Brands

One of the advantages Sun Times advertising columnist, Lewis Lazare, enjoys is the arrival of a steady stream of reels from agencies around the country. Such catering allows him to pop the latest spots into his machine, sit back and let the pontificating begin. In today's column, he lavishes praise on the new Coca-Cola spots from Wieden + Kennedy. For years, we sat in front of our television screen and winced …

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photo by David King …

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This story in the South Bend Tribune explores Victoria Secret's popularity among tweens. Lily Feingold and Brittany Garrison, both 11, barely glanced at the nearly nude mannequin in her red tasseled bra and high-cut panties at Victoria's Secret -- one of their favorite stores. "We don't use that," Brittany said, nodding toward the bra. Marketing experts call Lily and Brittany's yearnings "aspirational," and that …

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Mitch Wagner at Information Week, thinks 37signals might be the new Google. I don't know whether 37signals will grow from the plucky little startup it is today to become a multi-billion-dollar world-shaking powerhouse. But 37signals does have the zesty, refreshing, flavor of a little company called Google, ca. 1998. 37signals currently offers four Web-based applications for individuals and small workgroups. Backpack …

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I've been dealing with a dead Mac for a few days (not their fault--it's my abusive relationship with my Powerbook that caused it.) I spent about 10 minutes on hold when I called Apple's Technical Support hotline. During that time, the on-hold music was, and I kid you not, "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips and some other song I'd never heard before called "Rome Wasn't Built In A Day." That's just plain wrong. It reminded …

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This USA TODAY article helps explain the outrageous salaries many college football coaches earn. Often, a public university's coach ranks as the highest paid public official in the state, well beyond the governor, for instance. Ohio State's athletic program is the nation's top collegiate sports moneymaker. Ohio State made $89.7 million from ticket sales, royalties, advertising, broadcast agreements and other sources …

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Russia Profile: It’s 5 p.m. on a grim and rainy Saturday afternoon in November, and finding a parking place near the IKEA store in the Tyoply Stan region of Moscow seems to be impossible. The gigantic parking area is completely full, and the line of cars waiting for available spots stretches for at least another hundred yards. “During the past ten years, the middle class had been growing fast, and so have its …

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Lewis Lazare: Maybe it's the name. Dunkin' Donuts, after all, doesn't suggest it's a chain that puts quite as much emphasis on its coffee as it does doughnuts. But starting this week in the Chicago market, and nationally as well, Dunkin' Donuts is introducing a new ad campaign from Hill, Holliday Connors Cosmopulous/Boston that hopes to convey the message the chain takes its coffee very seriously indeed. The launch …

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