Breaking: There is a new Microsoft Excel champion, British teen Rebecca Rickwood. And yes, there is a Microsoft Excel "championship."

TV product placement-spotting: Betty White hypes Skype for iPad in TVLand's Hot in Cleveland; while over on NBC, Chuck product places Bing in... Chuck.Continue reading...

We all know college athletics is big business, sometimes too big.

Now the Big Ten university athletic conference wants its share of the business to be bigger, and it plans to accomplish this goal by adding another team. But does bigger necessarily mean better for a college football conference?

The Big Ten conference is already comprised of more than 10 teams, so the brand doesn't need to worry (anymore) about its name not technically representing its contents. Adding another team would bring the conference to 12 teams. More importantly, the addition of another school will allow the conference to host more games in two divisions longer into the season.Continue reading...

American universities and colleges run an interesting branding game when it comes to their athletic programs. Ostensibly, a school's team is about school pride, one element of the school's overall brand. But many schools' brands are overwhelmed by their (intensely profitable) athletic programs which, in a vicious cycle, only strengthens these programs' influence on the schools' brands.

Those profits don't come from ticket sales. Schools that are sports powerhouses rake in millions a year from their trademarks. The University of Texas at Austin allows its trademark longhorn emblem on everything from pacifiers to Waterford crystal and from these deals collects millions of dollars in fees.Continue reading...