New York Times News Service | Groupon, the social buying site that spurned a $6 billion offer from the search giant Google, is pushing ahead with plans for its initial public offering, a debut that could value the company at $15 billion or more.
The company, which just raised a record $950 million from big investors, discussed a public offering with bankers this week, according to two people with knowledge of the deal who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Banks are pitching Groupon on dizzying valuations at which they expect to take the company public, with many at $15 billion. Get the full story »
By Sandra M. Jones
The Kardashian sisters are launching a line of clothing at Sears as the moderate department store chain continues to revamp its women’s apparel business.
The clothing line, called the Kardashian Kollection, is set to arrive in August at 400 Sears stores nationwide. The brand is exclusive to Sears, Roebuck and Co., a unit of Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings Corp. Get the full story »
Jan. 11 at 8:33 a.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing
By Sandra M. Jones
The popular TV show “Glee” is coming out with a nail polish of its own, Women’s Wear Daily reported Tuesday.
Sephora plans to introduce a limited edition nail color collection in its stores in February under the beauty retailer’s Sephora by OPI brand, Robert Marick, executive vice president of Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products told the retail trade magazine in an interview. Get the full story »
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Social coupon giant Groupon is investing in TV advertising, including pregame spots in the Feb. 6 broadcast of Super Bowl XLV. Get the full story>>
By Emily Bryson York
Google is establishing a food-and-beverage team in Chicago to link with advertisers and marketers including Northfield-based Kraft and Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo. Karen Sauder, who recently resigned from her position as managing director at DraftFCB Chicago, will become Industry Director for Food and Beverages at Google.
In the new role, Sauder is expected to build a Chicago-based team, focusing on Google’s efforts to build its advertising and marketing business in the food and beverage industries for the first time, according to a Google spokesman.
Sauder will take on the role as early as Jan. 31. Get the full story »
Jan. 7 at 1:47 p.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing,
Beverages,
Food
By Dow Jones Newswires
Hawaiian Punch is giving Punchy more pop.
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc., which owns Hawaiian Punch, is giving the fruity drink’s mascot a 21st-Century facelift with new computer-generated design. Punchy’s new three-dimensional surfer look, to be featured on packaging now being shipped and in Internet campaigns starting in February, will try to appeal more to the drink’s target audience of 13-year-olds, who have grown up watching cartoons like Pixar Animation Studio’s Toy Story. Get the full story »
By Emily Bryson York
Kraft's new "voice" of its Mac & Cheese, Ted Williams, appears on NBC's "Today" show on Jan. 6, 2011. (Reuters/Handout)
Here’s an unusual way to get a job: Ted Williams, a Columbus, Ohio, panhandler, garnered the attention of the Columbus Dispatch, which posted a video of him doing sample voiceovers by the side of the road.
From this, Williams appeared on the “Today” show Thursday morning, announcing that he’d gotten a job as the voice of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.
In the video, a disheveled Williams explained that he’d studied voice in school, but developed a drug and alcohol problem. With two years clean, he said, he was hoping that a company would notice him. Get the full story »
Jan. 5 at 4:38 p.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing
From AdAge | Chicago-based daily deal site Groupon saw three of its online ads banned in the U.K. after the Advertising Standards Authority, an industry-established group there, claimed they were misleading to consumers.
Jan. 5 at 12:38 p.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing,
Beverages,
Food,
Retail
By Associated Press
Starbucks new logo design. (AP)
Starbucks Corp. is giving its siren a facelift. The world’s largest coffee company is unveiling a new logo Wednesday that drops the words encircling its iconic sea nymph and gives her a few subtle updates.
Starbucks says the changes amount to more than nips and tucks to its favorite lady. The fresh look goes with a new direction for the company as it makes its way back from its toughest times in its 40-year history. Get the full story »
By Associated Press
Tobacco maker Star Scientific Inc. says it has developed a moist smokeless tobacco with lower levels of cancer-causing chemicals than any other tobacco product on the market.
The small Virginia company, which sells tobacco lozenges that dissolve in the mouth, said Tuesday that it plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration this quarter for approval to sell the new item as safer than any competing product. Get the full story »
Dec. 30, 2010 at 2:46 p.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing,
Internet
By Reuters
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announces a new Facebook email messaging system in November. (Justin Sullivan/Getty)
Facebook surpassed Google for the first time as the most visited website in the United States for most of 2010.
The social network site edged out Google.com with 8.9 percent of all U.S. visits between January and November 2010, while Google.com ranked second with about 7.2 percent of all visits, according to online measurement service Experian Hitwise. Get the full story »
Dec. 30, 2010 at 2:05 p.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing,
Internet
By Reuters
Online deal site Groupon is still privately held but retail investors might soon be able to own a piece of it, judging by other startups in which mutual funds run by T. Rowe Price Group have invested. Get the full story »
Dec. 30, 2010 at 7:38 a.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing,
Internet
From the New York Times’ DealBook | Groupon, the social buying site that rejected a $6 billion takeover bid from Google earlier this month, is negotiating as much as $950 million in financing commitments with big institutional investors, including Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price and Morgan Stanley, people briefed on the matter said. Groupon is preparing to go public as soon as the end of 2011, sources said. Get the full story>>
Dec. 29, 2010 at 3:14 p.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing,
Health care
By Los Angeles Times
Coming soon to a grocery store near you: Those nutrition labels slapped on everything from cereal to soda pop will soon be required on packages of meat.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday morning that the new rule, slated to start Jan. 1 of 2012, requires that 40 of the most common cuts of poultry, pork, beef and lamb include labels that disclose to consumers the total number of calories, the number of calories from fat and the total grams of fat and saturated fat. Get the full story »
