Buoyed by the success of MTV's Jersey Shore franchise, cable networks are gearing up for the summer shore season, Joisey style. Not only Viacom's MTV, but its reality-touting competitors at Oxygen, Style and Bravo all have their fists in the air pumping to promote their Garden State shows during the TV upfront events now taking place in New York.

At its upfront event yesterday at at a midtown Manhattan hotel, MTV touted its new shows by wooing media buyers and brand advertisers with a raucous party themed around the looming return of its now-iconic Jersey Shore, which is currently taping its next season far from Jersey on a different shore, in Miami.

Partiers filled their plates with meatballs and spaghetti, and washed it down with Ron Ron Juice (vodka and watermelon juice), named after cast member Ronnie Magro. Cast members busted out their signature dance moves and female servers “poofed” their hair in salute to Snooki, aka Nicole Polizzi.Continue reading...

Brands have come under fire for using styrofoam for packaging and are seeking alternatives to enhance their green reputations. Just walk along any beach in the winter and it’s easy to see that it makes a mess of the environment.

The problem with presenting a so-called “green” solution during an economic downturn is the assumption of increased costs in manufacturing and shipping, a factor which doesn't sit well with packaged goods giants including P&G.

The American Chemistry Council, a coalition of companies that includes Procter & Gamble Chemicals, ExxonMobil, 3M, Shell, Sunoco, and the Solo Cup company, has suggested that instead of switching to bamboo or other sustainable alternatives, polystyrene packaging (Styrofoam) is preferable as it can be burned for fuel.

Unconvinced, Dell has announced that its bamboo packaging, used as cushioning in its laptops and certain netbooks, is now compostable.Continue reading...

Estée Lauder has launched a mobile application called Ascent, available for download via an Apple iPod Touch at department and specialty store counters worldwide.

The app takes consumers through a series of questions, with the answers helping whittle fragrance recommendations down to a handful of scents that fit each customer’s criteria and mood.

It currently features fragrances in Lauder’s Aramis and Designer Fragrances division as options including Donna Karan Iris, DKNY Be Delicious Fresh Blossom and Michael Kors’ namesake fragrance.

The program will bow in Nordstrom during its Half Yearly Sale weekend later this month. It is also being promoted on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and expands on Lauder's social media push foray into Facebook marketing last year.Continue reading...

Is declaring one's (hetero)sexuality the latest twist in personal branding? Is "coming out" the new "comeback"?

People magazine's May 5th issue features a declaration by country singer Chely Wright—who last made waves with her #1 1999 hit, Single White Female, above—that, yep, she's gay.

The timing of her announcement coincides with this week's release of her memoir, Like Me, as well as her first album in five years, Lifted Off the Ground. She'll also appear on NBC's Today Show tomorrow to discuss her personal journey.

Beyond the collective "Chely Who?" response this has generated, it's also being seen as a cynical marketing ploy.Continue reading...

The death of Jean-Louis Dumas, former CEO of Hermès, on Saturday raises questions about the future of the family-held luxury brand.

As the Wall Street Journal notes, Dumas rejuvenated a brand that got its start as a saddle maker. WWD noted his contributions to growing the company into a global powerhouse, hiring Jean-Paul Gaultier as designer for women’s ready to wear in 2004 and expanding into emerging markets including Asia.

A fifth-generation member of the Hermès family, the 72-year-old Dumas was its patriarch and kept dozens of family members around the company's managerial ranks. Son Pierre-Alexis Dumas still works as artistic director. 

However, when Jean-Louis stepped down as CEO four years ago, outsider Patrick Thomas was hired, signaling a shift of more than just bloodlines.Continue reading...

Singer Mary J. Blige has built her name on taking pain and transforming it into triumph.

Her new fragrance with Carol’s Daughter, My Life, is named for her 1994 recording of the same name that represented a personal turning point after a history of childhood abuse and drugs. “I was crying out for help, because I was going through so much,” she told WWD.

The perfume will launch solely on HSN on July 31 and retail for $46. Billed as the first fragrance to be launched "exclusively through a multichannel retailer," My Life will be introduced to consumers via a unique multi-platform campaign.Continue reading...

In response to class action lawsuits filed by business owners who allege they've been extorted by Yelp, the site is now making filtered-out reviews visible.

Yelp has also removed the option for companies to push their favorite review to the top of their company’s page. Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman posted on his blog that “Lifting the veil on our review filter and doing away with 'Favorite Review' will make it even clearer that displayed reviews on Yelp are completely independent of advertising – or any sort of manipulation."Continue reading...