BMW is investing 3 billion euros in EVs and marketing. 

AP execs outraged over government probe of phone records.

Sony is targeted for breakup by American investor.

Airbus aims to steal limelight from Boeing at upcoming Paris Air Show.

Amazon workers go on strike in Germany.

BNP Paribas eyes mobile and online banking.

Citibank says "no fees" means "never."

Coach approached Tory Burch about a deal.

Coca-Cola faces claim that Coke top-secret recipe has been found.Continue reading...

What brand doesn't want to look environmentally conscious and earth-friendly? And we're not just talking about the predicted rise in plug-in hybrid cars for Ford and Toyota or the recent increase in vegetarian and vegan businesses. Now mass-market pharmacy Walgreens is getting into the act.

The drug store chain this week launched its own Ology brand that features 25 environmentally friendly products, such as “tissues, toilet paper and paper towels made from bamboo and cane sugar husks instead of tree pulp” as well as “laundry detergent with fewer chemicals than regular brands, shampoos and conditioners for both children and adults, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and glass and all-purpose household cleaners,” according to Crain's Chicago Business.

"There's a growing trend of moms and households looking for safer products with fewer chemicals," Maurice Alkemade, Walgreen's VP of retail brands and global sourcing, told Crain's. "A lot of national brands are pushing to take out these chemicals, but we're the first affordable and widely available line to do it. We believe we can lead and own this platform."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...

Film: Madagascar 3 (DreamWorks Animation)
Total Products Spotted: 8
Standout Placement: Cirque du Soleil (by implication)
Most Memorable Placement (positive): Ducati
Most Memorable Placement (negative): HP
Other Product Placements: Airbus, Central Park Zoo, Duane Reade, Ferrari, New York Knicks, Central Park Zoo
Overall Product Placement Integration Grade (1-10): 4
Comments: There are some odd observations to be made about the products and brand names found in Madagascar 3. Most odd is that the most obvious brandcameo (Cirque du Soleil), while explicitly hinted at, is never mentioned by name — even though knowledge of that name is assumed of the audience.Continue reading...

The timeRAZOR app was a big hit at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin last month as the self-branded answer to the classic SXSWi syndrome of FOMO (acronym alert: "fear of missing out"). The geo-social app, with its "never-miss-out platform" is described as “the final solution to browsing, locating, and attending events for users on a nationwide platform.”

Today (apparently) being Beauty Day (happy Beauty Day!), L’Oreal Vichy, DUANEreade and timeRAZOR are teaming up with Vichy beauty advisors at ten Duane Reade drugstores in Manhattan to offer one-on-one skin analysis.

"The Distillery," timeRAZOR’s event selection engine, aggregates over 300,000 events daily, geo-tags them, then customizes the data by user preference. Leveraging people’s attraction to “exclusive” experiences, the app offers specials and limited-quantity promotions that can be used or cashed in from a user’s location.Continue reading...

Walgreens has launched Nice!, its new private label brand, as part of the CPG giant’s retail strategy to claim more real estate and mindframe in the increasingly competitive category. The label uses the tagline “smart. quality. everyday.”

Nice! is a... nice companion to the Good & Delish private label, developed earlier for Duane Reade (which Walgreens owns). Its initial sku’s include dried fruit, white rice, baking soda, canned soup, tomato sauce, tea bags and macaroni & cheese.

“You will see a lot of transition within Walgreens brand portfolio over the next 12 to 18 months,” said Maurice Alkemade, divisional vice president, general merchandise manager for private brands in an article for the trade publication Private Label magazine.Continue reading...

Our most-read blog posts of the past week range from the Starbucks' "Black Guy" Receipt Scandal to Skype on Facebook:

#1 Starbucks Latest to Suffer "Black Guy" Receipt Scandal

#2 Transformers 3 Product Placement: If Tom Hanks Gets a Pass, Michael Bay Does Not

#3 BP Returns to TV

#4 Facebook Launches Video Calling With Skype

#5 Petite Lap Giraffe: A Tiny Viral Marketing Success

#6 Coke and WWF Green the Philippines with “Living Billboard”

#7 Target Aims Logo at Chicago Landmark

#8 Duane Reade Opens Premium Drugstore 'Experience' on Wall Street

#9 How Moleskine Converts Fans (and Retailers) to Brand Ambassadors

#10 Colgate Puts Teeth Into Social Marketing

Walgreens’ New York-centric Duane Reade division is throwing a red carpet opening tonight for its flagship store on Wall Street. That's right — a VIP bash to celebrate opening a new drugstore in a city that has one (it seems) on every other corner.

Duane Reade, which has been remodeling its stores, has been putting on a show to promote its new locations, including Broadway-style dancers and tuxedoed street teams. But this opening will top them all.

The 22,000-sq.-ft. new location will be open 24/7, in The Trump Building at 40 Wall Street, an iconic address that once upon a time was a bank hall known as the "Crown Jewel of Wall Street" and touted as the tallest building in the world.

40 Wall Street, which opens its doors to the public at 7am on Wednesday, is the chain’s most ambitious, glittering and elaborate store to date, geared to its moneyed, rushed, picky and well-heeled neighborhood clientele.

The elite amenities on offer certainly 'Trump' DR's other Manhattan locations to date.Continue reading...