal-Mart apologizes for 'Nazi' ad

- De Beers to open US stores

- LVMH launches its first premium rum brand

- Hip hop happily sells out

- Hollywood fails to quit smoking

- Stella McCartney to design for H&M

- American Apparel's sweat-free agenda

- A brief history of music sampling

- Man killed at Eiffel Tower in guerrilla marketing stunt

- Sweden becomes movie pirate's paradise

- Ford and Volvo clash over safety

- I want my narrowcast TV

- The return of Radar magazine

- KFC ad draws record number of complaints...

- ... closely followed by Fanta spitting controversy

- Sony shows off new PlayStation 3

- McDonalds tests 'healthy' frying oil

- The pope sponsors German beer brand

- Ban for 'gun glamour' Reebok ad

_________________________________

• May 13th 05

- Yahoo offers music for rent

- Is fashion design a team sport?

- New challenges for Blue Chips brands

- Inside the mass-media meltdown

- Sony slides into innovation stagnation

- The Neiman Marcus Paradox

- KFC ad draws record number of complaints

- How the US postal service got cool

- New vodka launched with bizarre 'Satanic' brand strategy

- Piracy pushes TV networks to pull shows

- Rental fleets go luxe

- Westin takes the hotel home

- Nicolas Ghesquière reinterprets Cristobal Balenciaga

- Jaguar takes indie tunes for a drive

- Lamborghini Murcielago causes nose-bleed

- What can Apple do to keep the iPod cool?

- How Alexandra Knight built a niche luxury brand

- Techno-fashion of the future

- Northwest takes beer battle to new heights

- Cannes drowns in movie posters

- The Olsen Twins - A brand in transition

- Nike and Bausch-Lomb to launch contact lens sunglasses

- Human billboard makes documentary

- Starbucks censors Springsteen

- The branding of Miss Hilton

_________________________________

• May 7th 05

- Military energy bars reach civilians

- Ford's product placement strategy leaked

- Prada to shed struggling Helmut Lang

- Infiniti, the anti-Lexus

- Free buzz blitz earns rebuke

- Even the French are fighting obesity

- Ad sends people to sleep

- $5bn deal for luxury firm Neiman Marcus

- Apple growers are loving McDonalds

- Marc Ecko gazes into the future

- Cow urine is the new Coke

- The great American beer crisis

- Adidas sells Salomon ski brand

- Louis Vuitton goes guerrilla at Yale

- Iron Maiden hit out at ironic rock t-shirts

- CNN denies spamming bloggers

_________________________________

• April 29th 05

- The wonderfully Feng Shui World of Disney

- Luxury cars inspire China's dreamers

- Growing concern over disturbing "happy slapping" teen craze

- Blackberry Thumb is the new Tennis Elbow

- 20 year anniversary of New Coke - and other marketing fiascos

- Einstein - the brand-friendly genius

- Carls Jr in lather over soapy carwash

- Corporate America to blame for hip-hop violence?

- The smart money behind video blogging

- Ad blitz dismisses obesity threat as 'hype'

- British worry over food child marketing

- U.S. tribes and Hollywood seek a truce

- Ford Mustang colors inspire new nail polish

- New claims could damage Brand Beckham

- Street art goes global, online

- A new dimension for hard-core gamers

- British louts swap Levi's for Versace

- PETA fails to upset Happy Cows

- Kentucky puts the "Fried" back in Chicken

- Update: Arrest of the Wendy's finger finder

- Gap Inc. takes on boomers with 'Forth & Towne'

- A brand called me

- Drudge at 10, now he's fun

_________________________________

• April 22nd 05

- Sony gets real on virtual goods

- Al-Jazeera's global ambition

- The shamelessness of celebrity shilling

- Nike "accused of guerrilla marketing"

- Target redesigns the pharmacy

- Barbie faces mid-life crisis…

- … as the Bratz battle turns ugly

- Agencies return to research

- George Bush sued over "W' logo

- Louis Vuitton declares war on landlords

- Diet boom for Pepsi

- The rise of the pop culture economy

- Hummer seeks to expand

- Hip-hop hustlers

- Nike sneaks into Wal-Mart

- Entertainment brands scramble to launch toddler cellphones

- China prepares to invade Detroit

- Under fire, Reebok pull 50 Cent ad

- Wal-Mart targets upscale customers

- Parisian graffiti artists awarded with exhibition

- Jenna Jameson launches video game

- When sports drinks kill

- General Motors in freefall

- Lexus goes hybrid

- Zojirushi releases "iPot Senior"

- Ralph Lauren customers lose identity

_________________________________

• April 14th 05

- Lonsdale attempts to counter thug hijack

- McDonalds celebrates 50th birthday

- The brand pirates of China

- Sony in Europe aims to restore brand's glitter

- Reebok under fire for 'gun glamor' ad

- Tom Ford shows up at Estee Lauder

- Radar magazine set to relaunch

- Tiger Woods scores iconic moment for Nike

- Burberry looks outside UK for success

- Murakami-mania hits New York

- McDonalds takes on Starbucks...

- ... and Starbucks says cheese

- The importance of being on brand

- Nike combats sweat with transparency

- GM to put "GM" on all GM vehicles

- 'Marlboro Country' bans smoking

- Cookie Monster cuts down on cookie intake

- Lil' Jon plans to "crunk every phone in America"

- Wendy's points finger at finger accuser

- Jumping on the pseudo-celebrity brandwagon

- 'Apprentice' sponsors are the real losers

- Domino's expands pop culture strategy

- Cartier and Dunhill among China's top luxury brand

- Berlin hosts Anti-Graffiti Conference

- Lexus re-presents the case for goIng hybrid

- Tanqueray gin finds sense of humor

- MGM's roar falls silent

_________________________________

• April 8th 05

- Lonsdale brand claimed by radical Dutch youth

- The Murakami Method - Japan's Warhol

- Applebee's - where fast food slows down

- Christina Aguilera Skechers - worst ad of the year

- Google - you've searched the engine, now drink the soda

- Kabbalah - you've tried the religion, now drink the soda

- Watchmakers nervously eye cellphone innovation

- Cellphones face personality crisis

- DVD RIP?

- Sports gear hits runway

- LVMH to launch premium rum in the US

- Gawker's Drudge killer goes live

- Pirelli bets on high-performance tires

- Miss Hilton turns podcaster

- The return of the muscle car

- Advertising goes underground

- PETA goes after Benetton

- Pernod bids for Allied Domecq

- BMW's dramatic new future

- Eau de Pooch

- Sony patents 'real life Matrix'

- Voice-controlled TV gets closer to reality

- Gamer murdered with virtual sword

- A new era of Russian luxury

- Sony announces 'iTunes for movies'

- Camel denies coolness of Joe Camel

_________________________________

• March 31st 05

- Inside the idea culture of Crispin Porter + Bogusky

- French luxury brands seek Presidential nurturing

- Big Mac pimpin' - McDonalds and lyrical product placement

- Graffiti is dead, long live Grafedia

- In China, panic spreads over KFC's toxic red dye Food

- Weinsteins step down from Miramax

- New product fails to support Victoria's Secret

- Branded entertainment - 'the Wild West' of marketing

- Marketers tap chatty young teens

- KFC chicken burger ad banned for size issues

- Hasbro launches 'empty box' Star Wars strategy

- Premium jeans for all seasons

- Burger King creates breakfast outrage

- Brand profile - Starbucks liquor

- Amazon.com: lil' helper or big brother?

- To hype PSP, Sony lines up aficionados

- Big three struggle to get up to speed

- P Diddy becomes custom rim entrepreneur

- France awash with fashion fakes

- Beef and the building of the 50 Cent brand

- Guinness: refreshing a 243-year-old brand

- The salaried superstars of Japan

- Expanding the American Idol brand

- Jaguar attempts to regain its luxury path

- You know you want it - marketing and the brain

_________________________________

• March 24th 05

- Traditional marketing fades as viral fever turns into epidemic

- American Apparel faces ad backlash

- Hip-hop jumps shark? Russell Simmons releases HipHopYogacise video

- The return of Balenciaga

- Calvin Klein relaunches CKOne

- French luxury brands seek Presidential 'nurturing'

- Al-Jazeera to go public?

- Adidas launches world's first computerized shoe

- The rise of the green machine

- Netspeak expands the English language

- Mobile announces first annual thumb-wrestling event

- Under stress, Maybach cranks up the power

- Oprah buzz works no magic for Pontiac

- Beer without the breath from Brahma

- Peruvian ex-President Fujimori launches Fuji-Cola

- Making the brand, MTV-style

- Making Miller Lite of the king...

- ... and Anheuser's full-frontal counterattack

- How Cadillac got the buzz back

- Cadillac debuts two new limos in NYC only

- A new way to bring home the bacon

- Brands and alternate reality gaming

- A beginner's guide to ad-sell your baby

- Trucker hat trend outsourced to Mexico

- Japanese Bust Up chewing gum enhances women

- Ken Auletta on the future of advertising

- Customizing sneakerheads

- 100 years to adore Dior

_________________________________

• March 17th 05

- AOL users now "waive any right to privacy"

- IKEA criticized for male-only assembly guides

- VW announces new product blitz

- Re-branding America...

- ... as Karen Hughes becomes America's Chief Marketing Officer

- PETA declares war on Jennifer Lopez

-Content converges on cell phones

- Agnes B.'s unique approach to brand-building

- American teens latch on to Japanese pop culture

- Bono and Rogan launch clothing company

- What a brand we have in Jesus

- Marketing challenge for senior-friendly gadgets

- Naomi Klein on Bush and Big Macs

- Ford takes the T-bird away

- Why The Sims like McDonalds

- The disappearing tween years

- Lauch of Peerflix - the first Napster Netflix hybrid

- Western mega stores fail in Japan

- Cereal makers muscle in on vitamins

- Toyota's hybrid - biggest thing since combustion engine

- French Catholic Church outraged over fashion Last Supper

- Neiman Marcus courts suitors

- Fiery manifesto for banning brands from auto industry

- Sandwich spread ad terrifies British children

- Terrorist reality TV boosts ratings in Iraq

- McDonalds launches healthy eating campaign

- German fury as Wal-Mart bans love

- Iger's plans for the future of Disney

- Mercedes in turnaround crisis

_________________________________

• March 10th 05

- Music for Imaginary Runways - our latest playlist goes live

- McDonalds launches "Maybe you should spend less time with your TV" TV campaign

- Coach sues LVMH for anti-competitive practices

- More schools adopt no logo clothing policy

- Airlines battle in mile-high peanut war

- At Gucci Tom Ford’s replacement is replaced

- Body of Christ in flavor-enhancement effort

- Toyota launches record label

- Young Germans lose thirst for beer

- Web demo launches hip-hop in China

- Wholefoods rethinks shopping as interactive theater

- Hollywood plunders Asia for pop culture...

- ... while Chinese teens keep pop culture local

- Racy footage found on 'new' Wal-Mart camera

- HP creates wiki-wiki-wireless scratching for DJs

- At 73, Valentino ponders the future...

- ... at 168, Hermès ponders the future

- Beef and bullets - rap's corporate ratings war

- Russia combats avalanche of suggestive advertising

- The growing trend of brand collaboration

- Where bloggers end and journalists begin

- Terrorist reality TV boosts ratings in Iraq

- Behind the scenes with a Parisian nose

- Is luxury retail heading for a fall?

- Blockbuster in talks over 'deceptive' ad claims

- China suits up as business rolls in

- Youth magazines mourn loss of boybands

- As sales fall, department stores look for new image

- Lebanon’s "Gucci Revolution"

- Video games launch new tween rating

- Chinese sneaker brands battle as Olympics approach

- The US attorney fires first shots at hip-hop industry

- The Bape sneaker freakers of Manhattan

_________________________________

• February 17th 05

- Is Kiefer Sutherland trying to sell you something?

- Aftershock of McLibel draws writ review

- A celebrity product placement primer

- Delta focuses on good side

- Hip-hop fried backlash

- Smart brand doesn't look too clever

- Fashion gets fast, hot and cheap

- Exclusive boutique opens in newly-minted Moscow

- Where beer meets border

- Hollywood's Asian remake trend

- Gas stations notch up coffee competition

- US brands fly flag more quietly

- Starbucks and Ray Charles

- Bottled water becomes the new cellphone

- Missy Elliott in trademark row with royalty

- The bloggers takes over fashion week

- The man who put the 'I' in McDonalds

- Celebrities redefine age

- 40 becomes the new 30

- Twixts are the new Tweens

- City for sale - NYC to pitch brand name

- Anti-globalization, the adbusting of brands

- Brands and graffiti

- Stampede at new London IKEA store

- No business like snow business

- Fiat buys Maserati from Ferrari

- Chavs cause spam deluge

_________________________________

• February 10th 05

- Reebok reinvents itself with a show tune

- Guerrilla Squarepants, the underhanded pitch

- A bathing ape comes of age

- Japanese cars spawn customizing craze

- What websites do to turn on teens

- The freebie-d world of the taste-maker

- Chinese eat up the Yum dynasty

- Online casino to be first permanent foreheadvertisement

- Esuvee aims to tame young sport-utility drivers

- No logo meets the mega-brands

- American Airlines removes pillows and saves $375,000

- Antidote to Superbowl, the rise of amateur ads

- Milan bans all-female Last Supper ad

- Product placement and pinot noir

- Spotting the next big thing

- MTV2's viral two-headed dog gets busted

- Cadillac wins at Grammys

- 'Kidnapped' action figure is limited edition hero

- Delta Airlines uniforms on the New York runway

- Napster guns for the iPod

- In mint condition: Altoids tin reborn

- When good ad campaigns go bad

- How Sony lost the plot - A pragmatic new outlook at Gucci

- Supersized outdoor ads hit Britain

- New South Park challenger set to out-South-Park South Park

- Louis Vuitton prevails over Google in trademark row

_________________________________

• February 3rd 05

- The catwalk charts

- Mercedes under pressure to drop Smart car brand

- The booming business of fake brands

- Gucci loses its CEO

- When good guerrilla marketing goes bad

- Defending Legoland

- MTV makes out 9 times an hour

- US toy taken captive in Iraq

- iLook inside my iSelf

- Olfactory marketing - the sweet smell of Citroën

- Pepsi takes on the boys

- A dying breed, Apple’s helping hand

- Carlsberg virally seeds faux passports

- Abercrombie heads North

- Motorola Razr cuts to the edge of cool

- And the Oscar for best product placement goes to...

- Carrying the flame - Zippo's iconic brand

- Europe's rag trade torn to shreds

- Hip-hop grows up

- An audience with the king of product placement

- Woman pleads guilty to selling non-existent 'Duff' brand beer

- MTV lets the two-headed dogs out

- Top 10 car colors of 2005; blue soars, orange returns

- Bellyvertising hits $4,000 on eBay

- Face of Taster's Choice finds out he is the face of Taster's Choice

- Ford's lustful priest becomes the first casualty of Superbowl 2005

- Couture and the stock market part ways

_________________________________

• January 7th 05

*** CHAV SPECIAL ***  The New York Times on the Chav Burberry battle

*** CHAV SPECIAL ***  Burberry boss reaches out to the Chavs

*** CHAV SPECIAL ***  An inside look at Chavettes

- Maybach extends customization to two million choices

- The explosive rise of sonic branding

- Nike fights its adbusting shadow

- Energy drinks build their buzz

- Sony launches 'Maybach' technology brand

- Paco Rabanne turns his designer hand to vodka

- Cadillac feels the need for speed

- China set to drive new luxury industry

- Old luxury brand strategy in decline

- China accuses Ikea of 'design imperialism'

- Lil' Jon crunks up the Lil' Jon brand extensions

- With the 'tweel', Michelin reinvents the wheel

- Investigation after prison clothing auction on eBay

- Consumer electronics as runway fashion

- Ford goes to Hollywood

- Motorola launches cellphone MP3 ski jacket

- Blockbuster ends late fees

- After tsunami, Pepsi pulls surf ad

- Bentley rethinks sports luxury

- Prada runs aground in the UK

- Super-premium spirit brands soar

- Dove soap hires 96 year old model

- Anheuser-Busch launches retro strategy for Budweiser

- Snobbishly vintage in a Tokyo hot spot

- Women lash out at hip-hop's abuses

_________________________________

• December 31st 04

- American Brandstand - 2004 white paper now available

- Nike runs into MORE trouble in China - loses copyright battle

- Watch banned Nike stickman ad | Watch 'original' Chinese stickman

- Extreme reality TV goes beyond a slice of life

- Starbucks bets future on hot food

- A.P.O. launches $1,000+ 'Maybach' denim brand

- Russian vodka brands turn to subliminal advertising

- The adbusting world of the determined detractor

- Hacker hits China's McDonalds website

- Brazilian beer as the new Stella Artois?

- Chavs knock 40% from Burberry sales

- Branson previews galactic travel

- Full length films - coming to a handset near you

- Expanding the Snoop Dogg brand

- The lengthy ordeal of naming car brands

- Ford buys into tuner culture

- Disillusioned Pierre Cardin bows out

- A growing taste for kink

- Las Vegas becomes credible luxury destination

- Fur sales surge to record

- Apple reboots itself into retailing

- NBA in midst of hip-hop culture shift

- The rising trend in unauthorized ad campaigns

- Advertisers spend more in 04, but cautious of where

- Kodak's new brand strategy

- Steve McQueen's image lives on in advertising

- America becomes global marketplace

- Bit Torrent - the man behind video Napster

_________________________________

• December 24th 04

- CADILLAC - American Brandstand brand of the year

- American Apparel - made in downtown LA

- Diet soda brands set to outsell regular

- Ford goes after the street crowd

- Turn yourself into an iPod ad

- Auto brands create loyalty among two year olds

- Counterfeit luxury goes undercover

- Old brands, renewed appeal

- Holly Claus - Santa's little brand extension

- Marketers offer smell-before-you-buy vacations

- The 10 biggest brand blunders of the year

- Why Santa's marketing works better than yours

- Hollywood saves the comic-book industry

- Nintendo surgeons more precise?

- Human buy-ology, the science of shopping

- I shop therefore I am good

- War Games: Army's Hollywood Sim

- Malcolm Gladwell, the accidental guru

- The scented battle for your nose

- Santa goes Gucci

- Hollywood and the "double-dipping" DVDs

- Madison Avenue looks for new sports role models

- Is the Marlboro Man really a kid at heart?

- Gamer buys $26,500 virtual land

- The brand America backlash

- Everything style magazines forgot to tell you

_________________________________

• December 17th 04

- Pop culture erodes the control of Castro's government

- The house that Furby built

- Her majesty's royal branding business

- Nike changes Chinese television

- Hilfiger buys Lagerfeld

- Barry Bonds in endorsement hot seat

- China craves more fashion magazines

- Polet's pushes hard for Gucci success...

- ... and issues warning to other Gucci brands

- A landmark move for China Inc.

- Gap's fall blues are not just jeans

- Aerosmith sells you a Buick

- FAO Schwarz - back from the dead

- Customization trend moves to M&Ms

- Ikea showdown at the Kremlin

- Luxury obsession grips America

- The branding of George Foreman

- Western brands creep into Iran

- The triumphant rise of the fast casual sandwich

- From ring tones to mobile music stores

- Is Nutella, the chocolate hazelnut spread, left- or right-wing?

- Honda kid-sizes advertisements

- TAG expands Yao brand

- Nissan's Infiniti battles titans of luxury autos

_________________________________

• August 19th 04

- Japanese pop culture blamed for rise in violent crime

- Luxury goods are 'self-satirizing'

- Olympic brand tyranny

- Venus Williams designs McDonald's hat

- Impossible is nothing: Adidas launches 100m vertical race

- Crossing over in a CostCo casket

- Spray-on stockings thrill Americans

- Graffiti, brands, and the modern urban experience

- China worries about the rise of celebrity culture

- FCUK retires its dyslexic slogan

- Hummer builds a bicycle

- Bear drinks 36 cans of Rainier Beer

- Miller suffers backlash

- Vogue cautiously approves cheap chic

- Sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll and ringtones

_________________________________

• August 13th 04

- Revlon and Hummer join forces

- iPod in Japan: The "Louis Vuitton of technology"

- Donald Trump creates clothing line

- Iconic shoes sneak back into fashion

- Tabasco Sauce and child discipline

- Japanese get first mobile wallets

- Iconic Gen Y "news" source accused of selling out

- The ad nauseam marketing of Von Dutch

- Brands use politics to market to Gen Y

- We the media - blogjournalist nation

- The Muzak Corporation tries to fight the stigma

- Olympic Games bans non-sponsor brands

- Disney scouts Miramax makeover

- John Galliano and the rasta man

- A brief British history of breath mints

_________________________________

• August 6th 04

- McDonald's Happy Meal turns 25

- Knowing when a brand should retire

- The Mecca Cola jihad challenge - Don't mix your drinks

- Logo loyalty - revenge of the tattooed nerds

- Measuring product placement

- Creators of Subservient Chicken launch the Angus Diet

- Clothes lose out to gadgets for young consumers

- TV goes down the tube as 18 - 34 males reinvent advertising

- The battle for Barney's, NYC

- Shopping malls arrives in Beijing, and China dyes its hair...

- Cadillac shifts into overdrive ...

- Pay-to-shop; New York's newest fashion

- Online toys, the new sales ploy


Nota Bene

The brand count stays at 18 this week, but most brands move higher, with 12
brands mentioned in the top 5 songs of the Billboard chart.

Next week, we predict the arrival of BMW, Cristal and Ferrari...

It's a strong quarter for car brands, this week they take up 50% of the
total brand mentions, and Mercedes knocks Nike back into 7th place.

_________________________________

• July 30th 04

- Toyota announces the world's first winking, laughing, crying car

- Marketers learn to let go

- High quality fakes spur luxury brands to fight back

- NBC blankets San Francisco with indelible street ads

- The death of mass marketing, and the rise of brand journalism

- China educates itself on Western pop culture

- Edgy designers seek edgy singers

- The death of mass marketing, and the rise of brand journalism

- Harold and Kumar go to White Castle

- Cults, brands and the power of passion

- New York sells subway names to sponsors

- The baseball cap celebrates 50 years

- MTV; the global revolution of perpetual cool

- Undercover marketing - the brand stalkers

- Hip-hop; the music that ate the planet

- The best global brands of the year

Nota Bene

The brand count falls slightly to 18 this week, as the most open product placement of the year - Seagram's Gin - drops out of the Billboard top 20, together with Jaguar and one of two Rolls Royces.

Meanwhile, this week also sees the return of the two main car brands of hip-hop, Mercedes and Cadillac, both in Ciara's Goodies - "Just because you drive a Benz / I'm not goin home with you." Nice.

Over the next few weeks, there's a range of new brands bubbling under in the Billboard chart, including this Mercedes reference, which is rapidly becoming an office favorite - from Why by Jadakiss - "Why they didn't make the CL6 wit a clutch?"

The Billboard chart as a forum for customer feedback?

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• July 28th 04

The march of Hong Kong's "Bourgeois Bohemians" ~ aka. BOBOs.

More than 700,000 people in Hong Kong are between 25 to 44 years old, have upper-secondary educations, and are pursuing professional careers - the primary demographic attributes of BOBOs. BOBOs, however, are better known by their pyschographic attributes which include such distinguishing characteristics as:

• Well-educated

• In Professional disciplines / professions

• Independent, free, unconventional thinkers

• Serious about having ridiculous fun

• Affinity towards "rational consumption"

• Existentialists: "truth", "meaning", "purpose" oriented

• Career-minded

• Seek jobs offering high gratification & satisfaction

• Creative creators, who work / run businesses based on an interest / hobby

• Visionaries. Trail-blazers. Those who tread off the beaten path

• Ambitious

• Diverse. Non-static. Extremely malleable

• Philanthropic

• Highly motivated

• Keen on active volunteerism

• Environmentally conscious, prone to activism

A second tier cellular network provider in Hong Kong recently used this motif to segment and target HK's "urban elite" ~ receiving lukewarm reception. The concept of BoBo-ism was not encapsulated eloquently enough in the aggressive ad-campaign, and the idea was certainly not well understood by the target market. Brownie points for originality, demerits for poor delivery.

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• July 22nd 04

- Is Japanese style taking over the world?

- Fantastic story about the BMW scandals of China

- Ben & Jerry set the President's pants on fire

- Whisky brands seduce young drinkers

- Abercrombie & Fitch's bold new vision

- Krispy Kreme announces frozen donut beverage

- Oscar de la low-Renta

- Culture change at Coke

- Puma picks individual celebrity

- iPods reach their iTipping point

- New Jersey launches marketing campaign for freeway exit

- Lamborghini - 40 years of running with the bull

- Noilly Prat - the world's finest vermouth

- LVMH dresses up strong first half

- The church of Starbucks

- Battle for Japanese mayonnaise supremacy

- Britain's top brand

- Marketing and The Olympic Games



Nota Bene

The brand count slips back to 19 this week as Twista leaves the Billboard top 20 for the second time. But the chart receives a boost from Lil' Flip who brings three cars - a Maybach, a Chevy Impala and our first Bentley of the year.

Brands thriving this year in the Brandstand chart are old luxury brands which have been successfully updated in recent years - Hennessy, Cadillac, Rolls Royce, Gucci, and Jaguar in the top 5 places.

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• July 15th 04

- Kleenex announces bug-killing tissues

- Friendster's Fakester Marketing Buddies

- Starbucks Tourism

- New evidence at Gucci murder trial

- McDonalds announces two-lane drive thru

- Charting the teen revolution

- Whoopi Goldberg fired by Slim-Fast after anti-Bush joke

- John Edwards' Diet Coke problem

- Naming cars is "arduous and crappy" says Ford spokesperson

- Wal-Mart vs. Neiman Marcus - a tale of two Americas

- Sharapova's marketing potential soars

- Philip Morris pays $1.25B for alleged cigarette smuggling

- Nokia sponsors phonecam art

- Cover Girl cosmetics launches record label

- Supersizing Old Navy

Nota Bene

The brand count jumps back up to 25 as Twista comes back into the chart with his 9 Overnight Celebrity brands.

Winning brands this week are Rolls Royce and Gucci, both mentioned twice in the Billboard top 20. Hennessy continues to climb higher - rapidly moving towards the success that Mercedes had last year.

After 30 weeks of 2004, the real power brands this year are shaping up to be Hennessy, Cadillac, Rolls Royce, and Gucci. They are the only ones to have been mentioned at least once in the Billboard chart each week this year.

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• July 8th 04

- US Army on alert for 'eavesdropping' Coke cans

- The Gap takes on the sweatshop issue

- Totoya's subversive anti-car

- The vanishing mass market

- Hip-hop Hpnotiq goes global

- In a galaxy of hotel ratings, is 5 stars enough?

- Fragrance goes to Hollywood

- Stella Artois - rethinking the branding of beer

- Pop culture overdrive brings 90s nostalgia

- Where's the beef? - Arby's relaunches

- Hummer yields to fuel efficiency

- A Brief History of the Happy Meal

- VW apologizes for the Phaeton

- Vespa triumphs in the the home of Harley

Nota Bene

This week, Twista leaves the chart with a rack of clothing brands, but the Terror Squad give the edge to automotive brands, fly in the first Gulfstream jet of the year, and wear a Gucci sweater. As a result, the brand count drops from 21 to 16.

In the charts, Hennessy knocks Cadillac into the #2 position, and Rolls Royce surging ahead with two mentions this week pushes Gucci back into 4th place.

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• July 2nd 04

- Sony Walkman is 25 years old today

- StarBucks moves from coffee to 'concierge services'

- Tibet repels KFC invasion

- Chiquita reinvents the banana

- Ventriloquist speaks out against advertising

- David & Goliath - vintage T-shirt moguls

- McDonald's promises even faster food

- Tailored TV ads target the individual

- Male shoppers move upmarket

- New Coke tries to avoid being New Coke

- New media's age of anxiety

- Does patriotism sell beer?

- The fading market for haute couture

- Soccer becomes a fashion force

Nota Bene

The brand count stays at 21 this week. American Idol winner Fantasia jumps straight into the Billboard chart at #1 with a brandless song - no plugs for Idol sponsors Coca-Cola or AT&T...

Meanwhile in the American Brandstand chart, an upset at the top of the chart, Hennessy makes it to the #1 spot for the first time since Brandstand began.

This week we published our second white paper of the year. Some findings;

44% of songs contained brands in 2004 (compared to 37% in 2003)

Amount of brand references rose 19% in the second quarter of 2004

Name-dropping of fashion brands up 8%, beverage brands up 28%, and auto brands down 27%.

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• June 24th 04

Amount of branded songs up by nearly 10%.

- Consumption; the language and currency of the USA

- Bacardi buys Grey Goose vodka

- Versace - the next generation

- Nike launches disposable shoe

- Why the lure of logos wears thin

- Extreme caffeine - at home with the roasters

- Reality TV goes into therapy

- Dressing down and stealth wealth

- Cadillac - return of an American icon

- Men lose fear of shopping

- Pitching it to kids; extreme kiddie selling

- The spooky cult of Adult Swim

- Karl Lagerfeld announces deal with H&M

Nota Bene

Brand collapse! The brand count drops from 29 to 21 as this year's biggest brand dropper, Kanye West drops out of the Billboard chart with All Falls Down.

Meanwhile, Jaguar wrestles with Nike and #5, Hennessy threatens Cadillac for the #1 spot, and an unprecedented 11 brands are equal at #18...

Cristal drops out of the top 20 for the first time this year. As the other hip-hop champagne - Dom Perignon - gathers pace at #43.

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Content credit / inspiration goes to Agenda Inc's visionary Lucian James. For more info about his dynamic company, click here.