T-Mobile kills off wireless contract, readies to launch LTE network.

Gordon Brothers Europe agrees to buy struggling Blockbuster UK, saving 2,000 jobs and brand. 

W Hotels plans to double Asia presence over the next five years.

AstraZeneca settles Crestor patent suit.

Apple, Microsoft defend pricing policies in Australia.

Britain's BAE Systems wins five-year, $780 million US military contract.

BMW looks to Mini Paceman to challenge growing Fiat market.

Bridgestone launches new tire line to reignite Firestone brand.Continue reading...

Given that it mainly peddles sugar and calorie-laden products deemed junk food and held dubious by everyone from the mayor of New York to the family pediatrician, how does the Hershey Company plan to nearly double its global revenues over the next five years?

Well, Hershey plans to leverage strategic innovation, global expansion, "impulsivity" and something called "hand-to-mouth platforms" to become a $10 billion company by 2017 (after posting revenues of $6.6 billion last year) despite the increasing encroachments of better-for-you products and nutritional cautions in the U.S. and other key markets.

"Our plan builds off the insights-driven, consumer-centric business approach we built in 2008 but takes it to the next level," Michele Buck, senior vice president and growth officer of Hershey, said at a recent analyst confab in New York, according to Food Business News. The strategy relies largely on global expansion of core brands: Hershey's, Reese's, the Kisses brand, Jolly Rancher's and Ice Breakers as well as "selectively build[ing] out our portfolio in other on-trend segments."

Continue reading...

Candy and chocolate generally bring happiness to most folks, but they also are keeping a few law firms working overtime.

The latest ruling finds Nestle winning a case that Cadbury had brought against it to try and stop the trademarking of the shape of its Kit Kat bars. Cadbury had taken offense at Nestlé’s 2006 trademarking of Kit Kat as “four trapezoidal bars aligned on a rectangular base.”

After all, as TheHindu.com notes, Cadbury has its own similar chocolate bar, the Crispello, which has a “creamy centre, wrapped in a delicate crispy shell, covered with a delicious layer of Cadbury chocolate.”

But sorry, Cadbury. This time, you lose. Cadbury’s legal team will just have to remember how sweet it felt to beat Nestle recently in a battle over the color purple.Continue reading...

Mad Men season five debuts tonight in the U.K. on Sky, and marketers are lining up to produce 60's-style commercials. According to Campaign (where you can watch a couple of the retro spots), marketers climbing into the wayback machine include American Airlines, the British Milk Marketing Forum, Fairy liquid, Cadbury's Milk Tray, Tetley, Citroën, and Kit Kat.

Michelle Obama may have her vegetable garden at the White House  and the state of Delaware’s parks may be acting as a testing ground for the national-park system this summer by "balancing" its menus to offer fewer sweets and more valuable sustenance, but that doesn’t mean America doesn’t still like its snack foods.

In fact, Americans love their snack food more than ever.

Research firm Packaged Facts reports that Americans spent  $64 billion in 2010, an increase from $56 billion in 2006 for a compound annual growth rate of 3%. “Sales are expected to continue upward to $77 billion by 2015,” the researcher states in its report.

"The boundaries between meals and snacks are growing ever blurrier, creating consumer consumption habits that will resonate for generations," said David Sprinkle, research director and publisher of Packaged Facts.Continue reading...

So this is how they make beer in Australia! Super Hahn's comical spot was directed by Tom Kuntz, who shot that Old Spice Man spot.

Wisconsin state branding suggestion: ingenious, cheesy fashion.

Think you hate your cable operator? Not as much as the guy who spent $1,000 on a Time Warner Cable tirade.

Below: Smells like rebranded team spirit and more.Continue reading...

There’s a near-universal Pavlovian response to the smell of a McDonalds Big Mac and fries: the salivary glands kick in and a sudden raging need to abandon your commitment to health and nutrition overtakes you. At least that’s a reliably American reaction. But what happens when America’s most famous food export packs its bags and catches an international flight? Does the Asian nose react similarly to the redolent waft of a teriyaki-smothered pork patty with fried eggs (also known as the Shogun Burger served up in Hong Kong)?

And do the locals in Ankara swoon for the McTurco (a lamb or chicken pita wrap served in the Turkish capital)? Would any self-respecting citizen of the food capital of the Western World forego pasta with fresh olive oil and tomatoes for the McItaly (a hamburger sandwich made with Asiago cheese and artichoke spread)? Continue reading...

World Cup marketing means ambush marketing, whereby (adjusts monocle) "one brand pays to become an official sponsor of an event (most often athletic) and another competing brand attempts to cleverly connect itself with the event, without paying the sponsorship fee and, more frustratingly, without breaking any laws."

While many brands have paid good money to be official FIFA 2010 partners and sponsors, many more have not. That, of course, isn't stopping them from releasing campaigns that cleverly connect their brands to the world's most popular event.

Brandchannel took a look at ten ambush marketing campaigns and graded them (from 1-10) based on overall brand positioning and "World Cup-ocity." (Click here for our scorecard of official 2010 World Cup sponsors' campaigns.)

Brand: Nationwide
Campaign: Nationwide highlights its sponsorship of England's World Cup team by recruiting some colorful characters from the hit TV series Little Britain to put a little laugh next to the brand. Funny, yes, but where's the brand message?
World Cup-ocity Grade: 7 (Actually mentions "World Cup")
Branding Grade: 2Continue reading...