Tens of millions of Americans tuned in to President Obama’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night and a few brands benefited from getting a mention. Caterpillar, Ford and Apple were all named for bringing jobs back to America. Apple CEO Tim Cook even got a few seconds of airtime since he was sitting with First Lady Michelle Obama. Siemens America got a few sentences dedicated to its CEO saying that, “if we upgrade our infrastructure, they'll bring even more jobs.”

IBM snuck in there, too, as it has partnered with the City University of New York to create P-Tech, the Pathways in Technology early college high school in Brooklyn that serves grades 9-14 with a focus on technology and innovation. As Bloomberg Businessweek reports, "The 18-month-old experiment has caught not only the president’s eye but the attention of companies, politicians, and educators across the nation."

Students graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree in engineering or computers. The school, which opened in September 2011, has already inspired five more similar programs to start up in Chicago, Obama’s adopted hometown. Idaho has announced plans to open a similar school as well.Continue reading...

#GOPResponse #SOTU #gop #tcot twitter.com/marcorubio/sta…

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 13, 2013

It is now an expectation of any live event that some unforeseen detailed quirk will become the hot meme of the night's social media. Think Oreo during the Super Bowl blackout or "binders full of women."

On Tuesday, during the "opposition response" to President Obama's State of the Union address, one beverage brand got its opportunity when Republican golden boy senator Marco Rubio awkwardly reached for, and drank from, a small Poland Spring bottle.

But neither of the brand's two Twitter accounts had a reply. In fact, both accounts have had dry mouth for years.Continue reading...

First, his slogan was "Change." Then it was "Forward." So tonight, as President Barack Obama lays out his second-term agenda tonight in his first  State of the Union since winning re-election, he'll also be giving a sense of what his presidential brand looks to stand for in the final years of his administration, too.

It's reported that he plans to focus on unfinished business such as immigration reform, educational improvement, gun control and climate change. The White House also promises an emphasis on the still-stagnant U.S. economy and ideas for federal spending to stimulate it. 

At the same time, an unspoken part of Obama's agenda remains outmaneuvering the opposition Republican Party, which is facing its own crossroads as the president grabs the spotlight again this evening.Continue reading...

Pepsi may have shelled out massive dollars to sponsor the Super Bowl halftime show, but Beyonce Knowles—hired to keep millions from switching over to Animal Planet’s “Puppy Bowl IX” (and add luster to the NFL and PepsiCo brands) may be the biggest beneficiary.

Ms. Knowles, of course, had recently taken a pretty big PR hit for lip syncing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at President Obama’s second inauguration. But she's putting that behind her with a PR charm offensive, and Sunday night, she very clearly sang (and improvised a bit) her tunes live while constantly dancing, working the stage and speaking directly to the audience.

People called it “divalicious and hooftastic,” and The New York Times pointed out that she “answered her critics” by singing her songs in unexpected ways.Continue reading...

Yes, Pepsi is spending millions to promote its brands and have Beyonce deliver a much-anticipated halftime show during the Super Bowl on Sunday. But before talking about any of that, the diva just had to get something out of the way at a press conference today.

As the New Orleans Saints Twitter account noted with a twitpic, Beyonce began the event by belting out the national anthem a cappella, then said: "Any questions?"

Yes, she admitted: She had lip-synched "The Star-Spangled Banner" during President Obama's recent inauguration — though not because she lacked the pipes, as Thursday's event was meant to demonstrate.

"I'm a perfectionist," Beyonce said by way of explanation, according to The Associated Press. She explained that she couldn't practice with "The President's Own" United States Marine Band and, taking weather and other circumstances into account, the Grammy Award winner didn't feel "comfortable taking a risk. I decided to sing along with a pre-recorded track."Continue reading...

Atari files for bankruptcy protection in the U.S.

RIM could license BlackBerry 10 software.

Sony plans to introduce tablet challenging Apple and Samsung.

AIG learns from "Thank You, America" misfire.

Alfa Romeo plans brand return to U.S. late this year.

Boeing sees safety investigators dismiss one potential cause of Dreamliner fires.Continue reading...

Superstorm Sandy devastated much of the New Jersey shoreline and crippled parts of New York City. Many are still recovering, and will be for some time. On Staten Island, many storm victims remain living in a shelter.

Part of the region's recovery will inevitably depend on branding efforts that must override images of utter destruction from the public's mind, just as the need for donations remains as the rebuilding continues.

On the larger scale, New Jersey is deploying its first post-Sandy branding effort to woo tourists back in summer.Continue reading...

The National Rifle Association is anything but shirking from a fight as efforts to regulate firearms in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. shooting massacre take shape. As a brand, it's staking out bold, unyielding territory that looks to cede few if any points.

President Obama’s sweeping proposal to reducing gun violence, announced Wednesday, aims to close background check loopholes, and ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. His initiative was accompanied by a new Twitter hashtag: #NowIsTheTime. 

The tenor of the NRA's response, however, took further shape on Tuesday with a provocative ad that portrays Obama and other political leaders as hypocrites for allowing their families to be protected by gun-toting federal agents while they dismiss calls for armed guards in schools. Continue reading...