The next step in leveraging the powerful brand is the Playboy Audience Network, which will form digital partnerships with companies like YouTube, Metacafe and Mixercast, to distribute the Playboy’s short-format, lifestyle and video content. Broadcasting & Cable (Apr. 30, 2008)
The nation’s third-largest office supply chain, suffering from the general slow-down in consumer spending, will focus on margin and cost-management initiatives throughout the year, as part of an on-going turnaround plan put in place by chairman and ceo Sam Duncan. The Wall Street Journal (May 2, 2008) Paid subscription may be required.
April same-store sales at Walgreen Co. rose 1.6%, although front-end, same-store sales fell 3.1%. Sales for the period suffered from the shift of Easter to March in 2008. Dow Jones Newswire
Ubiquitous since the early 90’s, the 20-ounce, plastic soda bottle is losing some of its appeal to health- and expense-conscious consumers. Bottlers for both Coke and Pepsi are testing 16-ounce sizes, and Coke is trying out a 24-ounce bottle for big guzzlers, while Pepsi is re-visiting the venerable 12-ouncer. The manufacturers are turning to packaging innovations to [...]
The International Council of Shopping Centers predicts 5,770 store closings this year, which would mark a year-over-year of 25 percent. Included in the group will be: Starbucks, Foot Locker, Pacific Sunwear, Ann Taylor and Zales, which plan to close more than 1,200 store locations, combined. Other retailers, not planning closures, are scaling back on expansion and delaying new [...]
In the same week that it reached a deal to pull itself out of bankruptcy by June, Ziff Davis Media named a new president, Peter Weedfald. Weedfald is a tech industry veteran with sales and marketing experience, most recently as SVP, CMO at Circuit City. Portfolio (May 2, 2008)
National Geographic won three National Magazine Awards on Thursday night, including an award for general excellence. Vanity Fair, the year’s only other multiple winner, won two awards. The awards were spread among many magazines, rather than dominated by two or three, as in they have been in recent years. New York Times (May 2, 2008)