While Audi and Toyota racers will be battling it out with one another in the 80th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France on Saturday, the two companies — along with several other automotive marques — also will be waging an important battle of the brands.

Audi has managed to win 10 of the last 12 runnings of Le Mans, the world's oldest active sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923. Now, the 24-hour race that is televised in some 60 countries and rivets millions of automotive and racing fans to their TVs is revving up for tomorrow's 24-hour event.Continue reading...

Microsoft takes the stage at E3 to talk up Xbox.

Marvel starts production on Iron Man 3.

Vita Coco unveils new campaign with Rihanna (right).

Aon Hewitt finds positive shift in internal brand engagement.

Black & Decker coffee machines recalled following 1,300 complaints.

BlackBerry parent RIM shares drop below $10.

Celsius mobile phone with embedded Swiss timepiece retails for $312K.

Coca-Cola and McDonald's hit back at Mike Bloomberg's NYC big soda ban.

Corning expands on Gorilla Glass with thinner Willow Glass.

Facebook shares tumble to new low on Sanford Bernstein questions.

Ford crowdsources Focus ST commercial.

Google's Project Glass codename? Wingman.

Got Milk? and California Dairy Council partner for consumer education campaign.Continue reading...

AIG plunges back into U.S. real-estate investing.

Alcoa posts surprise profit after aluminum orders climb.

Amazon adds in-app purchases to woo developers away from Apple.

BJ's Wholesale Club grows locally produced program.

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn quits amid "personal-conduct" probe.

Coty explores U.S. IPO potential.

Cracker Barrel adopts poison pill.

Denny's rolls up Millennial views with "Always Open" web series. Continue reading...

Michelin, like the auto-vehicle brands it supplies with tires, has noticed a long-term change in how car owners in the United States and worldwide regard new-vehicle purchases: They don't want to make them as often. This has resulted in a record level of what the industry calls "pent-up demand," as the average age of cars on the road has grown to more than a decade now — and demands various kinds of responses from brand marketers.

The approach being taken by the French global tire-industry leader is to make it easier for Americans to keep their cars longer. Michelin's new Defender tire, given its worldwide debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week, is aimed squarely at this new reality by promising, among other things, to last up to 90,000 miles.Continue reading...

For the return of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Mountain Dew this week broke the new commercial, above. Directed by McG of Charlie's Angels big screen fame, it was created by BBDO NY with Activision and the former military advisors who consult on Call of Duty, with sound design by Music and Strategy. (Watch behind-the-scenes footage here).

Below, watch another audiocentric spot — HTC's new spot for Rezound, its smartphone with Beats Audio by Dr. Dre — and more.Continue reading...

Accenture strikes outsourcing agreement with Nokia.

Adidas faces French inquiry.

Adobe sales exceed estimates, but challenged in Europe.

Airbus racks up orders at Paris Air Show while Boeing dazzles with latest version of its venerable jumbo jet.

Amazon expects to sell 4 million tablets this year.

AOL UK relaunches homepage with Tesco sponsorship.Continue reading...

Acer is launching a line of tablet PCs.

Apple launches Chinese app store.

Bill Clinton, one-man Michelin star?

BMW recall may have been prompted by ABC News investigation.

BP CEO Bob Dudley vows company will remain committed to America.

British Airways expands mobile boarding to BlackBerry and Android smartphones.

Budweiser's new UK spot features giant game of pool.Continue reading...

Dell says 3Par accepted its raised bid, trumping HP for control of the computer-storage company. (Updated).

US egg farmers launch a public reassurance campaign in the wake of nationwide salmonella outbreak.

Facebook is the leading social networking site in India for the first time, overtaking Orkut.

Academy Awards telecasts could move to Mondays to make room for NFL games on Sunday nights.

Alibaba Group, China's biggest e-commerce operator, expands travel business to include international airline-ticket sales and plans to undercut rivals' prices.

BHP, undeterred by rivals, vows restraint in its bid for Potash.

British Heart Foundation calls for more labelling on food after UK salt survey cites KFC, McDonald's, Pret a Manger and others.Continue reading...