Brands

Stuart Elliott of The New York Times looks at a distinctly Japanese approach to selling Subarus from Moon City Productions in New York City. In a campaign that is scheduled to begin online today, Subaru will promote the 2008 Impreza WRX by invoking the history, heritage and popular culture of its home country, Japan. The campaign, with a budget estimated at $10 million, is infused with aspects of Japanese anime films …

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For those concerned with Brand America, this L.A. Times story will reveal just how tarnished the nation's image is. A survey carried out in June by Harris Research for the Financial Times shows that 32% of respondents in five European countries regard the United States as a bigger threat than any other state. In the U.S. itself, North Korea and Iran are seen as the biggest risks. However, the youngest American …

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Apparently so. Here's the press release is all its marketing-speak glory: Featuring one of the most familiar songs in music recording history, the new execution, created by Saatchi & Saatchi, marks the first time the Luvs brand has taken traditional diaper television advertising to the next level by bundling it with a highly-recognizable song that moms of all ages know and love. This national ad campaign will be …

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Over at BusinessWeek, there's a great article about corporations, their images and reputations, and whether those reputations affect their stock price. Many investment pros scoff at suggestions they can be influenced by image manipulation. And to most CEOs, corporate image is not something to fret about—at least, not until a crisis erupts, like an options scandal, employee class action, or ecological disaster. Even …

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The recording industry is looking more thug-like as each day passes. According to several sources, including Wired's Listening Post, Universal Music Group, the largest recording business in the world, will not sign its annual contract with Apple to sell its music in the iTunes store (the 3rd largest music retailer in the U.S.). The move is meant to pressure Apple into a deal where they would share revenue earned on …

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McDonald’s plans to run its 155 UK delivery trucks on biodiesel made entirely from cooking oil collected from its restaurants by the end of the year. It will collect oil from 900 of its 1,200 UK outlets each week, take it to a separation tank in East Anglia, where food particles will be removed, and then on to a biodiesel conversion plant in Milton Keynes in central England. Matthew Howe, manager of McDonald’s UK …

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The Wall Street Journal (paid sub. req.) is reporting on the remarkable reversal of fortunes for Narragansett Brewing Company. Mark Hellendrung bought the rights to the brand from Pabst Brewing in 2005. Since then he's been on the road, meeting face-to-face with 60 to 70 bar owners and hundreds of beer drinkers throughout New England each week. It appears to be working, as Narragansett was bringing in about $100,000 …

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Okay, so I took off from work at 4:30 yesterday to go stand in line at the AT&T store to get an iPhone. That wasn't bad. Got out of there at 6:45, hoping to post a shot of the AdPulp home page as it appears on my iPhone. You know, just to complete the cycle of geekdom I reside in. But instead, I get home and I find out the activation could take up to 24 hours because I'm switching from Verizon using my old cell …

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