Bangladesh plans to raise pay for garment workers and allow unions.

ABC veteran Barbara Walters announces 2014 retirement as Disney plans to live-stream ABC programming via app and cloud.

Yum! sales in China fall 29 percent in April.

ABB says CEO plans to resign.

Audi outsells BMW brand globally — again.

Bloomberg admits use of its terminals for data snooping.

CBS chief touts TV over digital engagement.

Cisco tries reinvention in tough time.

Danone sets deal to acquire Happy Family brand.Continue reading...

Ford has been waiting months to mount a more rigorous defense of its botched handling of the crucial launch of the Lincoln MKZ, and finally today's monthly sales numbers provided the company with the ammunition to do so: Sales of the radically restyled new version of MKZ more than doubled from the old version sold in April 2012 to more than 4,000 units.

It's impossible to say yet whether last month's performance represented the beginning of a long-term upswing in the nameplate's fortunes after the brand suffered quite a rough start as it tried to launch the new version, suffering from supply and quality problems. But it's a good start in getting away from the dismal position in which Ford found its launch reputation, and its rebirthed Lincoln brand, about a month ago. Ford's overall sales for the month rose by 18 percent over a year ago, part of a good total month for the US industry, while Lincoln's total sales rose by 21 percent.Continue reading...

NBC today confirmed that Jimmy Fallon is taking over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno in 2014, ending months of rumors in a deal that was (according to Variety) brokered by Comcast exec and NBCUniversal president Steve Burke.

Leno will retire following a 22-year run, while Fallon's reign will begin, Variety hears, following the Sochi, Russia, Winter Olympics coverage on NBC and its sister TV networks.

A hint that a deal had been struck came earlier this week with the release of a video between the two late-night comics, which Leno and Fallon tweeted and NBC promoted online.Continue reading...

Amazon sees online retail rivals rise in 4Q and reign as most expensive stock end as company may have smartphone ambitions.

Facebook phone, no longer a rumor, is coming to Android.

Toys 'R' Us pulls planned IPO.

American Express tests geo-targeted ads in London cabs.

American Greetings decides to go private.

Apple apology by CEO Tim Cook seems to satisfy Chinese authorities.Continue reading...

Critics feeling that Michelle Obama has been overexposed lately, from presenting at the Oscars to mom-dancing with Jimmy Fallon, will have a hard time critiquing her latest move. The First Lady is expanding Let's Move, her three-year-old initiative to get kids moving and combat childhood obesity, and she's tapping one of the world's leading brands in the "get moving" space—Nike. 

NIKE, Inc. President & CEO Mark Parker joined First Lady Michelle Obama and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in Chicago to announce Nike’s $50 million, five-year commitment to help launch a new Let's Move program for schools, an extension of the brand's involvement in the organization's Designed to Move study that found that only one in three American kids are active daily.Continue reading...

One of the dangers for brands in releasing Super Bowl ads and teasers early is that it allows the criticism to start early as well.

That's what various brands are facing even before kickoff of the Big Game, as Coca-Cola is the latest brand feeling the heat over its pre-Game teaser. Coke is getting criticized for its depiction of Arabs in its desert-set spot, above, while Volkswagen undergoes more examination of the Jamaican accents of the white characters in its "Get Happy" spot.

In other game-related brand developments leading into Sunday's big game, Samsung just released its Super Bowl ad teaser, "El Plato Supreme," featuring Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd pitching their ideas for Samsung's Big Game ad: "The Next Big Thing," a 2-minute spot directed by Jon Favreau, that will air during the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday. This is the second year Samsung Mobile has an ad running during the Super Bowl:Continue reading...

Jimmy Fallon came up with so much good stuff for Lincoln's Super Bowl commercial from his #SteertheScript Twitterfest that brand executives ripped up their plan for Big Game advertising and went with the flow.

In a new twist this week, brandchannel learned, Ford decided to break its presence in Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3 into two 30-second TV ads instead of its originally planned single, 60-second TV commercial. The gambit is a reversal of the action taken recently by Wonderful Pistachios in turning its original intention for two 15-second Super Bowl spots into one 30-second commercial, starring Psy the Gangnam rapper.

"The last [few days] have seen the creative process unfold, and what we witnessed was that we're having a hard time containing the content even in a rich 60-second spot," Andrew Frick, Lincoln group marketing manager, told brandchannel. So one of the 30-second spots, titled "Phoenix," will focus more intently on the wonders of Lincoln's redesigned MKZ sedan — the first in a parade of major new products — while the other 30 seconds will give full sway to Fallon's imaginings.Continue reading...

More and more, the Super Bowl is becoming the Auto Bowl.

Up from just a handful of car brands a few years ago, Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3 will feature no fewer than eight auto brands advertised by six different companies: Audi, Chrysler, Lincoln, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Volkswagen.

"A lot of us are there," Steve Shannon, CMO for Hyundai Motor America, told The New York Times, because "it sells cars." Specifically, the game, its walk-up and aftermath have become an unparalleled platform for launching or previewing new products, refining brand positioning, or both.

Audi of America plans to crowdsource the end of its Super Bowl spot by offering three different endings to a prom-night story on its YouTube channel. Lent an Audi S6 by his father, a boy exudes self-confidence as he drives to the dance, struts in, spies the prom queen and gives her a dramatic kiss. Then the prom king approaches him and... the rest will be determined by viewers who weigh in.Continue reading...