Dell reports 79 percent drop in profit as takeover battle continues.

Dow Chemical is ordered to pay $1.2 billion in price-fixing case.

Google Glass expands apps and integrates Facebook and Twitter.

Apple fights back in antitrust case over e-book pricing as it loses luster in global poll.

Audi shifts to high-performance models to propel sales.

BlackBerry regains lost market share in Canada.

Citigroup bans traders from using Bloomberg terminal chat groups.Continue reading...

General Motors keeps expanding its investment intentions in China, the world's largest auto market, announcing today that Chinese authorities gave the company permission to build a $1.3 billion plant to make Cadillacs, which so far have held a paltry share of the Chinese luxury-auto market as the brand struggles to latch on to local culture.

But in going bigger and bolder in China than, arguably, any other automaker, is GM forsaking the American taxpayer and the US market that is its home? As GM continues to announce new ambitions for China, a mini-media tempest has broken out around the issue.

There's no doubting GM's intentions. Last year, Cadillac sold just 30,000 vehicles in China, but GM said in January that it aims to increase Cadillac sales in the country to 100,000 a year by 2016 and to cop 10 percent of the Chinese luxury market by 2020. One prong of its strategy will be to target affluent buyers in smaller cities that heretofore have been relatively unimportant outposts for premium-car brands. The competition—chiefly the German luxury brands—keep getting hit regularly with GM news like this.Continue reading...

China is the second largest economy in the world and every significant brand's future is impacted by its growth (or collapse)—but who's got the time?! Here's the week's reads that will make you look like a keen China observer in case you find yourself immersed in a cultural conversation.

This week: Iron Man 3 inaccuracies... BMW... Casino frugality... Wanglaoji trademarks... Heinz baby food... Hugo Boss mini-movies... Sunning manga... China's first lady for Pehchaolin... Ashley Furniture... L’Oreal... Ad spends... Iron Man 3 product placement... and more.Continue reading...

With their racing heritage and ongoing participation in the sport, Mercedes-Benz and BMW know something about keeping close competitors in their rear-view mirrors. That's why it may take more than a new branding campaign for Lexus—which also races—to take back its US luxury-market leadership from its German rivals this year.

BMW took the American luxury-segment crown away from Lexus in 2011, when the Toyota-owned brand was dealing with short supplies after the earthquake and tsunmi in Japan, and the German brand has held on to it for the last two years. There's been a lot of speculation that Lexus might be able to regain the No. 1 spot in the segment this year because its supply situation is now fully resolved, and it's got some new products.

But that isn't happening—at least not yet. And actually, in April, Mercedes-Benz strengthened its 2013 lead over BMW in the segment, having finished in second place behind BMW for each of the last two full years. In April, the Mercedes brand widened its sales lead to nearly 4,700 vehicles for the year to date over BMW, with nearly 93,000 sold to BMW's more than 88,000.Continue reading...

DreamWorks acquires Awesomeness TV, a YouTube teen network.

Walmart retools e-commerce and mobile.

Facebook says 30 percent of revenue now comes from mobile ads.

Boeing moves to upgrade popular 777 passenger jet.

Bud Light launches Music First initiative.

CBS scores big from Super Bowl ad revenues.

Cablevision adds Glenn Beck's network.

Del Taco emphasizes freshness of its food in campaign.

Disney rethinks role in Bangladesh supply after building collapse and deaths.Continue reading...

The announcement from Xinhua, China's state news agency, was almost gleefully self-congratulatory: "Apple sees global profit decline as China sales lose momentum." Despite CEO Tim Cook's declaration that it was Apple's "best quarter ever," Xinhua's report focused squarely on the slowed growth and the brand's struggles. The unspoken theme of the China state coverage: "We did it, everyone!"

Was the weeks of Apple criticism dished out by China's news agencies what slowed sales? Apple better hope it was. The alternative is far, far harder to fix.

After a couple of weeks of being criticized for discriminatory repair policies, Apple issued a formal apology to China. The damage was done though, with the original criticisms branching off to include charges of porn distribution through iTunes to a general spanking as an ostentatious luxury item that college students were taking high-interest loans with rates up to 47 percent to buy "fancy electronic products." But in state media reports on the phenomenon, the only brand name mentioned was Apple's iPhone. A month after the licking put on Apple, China's state media proclaimed victory, noting a survey—the results of which can certainly be called questionable—that found 59.9 percent of respondents said their opinions of Apple had "gone down." But other results said otherwise.Continue reading...

Many brands are respectfully coming forward with various kinds of support for the victims of the Boston bombings last week and for Beantown itself. And then there's Mercedes-Benz, whose products played a singular role in actually bringing the crime and terror spree to its end.

"It's a great feeling to have been able to assist with that," Mercedes-Benz spokeswoman Donna Boland told brandchannel.

It was common knowledge that the Tsarnaev brothers allegedly had carjacked a Mercedes-Benz ML 350, taking its owner on a rambling journey around the Boston area on the night of April 18—a trek that ended up in the death of one brother and the capture of the other that same night in Watertown, Mass.Continue reading...

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.” Warren Buffett 

The Reputation Institute recently published its list of the world’s most reputable brands as rated by consumers. The Global RepTrak 100 measures the reputation of the most highly regarded companies across 15 countries including: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, UK and US. Each company receives a reputation score out of 100, based on trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling.

Reputation is “defined by the level of trust, admiration, respect and good feeling stakeholders have towards a company,” Anthony Johndrow, managing partner at Reputation Institute told Forbes. “Consumers are more and more interested in issues such as transparency, corporate governance and social responsibility.”

Here's how the top five brands made it to the top of the ranking.Continue reading...