Luxury is back at the forefront of fashion and lifestyle despite the still shaky worldwide economy.

Findings from the 2013 Harris Poll EquiTrend, show gains in brand equity across 155 categories from auto makers to department stores across three key criteria: Familiarity, Quality and Purchase Consideration.

"This may show that after a number of years spent tightening their belts, consumers are looking to the quality and value they feel these brands provide,” said Aron Galonsky, SVP Brand and Communication Consulting at Harris Interactive.

Mercedes-Benz took top honors in the Luxury Automotive brand category for the third consecutive year, with Acura (which takes on uber-luxury in its latest US TV commercial, below), Audi, BMW, Infiniti and Land Rover receiving their highest scores ever. Harley-Davidson got its highest score in the study's 25-year history regaining top spot as Motorcycle Brand of the Year.Continue reading...

P&G sees results boosted by sale of snacks division as its Tide brand turns to Betty White for advertising help.

Sony attributes weak financials to PlayStation sales slump.

Chick-fil-A braces for GLAAD's Friday "kiss-in" protest.

ABC and Good Morning America finally overtake NBC and The Today Show in key demographic.

ADM profits slide on higher corn costs.

Amtrak losses examined by Congress.

Apple requests sanction for Samsung as court battle heats up.

AT&T to acquire NextWave Wireless.

Beyonce plans to direct and star in film about her life.Continue reading...

Walgreen Co, the largest drugstore company in the U.S., has gone transcontinental with its acquisition of a 45-percent stake in Boots, the U.K.-based drug-store giant, for $6.7 billion.

The two companies also are looking to a full merger in three years for further $9.5 billion, plus the assumption of Boots' then-outstanding debt. Combined they'll have 11,000 stores in 12 countries, prompting Walgreen's press release headline, "Walgreens and Alliance Boots Form Strategic Partnership to Create the First Global Pharmacy-Led, Health and Wellbeing Enterprise."

The deal represents another in a growing string of incursions by relatively healthy American companies into an ailing European economic scene, to the tune of about $43 billion overall so far this year. Alliance Boots Executive Chairman Stefano Pessina, meanwhile, has finally struck the big deal he was seeking in order to "transform" the business and future of becoming a global healthcare leader.Continue reading...

Microsoft unveils Surface tablet to take on iPad.

Walgreen is buying 45% stake in European pharmacy chain Boots for $6.7 billion.

Spotify rolls out free mobile radio for iPhone and iPad in U.S. to take on Pandora.

Caribou Coffee revels in being alternative to Starbucks.

Carrefour CEO offers turnaround plan.

Cisco expands use of WebEx brand.

Coca-Cola remains unbowed by New York Mayor Bloomberg's anti-soda campaign.Continue reading...

Barclays continues to innovate by taking a leading role in mobile payments in Europe. Having just launched the Pingit mobile payments app, it's now bringing contactless payments to Barclaycard, the UK's first credit card. Now, its 12 million Visa Barclaycard credit card customers can look forward to PayTag, a free sticker that enables mobile contactless transactions at more than 100,000 terminals. 

The easy-to-use PayTag sticker aims to spur the usage use of smartphones for small purchases, increasing the reach of the Quick Tap NFC (Near Field Communication) service the bank operates in partnership with mobile network operator Orange.Continue reading...

Amazon tops buzz meter on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Bank of America dismisses speculation that it could be the next target of WikiLeaks.

Boots, the Co-operative, and Fairy rank as the top “family” brands in the UK.

CBS replaces The Early Show anchors.

Coca-Cola, Nestle, Walmart and other Western brands aim to grow in Africa.

ESPN ramps up tech innovation to stay ahead of the competition.Continue reading...

J&J faces knock on reputation as bacteria identified in children's Tylenol recall, production is suspended and US House investigation called.

Yahoo rolls out a new campaign that aims to take share from Google (although Facebook is its real foe, argues AllThingsD's Kara Swisher).

Sprint goes text-centric for teens (survey supports), while Sprint's Virgin Mobile $25 prepaid plans are a precursor to a new prepaid brand.

Mother's Day 2010 is more social, less sentimental, with non-Hallmark mom-ents and flowers via Facebook.

Apple, BP, Google and more branding news:Continue reading...