Adobe confirms its CTO Kevin Lynch has left the company for a job at Apple. 

Chipotle is risking its brand by venturing into the public debate about gay rights, LGBT community says #ThanksChipotle.

NBC to NYT: Jimmy Fallon is expected to succeed Jay Leno on the "Tonight Show" by fall 2014 as NBC struggles with weak ratings.

Aeropostale targets millenials with new in-store #tech. 

Aldi and Whole Foods to boycott genetically modified salmon.

Apple's plan for augmented reality amidst another lawsuit on patent infringement.

Barclays announces massive bonuses on UK budget day.

BlackBerry denies report that BB10 failed UK government security test. 

Global airline profits are flying high.

Harvard researchers have linked sugary drinks to 180,000 deaths a year worldwide.Continue reading...

Nike quickly backs away from Oscar Pistorius.

Volkswagen putting plug-in hybrid into production.

Google unveils touch-screen laptop.

Apple sees hedge-fund manager press his case against it.

Avon weighs exits from more countries.

Billabong posts record loss.

Boeing CEO stays in background to work on Dreamliner problem.

Citigroup toughens rules for executive bonuses.

Facebook COO bombs glass ceiling with new book.Continue reading...

It looks like 2012 was a good year for global advertising spending, especially in the digital sector.

The latest Global AdView Pulse report issued by Nielsen shows total spending of $139 billion, a 4.3 percent increase in Q3 2012 ad spending over Q3 2011. This increase outpaced the 2.7 percent growth in the first half of 2012.

In North America, ad spending for Q3 rose 10.2 percent. The Asia Pacific region grew 3.5 percent in Q3, with China showing a Q3 increase of 3.1 percent after two consecutive declining quarters. Western Europe's Q3 ad spending, however, declined 4.8 percent.

The most impressive ad growth on a year-to-date basis was in the Middle East and Africa, which saw an 18.9 percent increase from January through September 2012.

Randall Beard, global head of advertiser solutions for Nielsen, cautioned that the Q3 data could be a reflection of spending on the Olympics and the U.S. presidential election. "We'll be watching carefully to see if the growth was sustained in Q4 and into 2013, or if there's a dip in comparison to this year," Beard said.Continue reading...

Apple and Android dominate mobile-platform impressions while Apple reports strong sales of iPhone 5 in China and talks with Foursquare about data-sharing deal.

GE plans to buy Avio Italian aerospace group as CEO perceives an "investment pause" in some industries over economy.

Walmart takedown by New York Times continues with searing update on Mexican bribery scandal.

Freedom Group, parent of Bushmaster rifle used to kill Connecticut kids, will be sold by owner Cerberus.

AOL gives all employees $1,000 year-end bonus.

Billabong gets another takeover bid.

BlackBerry 10 now in tests at 120 companies.

Brazil burger chain offers edible packaging.Continue reading...

Next year, Kermit the Frog may be singing, "It IS easy being green." He'll be delighted to know that Pantone has selected Emerald Green as the Color of the Year for 2013, and will feel right at home on its Pinterest board devoted to the exact shade of green: 17-5641.

For over a decade, Pantone, a company long associated with setting color standards in printing, has been selecting a "Color of the Year." According to the company, "Pantone quite literally combs the world looking for color influences. This can include the entertainment industry and films in production, traveling art collections, hot new artists, popular travel destinations and other socio-economic conditions. Influences may also stem from technology, availability of new textures and effects that impact color, and even upcoming sports events that capture worldwide attention."

So why is 2013 a Green kind of year? "Green is the most abundant hue in nature — the human eye sees more green than any other in the spectrum," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. "Symbolically, Emerald brings a sense of clarity, renewal and rejuvenation, which is so important in today's complex world. This powerful and universally appealing tone translates easily to both fashion and home interiors."Continue reading...

"Buyer beware" applies now, more than ever, as holiday shoppers take to the web and mobile to snap up bargains. According to the latest MarkMonitor Shopping Report, one in five bargain hunters in the U.S. and Europe mistakenly shopped on e-commerce sites selling counterfeit goods while searching for deals online.

“Consumers are being waylaid by rogue e-commerce sites, causing brands to lose business. The findings from our Shopping Report underscore the importance of developing proactive brand protection strategies in the digital age,” said Fredrick Felman, chief marketing officer of MarkMonitor, Thomson Reuters' enterprise brand protection business.

Working with Nielsen “to analyze anonymized data from Nielsen’s permissioned online panelists in six countries over a nine-month period, nearly five million shopping sessions were surveyed…focusing on the search terms the shoppers employed, such as 'fake,’ 'replica,’ 'cheap' or ‘discount,’ to determine their motivation.”

The MarkMonitor Shopping Report examined multiple demographics including age, income, education levels, and household size, and found that there are only minimal differences between online consumers seeking counterfeit goods and bargain hunters looking for a good deal on legitimate goods.

“These findings really challenge the common assumption that consumers who purchase counterfeit goods are distinctly different than those consumers buying genuine goods,” said Eric Solomon, SVP, global digital audience measurement, Nielsen.

“Deal seekers outnumbered consumers seeking fakes at the rate of 20 to 1,” notes the release from MarkMonitor, but deceptive pricing on counterfeit goods, often priced comparably to legitimate goods on sale, discounted at 25–50% off list prices, suggest ‘blowout’ or year-ender sales and lure unsuspecting shoppers.Continue reading...

On the eve of Advertising Week, Nielsen announced a modest uptick of 2.4% in global ad spending in the second quarter. And now that Advertising Week is upon us, the ratings giant is out with its latest metrics on how the rise of online video and digital platforms are upending traditional ad models.

According to the new Nielsen Cross-Platform Report, “in addition to watching 34-plus hours of TV per week, the average American spends nearly five hours online on the computer. More than half of Americans now watch video online, with online viewing increasing average weekly video consumption to roughly 35 hours.”

Nielsen is pitching its clients to rethink how they view the viewer, and that an online viewer is equally valuable to the advertising ecosystem as a television viewer — a message that coincides with the kick off of Advertising Week in New York, and the launch of Nielsen Cross-Platform Ratings for multi-screen ad measurement to Madison Avenue.

After extensive trials across the advertising ecosystem with brands including ESPN, Facebook, Hulu and Unilever, the new product delivers unduplicated and incremental reach, frequency and GRP measures for TV and Internet advertising. Their new measurement includes the number of people who watched a campaign digitally, those who watched on TV, and the intersection of those two audiences.Continue reading...

Neiman Marcus and Target join brands for unusual Christmas collaboration: 50 limited-edition American designer items, plus $1M donation to the CFDA.

Starbucks rolls out low-cal Refreshers drinks.

Marks & Spencer fires clothing head following worst sales in three years.

American Airlines and U.S. Airways keep dancing around a merger.

Apple removes green electronics certification from products.

Chase launches Chase Liquid reloadable card.

Coca-Cola takes stake in Mexican juice company Jugos del Valle.

Conde Nast confirms London location of namesake fashion college.

DirecTV could drop 26 Viacom channels in dispute.

Dodge places major ad push behind new Dart.Continue reading...