MediaPost | Marketing News

A new health site, ChickRx.com, embraces that sentiment and in the process adds a new wrinkle to the definition of "social media." With a combination of expert medical advice, celebrity health coverage and possibly the most entertaining use of tags on the web; ChickRx uses a mix of humor and health expertise for its target audience of 20-something women.

As the president of a company that is nearly 80 years old and full of young people, I feel the need to continually evolve and change. So what will lead companies to success in the future? If you ask a Millennial, it's new ideas, integrated organizations, collaboration, innovation and an increased passion for change.

A person's sense of time and its relation to one's sensitivity to sensual experience are critical to the appreciation of luxury. Marketers should focus on three initiatives.

"Sharp has been an innovative leader for the past 50 years," Neal Lattner, Sharp's senior director of marketing communications tells Marketing Daily. "And as the competitive set has been growing, we need to start branding our solar products."

A share of the proceeds from each set of headphones sold will be donated to the Quincy Jones Musiq Consortium, a foundation dedicated to providing music education to American students.

Jaguar first showed off the XJ car at the Sunset Marquis Hotel earlier this year. The automaker's posh-positioning grassroots strategy is central to its "City Takeover" marketing plan, which includes broadcast, print, digital and outdoor advertising and sponsorship and PR efforts in Los Angeles and New York.

About 60% of consumers knew that merchants have to pay credit card companies a fee to process each transaction: their average estimate of the amount the merchant pays was 2.66%, with the most putting it between 1% and 2%, which is relatively accurate. Cardbeat surveyed 408 credit card holders in July 2010.

The initiative, from G2 USA, includes an online recipe contest, live cookoff events and a sweepstakes. The recipe contest kicked off Sept. 1, with an employee event at Aetna's corporate headquarters in Hartford, Conn. that featured TV celebrity chef Bobby Flay.

Contests in which consumers help design or contribute to special product labeling -- closely tied in with digital/social media and larger marketing missions, of course -- seem to be popping up with increasing frequency among food manufacturers these days. Two examples are Chiquita Brands International and Knorr, Unilever's largest brand.

The "kicked-up" version of V8's existing low-sodium variety offers "the spice and heat that people are looking for that's not often found in low-sodium products," said Campbell VP, beverage marketing Dale Clemiss. The new variety is being sold in supermarkets, club, convenience and mass merchandise stores nationwide for a suggested retail of $3.99 for a 46-ounce bottle.

Limited was a stand-out, with same-store sales gaining 10% for the month. The Columbus, Ohio-based retailer says the gains came from a 15% same-store jump at its Victoria's Secret unit, fueled by a bra and fragrance launch, as well as steady back-to-school gains in its Pink collection.

It's also returning to basics like socks and underwear as part of its new clothing strategy. While the core economic health of the Wal-Mart shopper hasn't improved, she expects that in the second half of the year, sales will benefit from that broader assortment, with Wal-Mart adding back anywhere from 5% to 25% more items.

"While coupon use gained 13% in the first quarter of this year, it grew only 1% in the second quarter," Matthew Tilley, director of marketing for Inmar Corp., tells Marketing Daily. "And while that is still way up from two years ago and we expect to see somewhere between 3.3 and 3.5 billion coupons redeemed this year, the increases are sort of leveling off. We're not sure yet if the slower growth is just a blip, or a trend."

The Montvale, N.J., automaker says that besides the current Mbrace features that let owners unlock their vehicles, locate their vehicles in crowded parking lots, and find nearby or preferred dealers among other services, Version 2.0 also allows customers to seamlessly access Mercedes-Benz Concierge services while away from the vehicle.