JCPenney's Magical Makeup Tour continues. Right after it posted a video mea culpa and launched a new Facebook and Twitter campaign to reach out to disaffected consumers, #jcpListens, the brand has made another major flip-flop in the interests of appeasing its traditional customer base. It's one of the handful of interesting attempts at brand forgiveness going on these days, which also include Mtn Dew, General Motors and Hyundai.

The retailer has reversed field and now plans to restore the house brand St. John's Bay, a $1 billion marque that was eliminated by since-ousted CEO Ron Johnson amid the many other mistakes he made in attempting to transform the venerable retailer. JCPenney announced that St. John's Bay emerged as tops in its poll on Facebook asking what JCPenney brand was the voter's favorite.

"We heard you," JCPenney said after the poll results were in. "St. John's Bay is back! What will you snag first, pants or shirts?" the brand posted on Facebook.Continue reading...

YouTube close to launching paid subscription channels, reports say. 

Amazon launches first Android app-store in China, ahead of Google. 

Pfizer lets bashful buyers get Viagra online.

Al Jazeera America plans to open Detroit bureau.

Asustek plans to make small Windows 8 tablets.

Audi considers doubling production at Mexico factory under construction.

Berkshire Hathaway provides peek at era after Buffett.

BuzzFeed takes steps to expand foreign news.Continue reading...

American ready-to-eat-cereal brands are coming along to help close the shrinking gap between breakfast solids and liquids with new "on-the-go" beverages aimed at helping Americans ingest the nutrition of a typical morning repast without having to sit at their kitchen tables to do so.

Kellogg plans to roll out its Breakfast To Go drink across the U.S. this year while General Mills has been testing a similar drink called BFast in Northeast markets. Both of them are milk-based but are fortified with fiber, more protein and other things that essentially give them the nutritional value of a bowl of cereal and milk. BFast relies on whole-grain quinoa and inulin, a root derivative for fiber, while Breakfast To Go includes whey-protein concentrate and soy-protein isolate.

"We're seeing a very good response to this," Kellogg CEO John Bryant said in a recent presentation, talking about the test of Breakfast To Go at a major retailer (it sells for $6/4 bottles at Walmart). "Still early days, but we see it as an opportunity to bring consumers in who otherwise would be skipping breakfast or skipping cereal and eating something else. So [it's] an opportunity for us to participate more in dashboard dining when it comes to a product that's actually hard to do that [with], traditional cereal."Continue reading...

Amazon bolsters challenge to Netflix with CBS deal, nabs top spot on Harris annual brand reputation survey and mobile retail satisfaction survey.

Alitalia considers giving up independence to stay viable.

American Express tests Twitter purchases by hashtag.

Apple CEO Tim Cook gets VIP invite to President Obama's State of the Union Address; Apple to webcast Cook's conference remarks today.

Auntie Anne's Pretzels can't get Chinese to bite.

Barclay's plans to cut 3,700 jobs and change focus.

BNY Mellon releases research about insurance industry challenges.

Carnival sees engine fire disable cruise ship in Gulf of Mexico.

Coca-Cola profits rise on higher case volume.Continue reading...

Purchasing for Super Bowl parties just got easier. Two CPG behemoths are boosting their brands' cooperation in the retail store using the upcoming Super Bowl as a way to generate unprecedented synergies from in-store marketing.

PepsiCo and Anheuser-Busch InBev will put Bud Light and Pepsi together for the first time under the new effort, which AB InBev internally called a "National Big Bet," according to Ad Age. The companies previously had paired AB InBev drinks with PepsiCo-owned snack brands such as Doritos and Lay's, but not beverages.

As official Super Bowl sponsors — and Budweiser's Bud Light the official beer of the NFL — the respective beverage giants are hoping the co-branded in-store signage will woo shoppers in the days leading up to America's Biggest Snacking Occasion.

The co-branded marketing materials reportedly include display signs showing two bags of Doritos, two bottles of Pepsi and two bottles of Bud Light along with the Super Bowl logo and the slogan, "Super Bowl. Super Team. Super Party."Continue reading...

Burton Snowboards and Mountain Dew are launching the 2013 Green Mountain Project (GMP), a collection using sustainable fabric made from recycled plastic bottles.

The new outerwear collection includes three eco-friendly jackets and two pants for men, and two jackets and one pant for women, made from blended materials such as GMP Hemp Fortex, 3M Thinsulate insulation with recycled fibers, DRYRIDE EcoNanoshell 2L Fabric and 3-Layer Hemp Ripstop Fabric and recycled taffeta and mesh linings, all of which have a lesser environmental impact.

How do they actually do it? Here’s how:Continue reading...

It's no problem to stretch our gastronomic imaginations to the concept of Taco Bell's "fourth meal," to agree to fill our gurglilng stomachs in the wee hours with chalupas and Doritos Locos Tacos. That all belongs to the day just ending, and is on-trend with similar tests such as McDonald's nascent nocturnivores breakfast after midnight test, and Dunkin' Donuts new addition of Quaker Oatmeal to expand its "better for you" breakfast lineup.

But somehow it's a stretch to imagine Taco Bell could produce something appetizing for breakfast. Regardless, now the Yum! Brands-owned iconic fast-food chain is giving it a serious try.

Expanding on a pilot test earlier this year, Taco Bell has rolled out a test of its new breakfast menu in about 800 restaurants, primarily in the western United States. (Is that because they get up later than everyone else, so it's more like an early lunch?)

The test menu for "FirstMeal" includes two new items: the A.M. Crunchwrap and Mtn Dew A.M. They have joined Cinnabon Delights as the chain's morning repast.Continue reading...

Mix Mountain Dew, Batman and Dale Earnhardt Jr., and somehow it all makes marketing sense. Just ask PepsiCo, which has been tying those elements and more together in a blowout summer marketing campaign around The Dark Knight Rises, which of course hits theaters this weekend.

In fact, PepsiCo believes the campaign is clicking on so many bat-cylinders that it's taking the initiative global in the first-ever worldwide marketing campaign for the iconic soft drink, scaling beyond the U.S. campaign for The Dark Knight Rises that kicked off in May, including a dewgothamcity.com microsite.

"Dew fans in the U.S. and around the world have incredible passion for the Dark Knight franchise," Brad Jakeman, president of PepsiCo's global beverages group, said in a press release. "We are excited about continuing to find unique and authentic ways to connect with Dew fans and fuel the growth of the brand around the world."

Mtn Dew is activating its campaign in nearly 20 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, inviting Dew and Dark Knight fans in all markets to its "Go Inside Gotham City" promotion which includes its new, limited-time flavor, Mtn Dew Dark Berry, inspired by the brooding caped crusader; more than 800 million bottles and cans featuring on-pack campaign graphics; digital access to exclusive content associated with the movie; and a multi-channel advertising campaign including a TV commercial designed to whet fans' appetites for the movie and the beverage.Continue reading...