Breaking News

• Best Buy partners with startup for deals linked to credit cards
  Best Buy is partnering with startup edo interactive, which offers deals linked to a consumer's credit card, to fight back against "showrooming." Edo uses marketing partnerships with various banks to reduce the consumer effort to simply accepting an offer delivered via e-mail and swiping the card, with no special applications, codes or coupons needed. Best Buy tested the program in May and will expand it this holiday shopping season. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (11/21)     

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Company News

• TV show "iCarly" gives Birds Eye a boost
  A Birds Eye campaign that tied in with the "iCarly" television show on Nickelodeon has boosted brand engagement as well as sales of the frozen vegetables, said Brandi Unchester, senior brand manager for Birds Eye Steamfresh Vegetables. Elements of the "iCarly iCook with Birds Eye" campaign, which ran from July 9 to Sept. 9, included videos that could be unlocked with UPC codes on Birds Eye products, a sweepstakes with a grand prize of a visit to the show and ads on "iCarly" and the Nickelodeon website. MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily (11/21)     

• Chromebooks go beyond the storefront in Times Square
  Google has extended its "For Everyone"-themed campaign for its $249 Samsung Chromebook computers beyond the storefronts of Best Buy retail outlets. It is linking messages about the Chromebook posted on GalleryForEveryone.com to a billboard in Times Square, giving everyone a shot at a few seconds of Broadway fame. TechCrunch (11/24)     

• Other News

• The Griswold family returns for Old Navy
  Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (11/23)     

• Apple touts photo sharing, noise reduction in iPhone 5 spots
  Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (11/21)     

Market Trends

• Staples makes real profit on line inspired by "The Office"
  Staples is practicing "defictionalization," or reverse product placement, by expanding its line of paper products from the fictitious Dunder Mifflin paper company made famous in the TV show "The Office." Staples licensed the name from NBCUniversal and Comcast and sells the mid-range priced products via Quill.com and Staples.com as well as in stores. Staples expects the product line to live on beyond the series, which is expected to end its run in 2013. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Media Decoder blog (11/23)     

• Retailers go online to win Black Friday price war
  Big-box retailers are incorporating e-commerce into their real-world sales strategies, using real-time data analysis to ensure that they're matching rivals' promotional offers, and often applying the same discounts to online pricing. That's good news for offline and online consumers, although some analysts fear the move could reduce the profits retailers are able to wring out of holiday-sales shoppers. The Wall Street Journal (11/23)     

Interactive

• How Campbell cooks up super buzz
  Campbell Soup is trying to win over a new generation of consumers with Campbell's Go, a microwavable, soft-packeted soup brand. The product launch has focused on building a quirky brand personality, using dedicated Facebook and Tumblr pages, along with brand partnerships with BuzzFeed and Spotify, to start organic conversations with fans. ClickZ (11/23)     

• American Express starts interactive channel, "t-commerce" apps
  An American Express partnership with BrightLine will create an interactive TV channel that should reach 50 million homes. The "t-commerce" effort will also extend to new applications in conjunction with Fox Broadcasting, NBCUniversal and Zeebox, allowing consumers to use a second screen such as a tablet computer to easily buy what they see on TV. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Media Decoder blog (11/21)     

Featured Content

Multicultural Marketing

• Beam pushes whiskey sales in Russia despite challenges
  Beam is expanding sales of whiskey in Russia despite the country's penchant for vodka and an ongoing crackdown on drinking alcohol there. The marketing campaign targets the upscale Russian drinker who is bored with vodka. Tactics to compete against other spirits makers include sending models into bars to entice Jack Daniel's drinkers with a blind taste test. Bloomberg Businessweek (11/21)     

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by AAF SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Conde Nast rolls out "groundbreaking" Windows 8 magazine covers (Advertising Age (tiered subscription model))

• Ugg turns a Tom Brady football tradition into a campaign (MediaPost Communications)

• Ben & Jerry's contest turns best fan photos into local ads (MediaPost Communications)

• Amazon goes social with brand pages (Adweek)

• Century 21 CMO: Super Bowl ads set up digital efforts (MediaPost Communications)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

SmartQuote

It's important to discern the difference between a groove and a rut. Though similar in some ways, one speeds you along, the other slows you down." --Keith Reinhard, member, Advertising Hall of Fame