Although permanent drive-in cinemas are still in existence in some places around the globe, permanent and temporary drive-ins in London and the UK in general are extremely rare due to limited space. But for two days this summer, the drive-in is in London – thanks to a man named Damian Barr and the car manufacturer Volvo. Barr spoke to a number of car companies and found that Volvo was the right fit for his unique project named Starlite Urban Drive In. "We wanted a partner, not a sponsor who just wanted to slap a big logo on everything”, said Barr. “Volvo were very hands-off and genuinely wanted us to be creative.”

During its initial release by Twentieth Century Fox in December 2009, Avatar had one of the most extensive merchandising programs ever- 125 licensed products were manufactured across four categories (toys, apparel, publishing, video games). Since then, retail sales have been booming, recently reaching the $153 million mark. Despite the lack of a confirmed movie sequel, Fox plans to extend the Avatar brand’s long term plans, by producing more licensed products in time for the crucial fall back-to-school, Halloween and holiday shopping seasons. New products will include costumes, board games and bedding items.

With the advent of the trysumers, a new wave of consumers who are willing to try just about anything, many companies are taking novel approaches to their brand and marketing strategies. First there was the flagship store, pop-up retail, and then tryvertising, but now a lot of companies are developing their own brand spaces.

The world famous English football league, Manchester United, opened its flagship store at the Venetian Resort Hotel in Macau on 20th February 2008. The store is located at the Venetian Grand Canal Shoppes and is the club's first merchandise store in Asia.

China has a highly a saturated and established consumer goods market, which strongly discourages investment in creating strong low-end brands. After all, in a market long dependent on price competition to attract consumers, generating brand loyalty even for well-known and well-established brands seems to be difficult. Many firms believe it is better to cut branding costs in order to have a price advantage. In this article, however, we will argue that for low-priced products the brand remains the distinctive factor on which Chinese consumer base their purchasing decisions.

The mobile phone market is about to see a new entrant heating up the scene a little more: the Google G1, presented yesterday in New York by Sergey Brin and Lerry Page and ready to go on the market already by next month.

G1 will be the first mobile device carrying Google’s mobile software and is reportedly looking similar to Apple IPhone, with a large touch screen but a somehow less appealing design.