Apple’s retail stores aren’t the only place where lines form these days. It’s 7:30 on a July morning, and already a crowd has gathered for the opening of Trader Joe’s newest outpost, in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. The waiting shoppers chat about their favorite Trader Joe’s foods, and a woman in line launches into a monologue comparing the retailer’s West Coast and East Coast locations. Another customer suggests that the chain will be good for Chelsea, even though the area is already brimming with places to buy groceries, including Whole Foods and several upscale food boutiques.

But Trader Joe’s is no ordinary grocery chain. It’s an offbeat, fun discovery zone that elevates food shopping from a chore to a cultural experience. It stocks its shelves with a winning combination of low-cost, yuppie-friendly staples (cage-free eggs and organic blue agave sweetener) and exotic, affordable luxuries — Belgian butter waffle cookies or Thai lime-and-chili cashews — that you simply can’t find anyplace else.

Employees dress in goofy trademark Hawaiian shirts, hand stickers out to your squirming kids, and cheerfully refund your money if you’re unhappy with a purchase — no questions asked. At the Chelsea store opening, workers greeted customers with high-fives and free cookies. Try getting that kind of love at the Piggly Wiggly.

It’s little wonder that Trader Joe’s is one of the hottest retailers in the U.S. It now boasts 344 stores in 25 states and Washington, D.C., and strip-mall operators and consumers alike aggressively lobby the chain, based in Monrovia, Calif., to come to their towns. A Trader Joe’s brings with it good jobs, and its presence in your community is like an affirmation that you and your neighbors are worldly and smart.

The privately held company’s sales last year were roughly $8 billion, the same size as Whole Foods’ and bigger than those of Bed Bath & Beyond, No. 314 on the Fortune 500 list. Unlike those massive shopping emporiums, Trader Joe’s has a deliberately scaled-down strategy: It is opening just five more locations this year. The company selects relatively small stores with a carefully curated selection of items. (Typical grocery stores can carry 50,000 stock-keeping units, or SKUs; Trader Joe’s sells about 4,000 SKUs, and about 80% of the stock bears the Trader Joe’s brand.) The result: Its stores sell an estimated $1,750 in merchandise per square foot, more than double Whole Foods’. The company has no debt and funds all growth from its own coffers.

More about Inside the Secret World of Trader Joe’s here.

From Photoblog:

Co-owner Christian Petersen looks out of a window at his bicycle shop in Altlandsberg, north-east of Berlin August 17, 2010. The owners attached about 120 bicycles on the facade to advertise their shop.

Photo credit:

Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

It’s a new campaign from AT&T, from BBDO Atlanta. Just won a Kelly Award, from what I understand.  The campaign was voted #1 in the “America’s Favorite Magazine Ads” competition. 

Some very nice work. AD was Rich Wakefield and the photographer was Andric.   According to the AD, the hand painter was from Milan.

At the time, The Tampa Bay Lightning was a client.  The partners were just nuts about hockey.  All kinds of hockey.

AD was Cody Spinadel and for the life of me, I cannot remember the writer’s name, which is a shame.

Stella Artois has enlisted famous photographer Bert Stern to create Vogue-like images for a U.S. campaign that depicts the finer things in life.

The campaign, created by Mother New York, positions Stella Artois as “the most premium beer in the world.” It kicks off with an ad shot by Stern, which recreates a 1960 cover of Vogue. The ad shows a man enamored with a woman who is drinking Stella Artois beer. The tagline is: “She is a thing of beauty.”

That ad will run in print and out-of-home in the U.S. for six months starting this week. Michael Ian Kaye, a creative director at Mother, said additional ads—including TV—will break during the holidays (November/December timeframe).

Kaye said the U.S. effort builds on a Stella Artois campaign currently running in the U.K. Some of that overseas creative is currently featured on the company’s Web site, which also sports the new tagline.

“‘She a thing of beauty’ came from the work we’ve done in the U.K. It’s really about a brand that has been established with a sense of luxury,” said Kaye. “We were tasked with creating a U.S. print campaign that bring that notion to life.”

The ads are also meant reflect Stella Artois’ target consumer: a more sophisticated beer drinker. Kaye said: “While, it tends to be a slightly more female base, we’re targeting both men and women who lead a certain lifestyle.”

I have to agree with the court entirely.   Here’s copy from the actual decision by the UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT. Simple and too the point.

We now hold that the FCC’s policy violates the First Amendment because it is unconstitutionally vague, creating a chilling effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue here. Thus, we grant the petition for review and vacate the FCC’s order and the indecency policy underlying it.

ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 5, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Domino’s Pizza, the recognized world leader in pizza delivery, is continuing its honest, transparent way of communicating with customers by walking down a new avenue of authenticity: food photography.

In an effort to display Domino’s Inspired Pizza as authentically as possible, all Domino’s national advertising pieces will feature food photography without the fancy food artistry or fake food touch-ups.

Whether it be a commercial on TV or an advertisement in the local paper, the landmark advertising approach promises that all product shots of the Inspired Pizza have been untouched by stylists or model makers typically found on food photography shoots.

“How many times have you wondered why the products you buy don’t look as good in person as they do in TV ads?” said Russell Weiner, Domino’s Pizza chief marketing officer. “That’s because most of the time companies use artificial techniques to make their products look better than they do when served to you in person. At Domino’s, we’re proud of the way our pizza looks – and tastes – right out of the oven.”

The new approach to food photography follows the same line of transparency that began in late 2009 with the launch of the company’s “Pizza Turnaround” advertising campaign – sparking critical acclaim from media, and overwhelmingly positive consumer response to the pizza itself. The campaigns following the launch of the pizza have, in one way or another, been featured in almost every major media outlet, as well as more than 1,000 local TV affiliates.

“It’s a natural progression for us now to take this step,” Weiner continued. “If we’re going to be real and honest about the taste of the product, we want to be as authentic as possible about how it looks. And there’s nothing more mouthwatering than a Domino’s pizza straight out of the oven.”

Also part of the latest chapter in transparency is Domino’s launch of an online component called Show Us Your Pizza, inviting consumers to submit their best natural Domino’s food photography to earn one of four prizes of $500.

Customers can visit ShowUsYourPizza.com to learn about Domino’s Pizza’s “photo promise,” which prohibits any artificial manipulation of the product during shooting, among other rules. The best amateur food photographers who adhere to the photo promise might also have their shots featured in future Domino’s advertisements.

By Michele Gershberg

Brands that use microblogging sites like Twitter to provide real-time responses to the public are winning a higher degree of trust from consumers, according to a study by a leading public relations firm.

Some 75 percent of people surveyed said they view companies that microblog — sending short, frequent messages on sites like Twitter or status updates on social networks like Facebook — as more deserving of their trust than those that do not, according to a survey by Fleishman-Hillard, conducted with market research firm Harris Interactive.

The second annual Digital Influence Index study, released at the Reuters Consumer and Retail Summit in New York, researches the extent to which the Internet affects consumer behavior.

The findings on Twitter are particularly notable in a year where many leading corporations found themselves in crisis mode, from BP’s role in the Gulf oil disaster to recalls from Toyota Motor Corp and Johnson & Johnson and a viral campaign against new diapers from Procter & Gamble on Facebook.

“What really matters here I think is that the rules of crisis engagement that we’ve known for years and years still apply, but they still apply in a much more accelerated way,” Dave Senay, Chief Executive of Fleishman-Hillard, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Part of the lesson is “not to overreact, but also to react with factual information, and don’t get beyond what you know,” Senay said. “And do so not in a 24-hour news cycle, but in minute-to-minute monitoring.

Companies also need to be well set up in the digital world well before any potential problem arises, building a relationship with their customers so that trust can help them manage a crisis, said Brian McRoberts, senior vice president of digital research at Fleishman-Hillard.

More about Consumers Say:  “In Tweets We Trust.” here.

During an appearance at Wired’s Business Conference, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced the company was going to recognize customers desire for a better in-store wi-fi experience.  Starting July 1st, the company will offer customers a free, one-click wi-fi connection to the Internet through AT&T, in all U.S. company operated stores.

Very nice move.

Schultz also announced that sometime this fall the company will be introducing the Starbucks Digital Network, in conjunction with Yahoo!. Again, only U.S. company operated stores, but the network will offer exclusive and free content, access to some paid sites and plenty of local and community news.  Content providers will include Apple, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and more.

Today marks a quarter century of one of marketing’s biggest blunders — and the sixth biggest moment in 75 years of advertising, according to Ad Age: New Coke.

Still smarting from the 1975 “Pepsi Challenge” taste-test battle, Coca-Cola Co. launches “Project Kansas,” a top-secret mission to reformulate Coke. President-Chief Operating Officer Robert Goizueta appoints Coca-Cola USA head Brian Dyson, who taps marketing chief Sergio Zyman to head the endeavor. Mr. Zyman and company test a new, sweeter version of the flagship cola with 190,000 nationwide taste tests at a cost of $4 million.

At a bottlers’ meeting in Atlanta back on April 22, 1985, Mr. Zyman announced from the stage that Coke was changing its taste. The next day Coca-Cola revealed the new, sweeter taste to financial analysts and the media. But word of the new product finally leaks out and Pepsi dispatches its own press assault on the same day claiming victory. “The other guy blinked,” Pepsi says in ads saying Coke reformulated its brand to taste “more like” Pepsi.

The press hammers at Mr. Goizueta, now chairman-CEO, to explain the difference and what will happen to the old Coke, which 39% of consumers still favor. When Mr. Goizueta admits it will do away with the old formula, consumers revolt. Dazed by the backlash, management on July 11, 1985, just 79 days later, agrees to bring back the original formula, renaming it Coca-Cola Classic.

Some in the industry counter-intuitively suggested the blunder was actually good for the beverage giant — that its fans’ reactions to the idea of their beloved Coke going away, along with the reintroduction of the cola as Coca-Cola Classic, have created a fantastic new marketing strategy. But we think the lesson is pretty clear: Don’t tinker with success. Or at least think very, very carefully before you do.

After a long winter and a grim recession luxury-faucet maker Brizo wants to give consumers “a license to dream.” Online videos and print ads created by Young & Laramore for Brizo’s high-end, touch-sensitive Talo, Venuto and Virage faucets feature vivid colors that morph into butterflies, flowers, mermaids and fish.

New ad campaigns suggest marketers are eager to shake off the gloom of tough economic times–and they hope consumers will do the same. While some economists aren’t sure the tough times are history, advertisers don’t seem to care. Companies are rolling out carefree ads that use humor, colorful images and upbeat language to get consumers to lighten up–and open up their wallets.

“What you make people feel is as important as what you make,” goes the voice-over in a commercial from BMW of North America’s “Story of Joy” ad campaign, which includes print ads featuring happy-looking adults, kids and dogs with headlines that lead off with “Joy is …” The campaign was created by GSD&M Idea City.

Procter & Gamble even seems to thumb its nose at money-pinching buyers of personal care products in ads for Old Spice. In TV spots, Isaiah Mustafa taunts women with recession-induced goodie withdrawal by offering “two tickets to that thing you love,” before the tickets turn into diamonds. Spots featuring Mustafa and his treats have racked up more than 8 million views since they broke in February.

Fun and games? Those are reappearing in ads. Interpublic agency Deutsch L.A.’s playful campaign for Volkswagen  “Punch Dub,” invites consumers to play an updated version of the game “Punch Buggy,” in which the first person to spot a VW slugs his or her friend on the arm. Stevie Wonder and 30 Rock’s Tracy Morgan even get in on the game in ads.

Microsoft even promotes the idea of carefree travel in ads for the launch of its new mobile phone brand, Kin. In “The Journey,” by AgencyTwoFifteen, Rosa Salazar, a lollipop-loving Brooklyn comedian, hits the road to meet as many of her 824 social networking friends as possible.

Consumers and marketers were in the dumps last year when total U.S. advertising expenditures fell 12.3% in 2009 to $125.3 billion, compared with 2008, says ad tracker Kantar Media in New York but some agency executives say marketers are willing to spend again.

“There is a market turn toward the positive,” says Deutsch N.Y. Chief Creative Officer Greg DiNoto. “That’s a smart marketing strategy for any brand when you’re emerging from a recession.” Brands need to be associated with winning.”

A few advertisers hope upbeat taglines will do the trick. Amway’s latest campaign, one with an estimated $25 million behind it, features the tagline “The Power of Positivity.” Ads, created by Omnicom’s Element 79, feature friendly farmers and helpful neighbors and suggest that Amway is a company doing its part by creating jobs for those affected by the recession.

More here.