"Whenever Stark hangs up his suit, the technically-adept billionaire can be seen in the film behind the wheel of the all-electric R8 e-tron sports car prototype," reads the Audi press release announcing the brand's partnership with the upcoming Iron Man 3.

Iron Man's alter ego, Tony Stark, was last seen driving an Acura NSX roadster in 2012's The Avengers. In Iron Man (2008) and Iron Man 2 (2010), Stark drove Audi R8s. A spokesman at Acura's parent company, Honda, told Bloomberg that its role as the official vehicle of SHIELD (and the brand's relationship with Marvel) remain "unchanged."

"This is a strategic collaboration for us," said Loren Angelo, a marketing executive with Audi of America. "Similar to the position of the R8 as an innovation leader, Iron Man's character consistently evolved throughout the trilogy as he masterminds new trends."

In addition to swapping Stark's Acura for an Audi S7 in the third installment, Audi's Iron Man 3 deal will go beyond the R8 e-tron.Continue reading...

Across the globe, people everywhere are pulling out their cell phones and tablets and e-readers—in buses and trains, in hallways and doorways, on beaches and ski lifts, in bedrooms and in bathrooms. Everywhere, the world is turning to look at mobile devices. Those devices may be getting all the attention out in the world, but the mobile world is much deeper than that, of course, and will have many ramifications for how the world lives.

The mobile world will be taking a close look at itself when the annual Mobile World Congress opens in Barcelona on Feb. 25th. To kick things off, the mobile world’s major association, the GSMA, will showcase how it expects mobile will change in the future by building a “Connected City” that expands on last year's connected house exhibit by featuring everything from a town hall, department store, and apartment to an electrical store, hotel, cafe and lounge, and a car showroom, among other things. With each location, different brands and innovations will be featured.

At MWC's fully connected city street, AT&T will showcase how people can manage their energy consumption and home security. Deutsche Telekom and IBM will show off how their using mobile help create better public transportation as well as  energy, security and water management. Aston Martin will show off a bike that features embedded sensors that communicate with an on-board computer to help athletes get a slew of data on how they are performing.Continue reading...

With the debris settled after the latest James Bond success, it seems that all of the bellyaching about Heineken's role in the film was about nothing. Daniel Craig as Bond reclines and sips a green bottle here and there, the label never visible. Without the ruckus surrounding Heineken's tie-in, none would be the wiser. Indeed, without the ruckus, movie reviewing icon Roger Ebert never would have known what brand to mention when he called Bond a Heineken sell-out. But then the ruckus was the point. A $45 million point that backfired on Heineken.

Just one of the slaps in the face to Heineken from Skyfall's filmmakers came in the form of Macallan whisky, which is poured throughout the film by Bond villains and M alike. At one point, a bottle of "50-year old Macallan" (£1,400.00) is even identified Bond's "favorite drink." Macallan, by the way, paid nothing for the honor.Continue reading...

When January 15 rolls around in the new year, it will mark a significant birthday for luxury auto brand Aston Martin: the company’s 100th anniversary.

It’s been shut down by world wars, owned by a few different entities, and nearly shut down production in the early 1980s when sales dwindled, but somehow the Aston Martin brand lived on. Only last week, Italian private equity firm Investindustrial picked up 37.5% of the company.

It's still an elite pleasure, with only 4,200 vehicles sold last year, according to Reuters. Likely helping to keep the brand alive has been its use by British secret agent James Bond in a number of films, including this year’s Skyfall, and Ian Fleming’s original books. The International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., counts an Aston Martin as part of its collection.

To start getting fans in the spirit of its upcoming anniversary, the automaker posted a video on YouTube with its CEO giving a glimpse of the special 100th logo (check it out below) at a recent race. The centenary logo was “created to resemble a nautilus shell as each of the 100 years is represented by a point in the spiral,” according to LuxuryDaily.com.Continue reading...

Aston Martin draws bids.

ConAgra to buy Ralcorp in huge packaged-foods deal.

Nintendo sells out Wii U in first week in US.

Adidas features celebs including Snoop Lion, other celebrities in Ebenezer Scrooge holiday campaign.

Airbus jabs Boeing with "Pinocchio nose" in ad campaign.

Barnes & Noble updates holiday wish lists via Nook campaign.

Bombardier signs largest-ever deal, with VistaJet.

Ericsson files patent claim against Samsung.

Mario Batali expands restaurant empire to Boston.Continue reading...

Apple adds new Samsung devices in patent lawsuit, acquires use of Lightning trademark in Europe from Harley-Davidson.

Chrysler named Marketer of the Year by Ad Age.

GlaxoSmithKline invests in India and Nigeria, responds to Washington Post criticism over pharma funding of drug trials.

Amazon and Pinterest add branded business pages.

Aston Martin draws tire-kickers including India's Mahindra & Mahindra.

Beneful launches playful online videos for dog food.

Casual Male rebrands for the big and tall shopper.

Diner's Club partners on movie promotion for Life of Pi.

Dunkin’ Donuts "best coffee" trademark application rejected by USPTO.Continue reading...

Country? England. Gun? Shot. Agent? Provocateur. Murder? Employment. Skyfall? Product placement.

The latest James Bond film hit the US this weekend, letting audiences decide for themselves what all the product placement hubbub was about. The verdict? Meh. Some valuations have nailed down some dollar numbers on just how much exposure Skyfall brought its top-line brand partners, but what about the unidentifiable brands on-screen?

Despite no label ever being seen, at least one already has backorders going into 2013. And what to make of Bond's glorious return to tobacco?Continue reading...

For 50 years, James Bond has been finding his way out of life-threatening situations and winning hearts on the world’s silver screens. Friday, Oct. 5th marks the 50th anniversary of Bond on the silver screen, which is being promoted as Global James Bond Day. And in about a month, the British spy will come striding onto the big screen once again, so that means the heavy media push is now on.

The upcoming Bond film, Skyfall, has already been raising some eyebrows with the news that 007 will enjoy a Heineken during the film and not his typical martini tipple, with fans encouraged to help the new Bond girl, Severine, "crack the case" in a Facebook mystery game. But plenty of other marketers are jumping on the film’s release as well to encourage consumers to be more like the women-objectifying, consistently drinking, hidden-weapon-wielding Bond.Continue reading...