Battle of the Brands

According to the latest Nightclub & Bar magazine rankings, the top three grossing nightlife establishments in the United States are all located in Vegas. No surprise there.

But even when you’re pulling in between $60 and $70 million annually, there’s no rest for the wicked. Las Vegas Review-Journal business reporter Laura Carroll has the skinny [margarita] on an ingenious campaign devised by third-ranked Tao Nighclub for U.S. and Canadian residents about to turn Nevada legal-drinking age:

Those who soon will be 21 write in to Tao’s website and tell the club their birthday and when they’re coming to Vegas. Tao then will create a birthday party Evite for the guest of honor to post on social media sites.

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According to UK publication Auto Express, Porsche’s new Macan SUV will get its first preview at this fall’s Los Angeles Auto Show, ahead of a spring 2014 release. Which makes sense, since the U.S. is the auto maker’s number one market and, within that territory, California leads the state pack.

You’ll have to click through to see four exclusive pictures of the Macan. And read here to learn what the name means. The good news is that this SUV has a very reasonable MSRP of around $47,000 U.S. From the Express report:

The Macan will be based on the same modular MLB platform that underpins the Audi Q5, but with greater use of aluminium components. This will mean a weight saving of 130kg over the Q5 – more than the reduction the Audi A3 and other compact VW Group models achieved by adopting the MQB platform.

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In this particular case, decanters are arguably a woman’s best friend. So as to properly pour and let breathe two offerings released this month by St. Helena, CA’s Nova Wines.

Let’s start with the 2012 Norma Jeane. For a suggested retail price of $13, this young Merlot offers an experience “rich in color with a youthful hue. Dark berry flavors and moderate tannins complete the package.”

Also priced well below the millionaire bachelor threshold is the 2012 Sauvignon Blonde (SRP $16). When the cork comes off, the aromas are a “combination of ripe stone fruits with a light herbaceous undercurrent typical of Sauvignon Blanc wines. The flavors are fruity, soft in the mouth with a lingering finish.”

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The auctioned switch of one Jason Sadler‘s name to Jason Headsets.com officially took place January 1. A month later, the company that paid $45,000 for these goofy one-year naming rights is claiming victory:

“The money we paid to buy Jason’s last name equates to $900 a week, or $125 a day,” said company president Mike Faith. “That’s incredibly cheap for the $6 million value of [media] coverage we’ve already had on this. We’re calling Jason our Six Million Dollar Man.”

The company, founded in 1997 and specializing in headsets for office telephone systems, says that in addition to stories by outlets like CNNMoney.com, TechCrunch and The Huffington Post, their investment has triggered close to a quarter million in additional sales. The six-million figure comes via a study Headsets.com commissioned from Universal Information Services.

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We pretended briefly this morning to be a “stamp-collecting body surfer” who had just driven by a billboard in San Diego for NPR and followed up by visiting the targeted Web landing spot. Here’s what the website told us when we punched in that info:

Based on our highly scientific RADIOTYPE collaborator, the shows below are just a a few of the things we think you’ll love on KPBS FM 89.5: Weekend Edition Saturday, Here and Now, Travel with Rick Steves, TED Radio Hour, Fresh Air, Marketplace

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We can only imagine the sophisticated levels of market analysis that preceded the decision to start testing “Starbucks Evenings” beer and wine sales in California at just two SoCal locations: Calabasas and Rancho Santa Margarita.

OC Register restaurant reporter Nancy Luna recently checked out the latter location with the newspaper’s “Good Libations” columnist Paul Hodgins. It’s not clear if the chain’s after-4 p.m. alcoholic-beverage options will be in future more prominently featured on the menu and advertised. For now, Luna notes that Starbucks is approaching it very subtly:

The barista counter does not showcase any bottles of beer or wine. A few small signs promote the upscale ["Small Bites"] food and wine list, but they are easy to miss. Paul and I agreed that the uninformed visitor would never know the cafe is selling alcohol.

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Have you yet attended an “ugly Christmas sweater party?” If today’s press release for the November 23 launch of Pleasanton, CA based online retailer jingleballz.com is to be believed, these gatherings are an of-the-moment strand of the North American hipster social fabric:

“Ugly sweater parties are hot right now, but to really stand out you need more than just a gaudy Christmas tree or flashing reindeer nose. That’s where we come in,” said jingleballz.com founder Shawn Nohr. “Whether it’s a gift for yourself, a friend or for the White Elephant gift swap, calling these cheeky sweaters a ‘conversation piece’ is an understatement.”

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Jim Weiss, founder of strategic communications firm WCG, graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 1987. Twenty-five years later, he’s committed to helping a new generation of students navigate a marketing world upended by digital, social and mobile media.

Weiss and his Alma Mater have formed the W2O Group Center for Social Commerce, seeded with a $100,000 personal gift and anchored to WCG’s San Francisco-based parent company. The goal is to help students learn the rules of “social commerce,” the ever-changing confluence of online content, commerce and social connectivity:

The partnership will provide opportunities for Newhouse students and professors to rotate through the various W2O Group offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, New York and London, interact with the firm’s clients, and learn from experts in analytics, digital, social, corporate, technology and research areas. In return, senior W2O Group leaders will guest lecture at Newhouse and work with the university’s faculty to create new courses and update existing ones.

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This is simply fantastic. To promote a San Diego Opera production of Aida, media relations director Edward Wilensky has the benefit of a most unusual PR partner: Occupy Oakland image-maker R. Black.

Per a report by U-T San Diego music and art critic James Chute, the above image is the beginning of a beautiful 2012-13 season friendship. All sparked by Wilensky’s eagle eye and-or fine-tuned Google News alerts:

In several Occupy-related interviews, when asked what he wanted to do next, Black said he wanted to design an opera poster. It didn’t take long for Wilensky, a former buyer for Off the Record and a big Black fan (who even had a copy of Black’s 2004 book Futura: The Art of R. Black), to make an offer Black couldn’t refuse: design a poster for each of the opera’s five presentations and an overall season poster.

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Walter Delph says he has spent the past six months cleaning up the mess left behind by Charlie Sheen at social media PR firm Ad.ly. The newly installed CEO tells Fast Company he is intent on forging a #winning formula that has little to do with fatuous celebrity zeitgeist.

The Kardashians are still free to use ad.ly, of course, but the firm is looking to expand its roster to include less expected “publishing partners”… “GE, for example, will not be a good match for the Kardashians,” Delph says. “If we’re working with Nikon, for example, I’d prefer to have 10 photojournalists over one Kardashian [sister].”

A couple of early comments to the article question Delph’s take. They suggest that Sheen, regardless of the way the actor’s 2011 rants and raves eventually tailspinned, did the celebrity-Twitter-influencers outfit a huge launch phase favor.

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