Do the Red thing: Rock star Bono is to reveal at Davos a branding initiative aimed at 'conscience consumers'

FT.COM: American Express, Converse, Gap and Giorgio Armani are joining with Bono, the rock star, to sell products under a new brand, called “Red”, which will dedicate some of its revenues to fight Aids in Africa. The effort will include the creation of an AmexCo Red credit card that will be marketed first in the UK, targeting an estimated 1.5m British “conscience consumers” who are seen as more likely to buy products associated with a social benefit. AmexCo believes this figure will rise to 4m within three years. Other Red products available this spring will include Converse sports shoes made with African mud-cloth; a new line of Gap vintage-style T-shirts, in red and other colours and wraparound Emporio Armani sunglasses embossed with a Red logo.

=> Read the complete article in The Financial Times here.
=> REUTERS: Bono backs 'Red' brand with bold anti-AIDS goal.

Bill Ford Jr.

TIME.COM: In a makeshift ballroom at Ford Field, the Detroit Lions' stadium, a Beatles tribute band is playing I Want to Hold Your Hand, which has got the elite of Motor City moving and shaking, but not the hosts of the black-tie charity ball, William Clay Ford Jr. and his wife Lisa. In fact, the 48-year-old CEO of Ford Motor Co. is getting teased by his brother-in-law about his ineptitude on the dance floor.

Turning to a reporter, Bill owns up to it. "You don't want to see that," the Ford scion says with a laugh. But he gets serious when the topic turns to his day job and what lies just around the corner for his employees: a sweeping restructuring that will bring tens of thousands of layoffs. "Honestly, I don't worry about myself," he says. "I mean, I can screw up my life, and it doesn't really matter"--a fair observation for a man who is an heir to a billion-dollar fortune. "But what I worry about is the impact all of this has on others. We're going to do what we have to do, but it's just very, very sad."

Why did Bill Ford, great-grandson of the auto company's founder, take on this responsibility when he could have left it to hired professionals? It helps to understand that he is a man of epic contradictions. His family practically invented the auto industry, not to mention blue-collar consumerism. Brilliant, cantankerous Henry Ford made the first mass-produced car, the Model T, and paid workers enough so they could afford to buy one. That makes great-grandson Bill industrial royalty: he comes from a competitive, dynastic clan that cannot be separated from the nameplate on your Mustang. But he also has a complex, even squishy side; he's a passionate environmentalist who has studied Buddhist philosophy and thinks a lot about the future of the world.

=> Read the complete story in TIME Magazine here (subscription required).

The Search Is Over: Google Wins in 2005

BRANDCHANNEL.COM: In 2005's results, Google took the lead from Apple in what is shaping up to be a back and forth contest through the years for these two innovative tech companies. Each year one out-does the other, and this time it is Google's turn to shine.

Google went public in the summer of 2004, and the hype hasn't died yet. Notable milestones in 2005 included the launch of Google Mini (around the same time that Apple unveiled its own mini product) and Desktop Search, which, like most Google product, falls under the "descriptive" school of naming. The quirky brand also treated us to Google Earth, arguably the greatest thing to hit the Internet since porn.

Prior to Google, life was a source of wonder with no ready answers; with Google, we are all instant scholars. It's no exaggeration to wonder how we functioned without such a tool in our lives. Those worried that the company might run out of ideas should visit Google Labs—a welcome assurance that more delights are close on the horizon.

Equally impressive on the innovation front, Apple unveiled a tremendous amount of new product in 2005, prompting pundits to speculate that the brand would soon flame out in exhaustion. (Just how low are our expectations?) The iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod video, Mac mini, and Tiger operating system all emerged from the busy Cupertino workshop this past year.

Well below these two leaders but rounding out the top five for Global brands are newcomer Skype and old favorites Starbucks and Ikea.

Skype rapidly took off in Europe before being bought by eBay in September 2005. Launched in 2003 and headquartered in Luxembourg, Skype is a voice over Internet protocol provider, which allows free (or cheap) communication between users over the Internet. Skype is not alone in the field or unhindered for future growth; competitors include Google Talk, Vonage, and SIP; hurdles include Luddites.

=> Read the full news release here.

Absolut Kravitz

From the department of Bizarre Press Releases. ABSOLUT is proud to announce the launch of ABSOLUT KRAVITZ - a new music project which sees Lenny Kravitz creating an exclusive new track based on his interpretation of the ABSOLUT brand.No way I am putting this shit in our podcast, but if you're curious about the former Gap pitchman's interpretation of a vodka's "core values," download the free MP3 of "Breathe" at absolutkravitz.com. In fairness, it would be sort of cool if, like rappers, every rocker wrote a song about his favorite brand of booze. Sufjan Stevens would probably write about milk, though.

Dov Charney, Like It or Not

American Apparel is exploding, and sometimes it appears its founder might do the same. All id, all the time—is this any way to run a $250 million company? He has his manager summon a group of workers he feels don't have quite the right look for sales. Nothing personal, he'll tell them; I wouldn't want my sisters working in the stores. This is not your typical CEO story. But then this is most definitely not your typical CEO. I refer to the shirtless man, the scrawny, square-shouldered dude with the hairy chest talking to his mom on a cell phone while circling a picnic table in New York City's Washington Square Park. Periodically he stops to eat chicken and mashed potatoes from a plastic deli tray parked next to a woman studying Spanish. It is his first and probably only meal of the day. The CEO—who actually answers to the title senior partner—is probably five-eight and might top 140 pounds if his pockets were full of change. With a tangle of brown hair and muttonchop sideburns that meander across his face until they meet his mustache, forming a seamless band of hair from nose to nape, the 36-year-old proprietor of one of the hottest brands in fashion bears a strong resemblance to a young Gabe Kotter with a whiff of Vincent Gallo. He is also commonly said to look like a 1970s pornographer, and that is the sort of comparison that makes him very, very happy. He is Dov Charney—T-shirt salesman, tastemaker, ladies' man, pied piper, bon vivant. He is founder of American Apparel and he is proudly Canadian.
Read the full article here.

Visit the American Apparel Online Store here.