Hellmann’s mayonnaise turns 100 this year and its owner, Unilever, is celebrating with the brand’s biggest marketing campaign ever.

"It's part of the culinary heritage of America," said Brian Orlando, Hellmann's senior marketing director, the Associated Press reports. "After 100 years, we decided it was worth going out and revisiting this brand and what it is today."

Unilever is shelling out for TV, print and digital ads for its “Bringing the Best Together” campaign as well as a Facebook page and YouTube videos “featuring chef Mario Batali cooking up Hellmann's recipes, a Smartphone app and a September event that will include the world's largest picnic table,” according to AP. 
Batali has been asked to create 30 recipes that incorporate Hellmann's to be shared via Facebook and the app. The TV ads, however, will focus on founder Richard Hellmann’s New York deli where the brand was first sold.Continue reading...

Chevrolet has just released a video extolling the most recognizable name in baseball’s craftsmanship: Louisville Slugger, which refreshed its branding in time for Major League Baseball's opening day this season. 

Interbrand Cincinnati, based in the same city the first professional baseball team called home, was honored to be selected to celebrate that craftsmanship by redesigning the iconic logo, marking its first update in 33 years. Find out more here.

“Perrier is the sexiest sparkling water you'll ever taste,” according to the 150-year-old brand, which is trying to woo a younger audience with a sexy and sparkling online gaming experience, Perrier Secret Place. 

“Secret Place is an immersive experience with a surprise at every turn, something that will be highly engaging for our target audience. And at a party that goes on for hours, we like to think of Perrier as the drink that can refresh like no other," according to a press release.

It's being marketed as the most high-profile, crazy party experience ever, dispensing clues through the eyes of 60 different characters along with a sweepstakes to win an invitation to one of five mega-parties taking place at Carnival in Rio, Ibiza in Spain, St. Tropez in France, Art Basel in Miami or New Year’s Eve in Sydney, Australia.Continue reading...

Nescafé is turning 75 and promising even more gusto going forward. The grandfather of instant coffee, made by Nestlé, (the name is a portmanteau of the words Nestlé and café) it was introduced in Switzerland, April 1, 1938.

Now (as you can find out in Nestle's anniversary slideshow and Facebook celebration, among other festive touchpoints) more than 5,500 cups of Nescafé are consumed every second in variations catering to taste preferences around the world.

The brand is getting a big boost from the Chinese and Japanese markets and the imminent market availability of new Dolce Gusto systems for coffee pods and premium Nespresso machines. "Nescafe is a big brand with different faces," said CEO Paul Bulcke to Reuters. "Nescafe is growing very well in China, but also in Japan, which is an important market. For example in Asia, Nescafe 3-in-1 sticks with milk and sugar that are ready to be used, are very strong."Continue reading...

The Major League Baseball season kicked off Sunday night with a surprising win for the American League’s newest team, the Houston Astros. For the past few years, the Astros have been the National League’s worst team, but they moved into the American in the offseason and, for one night at least, the team is tops in the sport. That is likely to change soon, of course, but, for now, those players that are so used to losing are making their dreams of childhood into reality.

Kids who dream of playing in the Major Leagues someday (or the parents who dream of their kids making it someday) now have access to one of the tools that pro ballplayers have been using for eons: the Louisville Slugger.

Sure, the Slugger can be found on the retail market for any old consumer, but, until now, everyday schmoes weren’t sold Sluggers made from the same wood that the bats made for the pros were made from. Now Louisville Slugger has introduced a new bat, the Louisville Slugger Prime, that is made of the same material whether you’re a 6-year-old in Little League, a minor-league ballplayer, a Major Leaguer or an aging retiree grasping at your youth.Continue reading...

PPR, the multinational holding company that is home to brands including Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Brioni and Sergio Rossi, is rebranding as Kering, indicative of a transformation from French conglomerate to internationally focused sportswear (encompassing its brands including Puma, Tretorn and Volcom) and luxury-goods group. 

The new name, accompanied by an owl logo and tagline, "Empowering Imagination," is pronounced "caring." CEO Francois-Henri Pinault explains, "We are there to care for the brand and take care of the brand," the Wall Street Journal reports.

Pinault carries on his father’s legacy as founder with the new name, which a press release explains was inspired by family roots in France's Brittany region as "Ker" meaning home in Breton, with the action-associated "ing" implying "doing" and "going."

Manfredi Ricca, the managing director at Interbrand in Milan, commented to the International Herald Tribune that the new identity reflects an awareness that companies need “a strong angle on what they stand for,” both for consumers and for employees, to demonstrate their “overarching vision” and values.Continue reading...

It’s hard to believe that American Express is celebrating its 163rd birthday today, as the iconic brand continues a spry and active presence, pushing boundaries in social media while as fresh and enduring as those half its age. Case in point: its #163candles hashtag on Twitter today.

Just last month, the blue chip brand teamed with that whippersnapper on a social commerce experience that turns Twitter hashtags into purchases. The sync and tweet with #hashtags lets users buy $25 American Express Gift Cards and products from Amazon, Sony, Urban Zen and Xbox 360.

"Based on the initial success of Amex Sync for offers, we know there is significant power in combining our assets with Twitter's platform to bring value to Cardmembers and merchants," said Leslie Berland, SVP Digital Partnerships and Development. "Now, we're leveraging our unique technology and closed-loop network to introduce a seamless solution that redefines what's possible in the world of social commerce."Continue reading...

Canada’s oldest retailer launched a major rebranding effort the same week that Target christened its first stores north of the 49th parallel. Coincidence? Maybe, but probably not.

The Bay, which has its roots in Canada’s fur trade, will now be known as Hudson’s Bay. It won’t be that much of a stretch for consumers, considering the new name is a nod to its parent company, Hudson’s Bay Co., but it will mean its unique stylized-ribbon “B” in The Bay will be retired.

A return to the iconic retailer’s classic full name with a word mark—which will be used on all marketing and media materials, as well as online and on in-store displays—is its first major logo rebrand since 1965.Continue reading...