Kia names first non-Korean as president and integrates Google Maps.

Avis to acquires Zipcar brand for $500 million.

Nivea woos investors as CEO admits Rihanna was the wrong brand ambassador and brand returns to NYC's Times Square as New Year's Eve event sponsor.

Amazon apologizes for Christmas Eve outage.

American Girl's 2013 Girl of the Year doll addresses U.S. arts education cuts.

Apple sees its store in Paris robbed.

BBC Worldwide appoints chief brands officer.Continue reading...

Chrysler exec tweets a rebuff about Donald Trump comment on Jeep jobs, as UAW leads ethics complaint vs Romney over auto rescue remarks.

Apple's iPad Mini launches globally to shorter than expected lines; secures Lion trademark.

Barclays facing a $470 million fine for alleged energy market manipulation, and a corruption probe.

Australian court rejects free range trademark move.

BlackBerry 10 is on schedule for early next year, RIM says.

Bloomberg Businessweek pins Sandy on global warming in cover story.Continue reading...

"Crowdsourcing" was coined in 2006 by Wired's then contributor Jeff Howe, evolving into a marketing tool by 2010 for brands of all sizes — and it's still going strong. Harnessing and rewarding user-generated contributions to your brand or project is no longer a trend but a way of life, as brands large and small embrace the technique for monetary gain, product identity, entertainment and social good. The latest iterations of inviting the masses to weigh in:

• Heineken has launched its second Open Innovation Challenge, asking fans to 'Reinvent the draught beer experience' and employing comedians Adam Fields and Samba Schutte pull it all together. Users are asked to submit ideas and an accompanying ‘elevator pitch’ to the Ideas Brewery website and six finalists will participate in an ‘idea-enhancing’ workshop in Amsterdam in November.Continue reading...

AIG pushes plan for independence from U.S. government.

Burger King says that menu and marketing changes have boosted bottom lilne.

Campbell Soup creates limited edition to help food bank.

Chick-fil-A supporters (and Wendy's) show up for "Appreciation Day."

Christina Aguillera lends her voice to a good cause.

Costco experiences strong U.S. sales.

Crocs celebrates milestone a little too exuberantly.

DirecTV sees U.S. subscribers decline for first time.Continue reading...

Our most-read blog posts of the week includes Pantone's Tangerine Tango to Twitter's new design and more:

#1 Pantone's Hot Color for 2012: Tangerine Tango

#2 Meet the New, New Twitter - Now With Brand Pages!

#3 Nivea Owns New Year's Eve, in Times Square and 'New Year's Eve'

#4 Heineken Goes Aspirational and Really ‘Likes’ Facebook

#5 VW May Have Last Laugh Over Global-Domination Skeptics

#6 Starbucks Reuses Shipping Containers in Seattle Store Test

#7 Al Qaeda Looking to Rebrand

#8 Minnesota's Crapola Proud to Be Number Two Brand

#9 Moving the Mountain: Paramount Redesigns Logo for 100th Birthday

#10 Amazon Launching Promo to Lure Customers From Retail

Clocking in with 45 brands, the new #1 movie at the box office, the seasonal romcom New Year's Eve, is bloated with as much product placement and brand name-dropping as it is marquee names. That count is high, yet still 15 brands fewer than the film's precursor, Valentine's Day.

A lot of the product placed in New Year's Eve is subject to a particular paradox: To have disclosed it would have been dishonest to reality.

Taking place around New York City's iconic Times Square New Year's Eve ball drop, the film includes numerous shots of the landmark square and its cluttered signage, as well as plenty o' stock footage of the actual event. In fact, the movie functions as a sort of tourism video produced by the city's tourism board. (Testifying to just how sanctioned it is as a tourism film, Mayor Mike Bloomberg even makes a cameo.)Continue reading...

Trending on YouTube, and probably in the minds of most guys, is the newest short film by Armani. The unlisted video (teased on Twitter, Facebook and the just relaunched Armani.com) features Rihanna in a parked car in a garage, film noir style, changing her clothes into stylish Armani jeans and underwear.

Rihanna and Armani (let's just call them Rihannarmani already) teamed up with photographer Steven Klein and the director behind some of Madonna's biggest videos, Johan Renck, for the shoot, which was filmed in a garage in New York. The reason for the video? Rihanna is the new face of Armani Jeans and Emporio Armani Underwear.Continue reading...

Buddy Media, the WPP-backed Facebook management system, is taking on Europe and opening a headquarters in London. A $54 million raise (Series D funding) is fueling a seemingly indefatigable global expansion as the company continues to dominate the social media enterprise software space.

A new group of late-stage investors, including Insight Venture Partners, joined current Buddy Media investors GGV Capital, Institutional Venture Partners and Bay Partners.

Buddy Media serves eight of the world’s top ten global advertisers including Nivea, Bacardi, All Saints, Vodafone and Mercedes Benz. In 2011, the company added 165-plus new customers, including Kraft Foods, Hanes, ESPN, Ford Motor Company and Virgin Mobile USA.Continue reading...