As advertisers spend more online, brand name firms increasingly are seeing their names, customers and millions of dollars in sales hijacked by shady marketers.

Instances of deceptive marketing to build traffic for rogue sites or to sell faux-branded products rose 17 percent last year, according to MarkMonitor, whose software tracks digital marketing infringement.

Shady marketers are using so-called cybersquatting to do their digital stealing. They drive people to a “squatted” site via e-mails or through paid search. Once they’ve led someone there, they hope to steal credit card information, spur clicks on ads to skim revenue from online ad networks or sell fake products, such as pharmaceuticals or pricey handbags.

The tactics target electronics, sports apparel, luxury brands and pharmaceutical brands the most and cost marketers about $175 billion worldwide in lost revenue, says Fred Felman of MarkMonitor.

“When the economy goes south, white-collar criminals don’t quit,” Felman says. The company’s “Brand Jacking Index” report shows that daily incidences of cybersquatting against 30 of the top global brands rose to 449,484 last year vs. 382,246 in 2007. A first-time study coming out today in conjunction with industry group Chief Marketing Officer Council addresses how marketers are coping with the surge in cybersquatting.

“We’re at a point in which marketers need a wake-up call in what’s happening to their brand,” says Liz Miller, vice president, programs and operations for the council. “Marketing is in the dark, and cybercriminals are ramping up their game.”

Incidents are up as marketers increasingly use search engine optimization to reach consumers online, where ad spending is expected to top $24 billion this year. While ad expenditures overall are expected to fall by as much as 10 percent, digital advertising in 2009 is expected to be up about 4.5 percent over 2008, according to online marketing tracker eMarketer.

As businesses fight for a share of dwindling dollars, rogue marketers are getting more aggressive. The CMO study says that marketers see their brands as more vulnerable to infringement online than in other media, with 29.5 percent of the 300 marketers reporting brand infringement on the Web vs. 22.6 percent in other media.

Despite the big cost to marketers, few of them invest in protecting their brands online. The CMO study reports 52 percent of respondents spend less than $100,000 on brand protection annually. Just 2.7 percent say they spend $5 million or more.

NEW YORK — The economic outlook for 2009 may be sour, but Dunkin’ Donuts thinks its prospects are sweet.

The coffee and food chain expects to weather 2009 and keep the heat on rivals such as McDonalds and Starbucks. Coming are a new CEO, more value offerings, more stores and more marketing, with spending up more than 5 percent, led by a $100 million ad campaign starting Monday.

“It will be a difficult year economically but I think we’re well-positioned,” says Will Kussell, president and chief brand officer. The chain has 5,769 U.S. stores.

Dunkin’ recently scored a symbolic win in Congress against Starbucks, which is undergoing a $400 million revitalization plan. As of Dec. 18, thanks to a concession change, Dunkin’ bumped Starbucks as the official coffee of the Senate restaurant.

Dunkin’ spent much of 2008 re-emphasizing the basics, such as service speed, after seeing a dip in sales. “We started to see a little bit of a downturn in the early part of ’08, particularly in Florida. That was the leading indicator for us,” says Kussell.

The introduction of flatbread sandwiches, which now makes up 5 percent of sales, and Dunkin’ Deals has helped set the stage for an aggressive 2009, including:

— New ads. “You Kin’ Do It” is the theme for TV, online and outdoor ads that highlight everyday challenges, such as work and traffic. “You Kin’ Do It … says we’re going to help you get through what you have to deal with every day,” says Kussell.

Also on tap: more online social networking action, such as blogger Dunkin’ Dave on Twitter.

— New CEO. Nigel Travis, 58, takes the top job Tuesday. Travis, former CEO of Papa John’s, has franchising and global experience from stints with Burger King and Blockbuster. Dunkin’ opened its first store in China last fall and Travis is expected to focus on global growth.

— New stores. Kussell would not say how many stores Dunkin’ will open in 2009 but says it will continue its westward expansion with stores in Indiana, Arizona and Nevada. In 2008 Dunkin’ opened 500 in the U.S. while Starbucks said it would close 600 of its 11,000 in the United States.

— New value meals. Dunkin’ will expand Dunkin’ Deals, which bundled a bagel or sandwich for 99 cents with purchase of a coffee. “It’s been huge in this economy,” says franchisee Jim Allen, who owns 18 stores.

In the first quarter, a flatbread sandwich, typically $2.99, will go for $1.99 with coffee purchase.

NEW YORK — With trendy sports apparel and shoes outselling true performance and athletic products, Adidas will go global in January with ads for its Originals fashion brand.

The line accounts for 20 percent of Adidas sales. The items, with an average price of $70, include the classic Stan Smith tennis shoe, fleece hoodies, skimpy tennis dresses and shimmery T-shirts.

Ads for Originals, the company’s first mass-market campaign in 60 years, are going worldwide after kicking off in the United States for the holidays.

Adidas will tap its roster of celebrity and sports endorsers for Originals. David Beckham, Missy Elliott and Russell Simmons appear in an ad that shows people dancing at a crowded party.

“Teens still want something that is fashionable and deals with innovation,” says Simon Atkins, director of U.S. marketing.

“The campaign and the people that are in it are on point with their needs,” he says. “That’s outside of a good, bad or indifferent economy.”

Adidas is vying for a bigger share of the sports apparel and footwear market, a $70.2 billion business in the United States. this year, according to tracker NPD Group.

And fashion is $45 billion of that versus $25.2 billion for performance products.

Brands such as Reebok and Skechers helped make athletic looks fashionable for every day. Brands built more on performance, such as Nike, Puma and Asics, have been trying to move more into fashion to grab some of those profits.

Growth of both categories is flat in the current economy, but retail expert Marshal Cohen says new styles and innovation can spur sales even in tough times.

“Luxury is the last thing that goes out in a recession and the first to recover,” says Cohen, NPD trend watcher and chief industry analyst. “Consumers are (looking for) a reason to buy, and technology and fashion drive people to make purchases.”

Asics revived its name in the youth market when it got its yellow-and-black Tai-Chi Onitsuka Tiger shoes onto actor Uma Thurman’s feet in the 2003 film “Kill Bill: Vol. 1.”

Nike gave new life to classics such as the original Air Jordan by letting people customize them through NikeID. Fashion is now about 20 percent of Nike sales.

And Puma began a growth plan in 2006 to focus on a sports lifestyle. Through October, Puma’s 2008 sales were up 9 percent.

“Puma was essentially a defunct brand, but over the last few years, they’ve been able to put themselves back on the map, and they’ve done it through fashion,” says Cohen.

“Nike’s done a better job,” he says. “Adidas is now making a major move toward it. It’s a good card to play at this point in time.”

NEW YORK — There will be little celebration for champagne makers this year.

After last year’s strong 4 percent sales gain, the biggest since the buying frenzy in 1999 to ring in the new millennium, champagne makers are feeling the impact of the sour economy from $5 sparkling wines to $100 bottles of champagne.

“I don’t have a bright outlook for champagne this year,” says Frank Walters, research director for Impact, which expects the category to be down between 1 percent to 4 percent, from about 900 million glasses sold in 2007. “Luxury items are getting hurt, people are looking for value, restaurants are getting clobbered and with unemployment rising, people are watching their shekels.”

Other factors stealing the fizz:

— Consumer spending. Scaled back spending hurts champagne hard. The segment racks up 60 percent of sales from late October to January.

— Shorter season. An early Thanksgiving gave champagne makers five fewer days than last year to get products into stores.

— Bad PR. An advertising campaign “Unmask the truth,” put out by trade group Champagne, USA, calls attention to products that are not officially champagnes. Many domestic sparkling wines are called champagnes even though the grapes don’t originate from the Champagne region of France.

Still, champagne and wine makers and retailers are trying to spur buying.

“Grocery stores are lowering prices almost to cost to get people in to buy,” says Gary Heck, president, Korbel Champagne Cellars. “Most stuff is down by $2 to $3 across the board.”

Marketers for Martini & Rossi Asti Spumante, which sells for $10 to $13 a bottle, are focusing on store shelves. “We want to make sure our brand is there for consumers to see when they shop,” says Celio Romanach, Martini & Rossi’s brand managing director.

Luxury brands are trying to reach the still-rich with super expensive products. Moet & Hennessy bundled its bubbly with high-end gift boxes and packages including a Dom Perignon Power Trio, a boxed set of three Dom Perignon vintages with a price tag of $1,500.

For its Piper-Heidsieck Rare, Remy Cointreau USA introduced a collectible bottle designed by a high-end French jewelry maker, says spokeswoman Marie Christina Batich. “Our consumers understand the value of our product.”

Remy will also deploy an old standby: free samples.

NEW YORK – Mark down Dec. 26, as the second Black Friday of this wacky shopping season.

Except desperate retailers are making the deals even bigger.

Day-after-Christmas sales will rival those of the real Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that kicks off the shopping season and can put retailers into money-making territory for the year. This year, whopping pre-Christmas sales have not done enough to sway shoppers to spend. They’re awaiting deeper discounts, and retailers are promising them. Especially to those who arrive early.

“People can come in from 7 a.m. to noon and they are going to find great deals,” says Tom Aiello, a spokesman for Sears Holding, which owns Sears and Kmart. “It’s like Black Friday.”

But, hopefully, a calmer one. The day after Thanksgiving, a Wal-Mart worker was trampled to death in a Long Island, N.Y., store.

The $300 billion retail industry is trying to stave off a record bad year. Industry sales will be flat or down.

“There’s not a lot of time for retailers to make up for what’s been lost,” says Kathy Grannis, National Retail Federation spokeswoman.

Among offers:

- Sears will offer up to 75 percent off on electronics and 50 percent off on Craftsman tool storage chests. Kmart will add 40 percent off to clearance items, already marked down 30 percent.

- Toys “R” Us circulars in newspapers Thursday will bill the day-after Christmas as the “biggest” after-holiday sale, with deals including an $81.99 race car set for $19.99 and table games, originally $239.99, for $131.99.

- Crate & Barrel has savings of up to 70 percent.

- J.C. Penney stores open at 5:30 a.m. with twice as many door-buster deals as last year. Among the 100 deals: 70 percent off jewelry,

“People are saying, ‘Why wouldn’t I wait for another 30 percent off on already 50 percent markdowns,’ ” says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with the NPD Group.

Post holiday sales usually account for 10 percent to 15 percent of the seasonal retail sales, but Cohen says the number will be higher as people cancel last-minute shopping for better deals Friday.

But good deals for shoppers are bad for retailers, whose margins are already squeezed.

“It can help them move out their inventory, and if they can just break even, that’s going to be good,” says analyst Jennifer Black.

Shelly Baur of Kirkland, Wash., will give her husband clothes. “The second present to my husband will be clothes shopping for the after-Christmas sales.”

In Ocala, Fla., Donna Ketterer and her husband are waiting for a deal on a video camera. “We feel this is an item that will drop in price after Christmas,” she says.

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Eric Ospina plays video games as the grown-ups gab at a party to promote Microsoft's Xbox in Yonkers, N.Y.

NEW YORK — On a recent Saturday, about 1,000 women across the country moonlighted as marketers for Microsoft’s newest Xbox services.

House cleaners, hairdressers, guidance counselors and IT technicians got a $150 pack of Xbox freebies for opening their homes to at least 10 friends or relatives.

And they earned bragging rights.

“It’s cool because the kids in my school were like ‘oooh,’ ” says Aimee Maldonado, 40, a guidance counselor at a high think I’m so cool.”

She was among the first 10,000 people in the U.S. to try a batch of new Xbox Live Internet-based games and services, which include streaming video, movie rentals from Netflix, as well as photo-sharing and other social-networking features and shopping.

Microsoft signed up Maldonado and the others to drum up interest among women like them in the services and the newest Xbox console, whose price was cut in the fall to $199.

“We’ve sold 20 million consoles to date globally since we launched three years ago,” says Heather Snavely, Microsoft’s director of interactive entertainment business global platforms. “In order to get to the next 20 million, we need to get a new audience of women and teens. We’re going after them in ways that are different than ways we’ve done before.”

The Xbox event hosts used their own Xbox 360 consoles to demonstrate the new services, which also require broadband Internet service and subscriptions to Netflix and Xbox Live, a service that offers social-networking activities and game play with friends in other cities.

They got an Xbox party pack of freebies that included microwaveable popcorn, Xbox trivia game “Scene It? Box Office Smash,” an Xbox universal media remote control, a three-month subscription to Xbox Live, and 1,600 Xbox Live points (used for game, movie and TV show purchases).

Xbox found women including Maldonado and Chicago-area resident Danielle Jamil through a service called House Party, which sets up home parties for marketers. House Party has a database of 100,000 names of people who have provided a profile of personal information and who want to be “brand advocates.” The advocates host a preplanned party to show off the marketer’s brand to their friends.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity in terms of building a brand,” says Jamil, 36 a manager at a marketing firm who lives in Downers Grove, Ill. “People trust their friends more than they trust an ad or a commercial.”

Marketers pay House Party from $120,000 for holding 1,000 parties to $300,000 for up to 5,000 parties. The marketer’s only additional costs are for such incidentals as the sample box for hosts.

Microsoft was one of the 43 clients for which House Party orchestrated events this year. Others included Fisher-Price, Kmart, Kraft, Poland Spring water and Clairol. Next year, the company has more than 85 parties lined up.

Based on the profiles, House Party picks people most likely to talk about a brand or service and settles on a group of hosts for the client marketer. “We’re trying to get authentic enthusiasm going,” says CEO Kitty Kolding. “We know that word-of-mouth is far more valuable and has more impact when the person delivering the message has a real passion for the product.”

To get picked to host a party for 10 to 20 guests, women who own an Xbox had to answer questions about how active they are on social-network sites such as MySpace. Selected hosts then received weekly e-mails with party tips and reminders leading up to the event.

Kolding says the company tries to work the list so the same people aren’t always picked. “We try to gather a whole new group of consumers every time we do an event,” says Kolding. “We don’t want serial hosters.”

Shannon Arnett, 30, of Batavia, Ohio, was excited to be picked as an Xbox host.

“We have the older Xbox 360,” she says. “When it first came out, (the games and services were) more geared toward the men. … Now, Xbox is trying to bring everyone together.”

NEW YORK — The $112 billion beverage industry, continuing its quest for the perfect no-cal sweetener, began cautiously rolling out a handful of products with a new sugar substitute that got federal approval this week.

Rebaudioside A, natural extract from the stevia plant known as Reb A, got much-awaited approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have jumped to try it right away in a few mainly juice and water products to see how consumers accept it.

“I do not expect to see it on any of the flagship brands any time soon,” says beverage expert John Sicher, editor of Beverage Digest.

Reb A zero-calorie varieties of Pepsi’s SoBe Lifewater rolled into stores Thursday, and in March Pepsi will introduce Trop 50, a 50-calorie Tropicana juice drink that also has a dash of sugar.

“We are working across the board, and we will bring the products to market when they are ready,” says PepsiCo Americas CEO, Massimo d’Amore.

This month Coke will introduce 50-calorie versions of Odwalla with Reb A and sugar, and 50-calorie Sprite Green will launch in Chicago and New York.

Beverage executives are jazzed about the product because of consumer demand for beverages that are low-calorie and perceived as healthier.

But whether Reb A, which is believed to provide better taste, is the magic bullet for the flagship colas is uncertain. For now, Coke and Pepsi are working to see how Reb A mixes with cola and other soft drinks.

“We’re testing stevia and Reb A in a variety of products, but it absolutely comes down to taste,” Joe Tripodi, chief marketing officer for Coca-Cola, said at an industry meeting this week.

Reb A mixes well with juices because their flavors better mask other tastes, and they have a healthy perception. So does stevia, because it’s from a plant.

“Leaf extract sounds much better than chlorinating sugar or methylating a couple of amino acids,” says Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University and author of “What to Eat” and “Food Politics.”

“It has a much less chemical sound even though it’s a chemical. (It has an aura the way) tea has a healthier aura. Whether it is remains to be seen.”

NEW YORK — In this time of high gas prices and low auto sales, many carmakers have cut ad spending and focused on fuel-efficient small vehicles. But that hasn’t stopped Volkswagen and Ford from putting the pedal to the metal this fall on rollouts of big new family haulers.

Volkswagen and Ford are putting a large share of their current ad budgets behind their biggest launches of the year, which happen to be big vehicles: the three-row Routan minivan for VW and the seven-passenger Flex crossover for Ford.

“We’re in a tough year no matter what size vehicle you are selling,” says Stephanie Brinley, analyst at industry tracker AutoPacific Group in Southfield, Mich. However, “If they don’t advertise, they won’t sell (them). It would be a whole lot worse for them to draw back from advertising their new models and hope that the right people will find them by word-of-mouth.”

Besides, she adds, there’s still a market for these. “There are still families that need to seat seven and need the cargo capacity.”

Volkswagen will court families for its minivan with a quirky campaign built around actor and mom Brooke Shields. Ford’s campaign for the Flex crossover emphasizes style and goes after buyers who would not consider a minivan — particularly men and buyers moving down from big truck-based, gas-hungry SUVs.

The Routan, which began arriving at dealers last week, starts at $24,700 and seats seven. Volkswagen hopes for it to be a key part of its plan to more than triple its U.S. sales to 800,000 vehicles a year by 2018.

“The minivan is not the SUV or truck segment,” says Tim Ellis, VW’s vice president for marketing. “There are a lot of families. We expect to see a robust level of minivans being sold over the next couple of years and expect this to have the second-biggest volume behind Jetta.”

One way VW has reached out to families: Buyers of Routans this month get $1,500 in a 529 college savings account at Upromise.

Ellis says that VW projects Routan will gain 5 percent of annual U.S. minivan sales of about 750,000. But sales of minivans, which have an unhip image, are down from the 1990s, when more than a million a year was routine.

The Routan is made for VW by Chrysler, the minivan pioneer and only Detroit automaker still building them. It is a modified version of the newly redesigned Dodge- and Chrysler-brand minivans. VW says changes it made in style and handling have given Routan a German flavor.

“Volkswagen chose to partner with Chrysler because of its market leadership in the segment. …However, the Routan is a Volkswagen by design and driving dynamics,” says Ellis.

That’s important because “German engineering” is a crux of its ad campaign. Ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky created the campaign that features Shields, mother of two and star of NBC’s “Lipstick Jungle.”

In ads that began this week, Shields says people are having kids just to justify buying a Routan. She urges them to procreate for love, not to get German engineering. Marketing also includes the BabyMaker 3000, a Web site launching later this month where couples can upload their photos and see what their kids could look like.

“The ads just ooze with satire,” says Ellis. “Brooke is perfect. She’s a mom. She’s a successful writer of children’s books. She’s topical, she’s relevant, she fits our demographic target, and she’s on a lot of magazine covers now.”

Ford, by contrast, is going for people who need a hauler, including SUV downsizers, but want room with style. The boxy Flex, a car-based crossover with better-than-SUV gas mileage, is getting a full-court press of ads that will be Ford’s marketing focus for the rest of the year.

“What people want today is a more stylish car-based ride and handling with fuel-based benefits,” says Usha Raghavachari, brand communications manager for Ford crossover vehicles.

In addition to ubiquitous TV ads (glittery, night ambience), the car scored product placement in “Desperate Housewives” as the ride for cool dad Tom Scavo (Doug Savant) and is in sponsored content on “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.”

Digital marketing includes iPhones, Xbox, Dish and Yahoo Mobile. An iPhone application gives 360-degree views and a dealer locator. There are downloads for Xbox gamers, and a Dish Network interactive feature will take viewers to Flex videos by clicking out of a commercial. Yahoo Mobile marketing includes rich-media ads and banners.

Ford also paid to feature Flex in first-ever digital ads embedded in 100,000 covers of Esquire magazine’s 75th anniversary issue, on select newsstands starting Wednesday. A digital chip creates moving images of the Flex in panels in the two-page foldout.

Elaine Cato, 40, never intended to become a bra designer.

All she wanted, seven months after the birth of her second daughter in 1998, was to look hot for a New Year’s Eve party. Last week, Maidenform rolled out for other women what she invented to solve the problem, calling it the Breakthrough Backless bra.

About a month before ringing in 1999, the size-four Nashville mother of two had set her sights on fitting into a black, backless number for the party. The problem: Her 34DD bust needed a little support after nursing baby No. 2, and she could not find a backless bra that worked.

“When I couldn’t find anything on the market to support this outfit, I thought maybe I could take one of my bras and alter it,” says Cato. “I started to experiment with reconfiguring the straps.”

She was not an expert. “I took a sewing class in high school, and my mom taught me stuff about sewing,” she says, “but I never went beyond the basics.”

But she cut and sewed some old bras together and ultimately created a backless bra that even had five other configurations, including halter and crisscross, and was a hit at the New Year’s Eve party.

“When I wore the bra that night … women were asking, ‘What do you have on?’ ” Cato says. “They knew that for a heavy-busted woman with small body frame, the adhesive types of bras on the market really don’t give you the lift and support that you want.”

Cato saw marketing potential in her bra and figured out how to file for a patent because she couldn’t afford the $4,000 fee for a patent attorney.

She was granted the patent in 2000, but her big break came after she heard about ABC reality show “American Inventor,” which had a million-dollar top prize for the best invention.

She won an audition to compete in the show’s second season last year. Her bra finished second in the competition, but Maidenform noticed and surprised her with a licensing offer on the season’s final episode.

Maidenform tweaked the backless bra, but it remains true to Cato’s design. It has adjustable straps that are attached to the outside edge of the cups in the front, loop over the shoulder and come back under the arm to attach to sturdy but pliable 2-inch wings that extend back from the cups.

It went on sale at retailers last week for a suggested price of $32 and will be the centerpiece of Maidenform marketing this year that emphasizes new products and seeks new customers. The tagline of the campaign: “This Feels Right.”

Innovation “is our big story for the year,” says Sally Skidmore, Maidenform’s vice president of marketing and advertising. “We’re bringing something new to the market that (the female consumer has) never seen before.”

The Breakthrough Backless bra and other new products, including seamless and single-construction bras, are featured in the new ads.

Print ads will run in magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Glamour.

Online advertising includes banner ads, as well as video and ring tones at MySpace.com. Billboards and posters will run in out-of-home ad spaces ranging from women’s locker rooms at gyms to a giant display on a tall, old warehouse along the Long Island Expressway in New York.

The warehouse has two billboards on the roof, a giant poster down the middle and walls of windows at each end have been painted to look as if women are throwing their old bras out the windows. The idea: “Out with the old, in with the new.”

“We’re really trying to encompass something new for Maidenform,” says Greg Smith, chief creative officer for The Via Group, the Portland, Maine, agency that created the campaign. “How we are able to market the brand is derived from what they have done with the product.”

NEW YORK – It may seem heresy to purists, but flavored beers are going mainstream as brewers reach for sales growth.

Sales of flavored distilled spirits and niche and upscale “craft” brews have shown that a splash of citrus, vanilla, berry or other flavorings go a long way with younger drinkers.

“The name of the story is growth, and the only way to get share is to come out with something different,” says Frank Walters, research director at Impact, which tracks spirits sales.

Now, mainstream Bud Light will try for a taste of the action. Anheuser-Busch will introduce Bud Light Lime (with real lime juice) in May with a $35 million marketing push. Its decision to flavor a flagship brand and not create a new label signals a change in attitude by beermakers.

“By putting the Bud Light name to it, Anheuser-Busch is signaling that they envision some kind of mainstream opportunity,” says Benj Steinman, editor of industry newsletter Beer Marketer’s Insights. “It’s not just a small niche. Otherwise, they would not put the Bud Light name to it.”

Miller Brewing, meanwhile, is expanding package options for its second season for Miller Chill, a light beer flavored with lime and salt. Julian Green, a Miller spokesman, says the company decided to give the brew its own Miller Chill label and not make it a variety of Miller Lite because marketers believe it sounds “more premium.” It first was test marketed in Arizona and a few other states.

The brew will be sold in fancy, slim, 12-ounce cans and 16- and 22-ounce aluminum bottles, as well as the original glass bottles.

A-B, the world’s largest brewer, took its first swig only last spring, with Michelob Ultra in Pomegranate Raspberry, Lime Cactus and Tuscan Orange Grapefruit flavors.

Last month, came Budweiser & Clamato Chelada and Bud Light & Clamato Chelada, beers mixed with Clamato Tomato Cocktail, a clam-juice-flavored, bloody mary-type mixer.

“The palate for consumers has broadened, and they are looking for more variety,” says Dave Peacock, vice president of marketing.

He says he expects the $1 price premium per six-pack for lime over regular Bud Light to offset an expected 20 percent decline in regular Bud Light sales as some buyers switch.

“Loyalists don’t want lime beer,” Peacock says. “But about 29 percent of beer consumers have some form of sweeter palate.”

Coors Brewing, meanwhile, will continue to offer seasonal flavors for its fast-growing, Belgian-style Blue Moon brand. Blue Moon seasonal brews include pumpkin for fall, lime for spring, honey for summer and dark Belgian sugar for winter.

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SPECIALTY SHOPS

Any beer, wine or spirit available in Arizona, but not on the shelves at your liquor or grocery store, can be special ordered. See store for details.

Here are details on the Tucson liquor stores that stock specialty wines, beers and liquors, including selections from France.

AJ’S FINE FOODS 2805 E. Skyline Drive, 232-6340

THE BEVERAGE HOUSE • 6250 N. Oracle Road, 219-6424, • 4231 E. 22nd Street, Suite 141, 323-6566, and • 8660 E. Broadway, 296-9933

BEVMO! 6228 E. Broadway, Suite 100, 514-0695

CATA VINOS WINE SHOP 3063 N. Alvernon Way

58 DEGREES & HOLDING CO. • 5340 E. Broadway, 747-5858 and • 4280 N. Campbell Ave., 529-2020

MAGEE ROAD LIQUORS 7980 N. Oracle Road, 297-9113

PASTICHE WINE SHOP 3025 N. Campbell Ave., 325-3333 pasticheme.com

PLAZA LIQUORS AND FINE WINES 2642 N. Campbell Ave., 327-0452

RUMRUNNER WINE & CHEESE CO. 3131 E. First St., 326-0121

VINO 100 10110 N Oracle Road, 575-8466 vino100.com

NEW YORK -\\ Coca-Cola spent millions to showcase its flagship Coke Classic brand in Super Bowl ads on Sunday, but the $40 million it invested on Tuesday in a trendy tea company may be a better indicator of where its sales growth plans are aimed.

The deal for 40 percent of Honest Tea — with the option to purchase the company outright in three years — is another deal that adds to Coke’s lineup of better-for-you and non-carbonated products. In May, Coke bought Glaceau Vitaminwater for $4.1 billion.

Such drinks are where the growth is in the beverage business currently. Meanwhile, companies are seeing slower growth or even sales declines for many brands of traditional fizzy soft drinks.

“Coke is working very hard to build up its portfolio of non-carbonated brands,” says John Sicher, editor of Beverage Digest. “Going back some years, that area of the beverage business was not its strength. Coke is showing that it knows what it needs to do and is doing it.”

Bottled tea volume was up 24 percent in the first nine months of 2007 compared with 2006, according to Beverage Digest. Traditional soft drinks, meanwhile where down 6 percent in the same period.

Honest Tea is tiny compared with Vitaminwater: Beverage Digest estimates that volume for Honest Tea was about 2.5 million cases in 2007, while Vitaminwater’s volume was about 100 million.

Despite its small size, however, Honest Tea is growing fast, with sales up 70 percent in 2007 versus 2006. The deal also adds a premium tea brand for Coke, with such flavors as Citrus Spice Decaf and Moroccan Mint Green.

Coke is No. 4 in bottled tea sales, primarily through its licensed, mainstream Nestea line. Pepsi is the leader with its licensed line of Lipton bottled teas. It’s followed by independent AriZona Iced Tea and Cadbury Schweppes’ Snapple.

Bethesda, Md.-based Honest Tea straddles two hot trends in beverages: Its products are low-calorie, and they are organic. Honest Teas have from zero to 40 calories per eight ounces, Honest Ade juice drinks have 50 calories, and Honest Kids juices have 40 calories.

“A healthier premium tea is something they don’t have,” says Seth Goldman, who founded Honest Tea 10 years ago and was approached by Coke in the fall. “The calorie profile also works. On average, our products have at least half the calories of a mainstream alternative. And a commitment to organics is a big part of our identity.”

Coke has made a goal of scouting for such small, entrepreneurial brands, and a year ago formed a Venturing and Emerging Brands unit to find them. In addition to Honest Tea, it also has already brought vitamin-packed Fuze drinks and bottled coffee brand Brain Twist into the Coke beverage portfolio.

NEW YORK – Bottled water is in hot water, and marketers of alternatives are trying to seize the opportunity.

Some of the same health-conscious consumers who helped make bottled water a $15 billion business now are among those worried about its environmental impact – its 38 million plastic bottles a year made with 1.5 million barrels of oil.

Questions also have been raised about the need for a relatively costly convenience product that in many cases is purified municipal tap water. Top-selling Aquafina recently was the latest brand to put that origin on its label, after prodding by consumer group Corporate Accountability. The PepsiCo brand saw a sales dip from the negative publicity and has replaced scheduled ads for the next few weeks with one about its seven-step purification process.

“It’s a tough time to be in bottled water,” says Joseph Doss, CEO of the International Bottled Water Association. “We’re facing a great deal of controversy.”

Even some city governments are joining: Last month, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom banned city buying of bottled water for its facilities. Last week, a Chicago councilman proposed a 10- to 25-cent tax on bottled water to help pay for a $40 million water and sewer fund deficit – partly due to less tap water consumption.

Bottled water rivals are pumping up tap-based alternatives:

-Water filters.
Brita, which makes pitchers with built-in filters, last week launched www.FilterForGood.com. It promotes using a Brita pitcher at home and offers a $10 refillable bottle by Nalgene for water on the go (with a portion of the proceeds going to global safe water group Blue Planet Run Foundation).

Visitors also are asked to register and make an online pledge to reduce their “impact on the planet” by giving up bottled water for a week, a month or a year.

“This is something that’s very top of mind with consumers, and we figured it was the right time to do it,” says Hank Mercier, Brita’s associate marketing manager.

Procter & Gamble is promoting its Pur faucet-mounted water filters with samples and fact sheets that spell out benefits for those who pull the plug on bottled water. Pur marketing executive Tom O’Brien says one filter can fill the equivalent of 3,200, 16-ounce water bottles and save users $600 to $1,000 a year.

“We’re saying it’s healthier for your family, healthier for your family’s wallet and healthier for the environment.”

Stylish refillables.
New designs out last week from SIGG, a Swiss maker of 140 designs of aluminum drinking bottles, carry slogans such as: “Make love not landfill” and “Friends don’t let friends drink from plastic.” Its $15-to-$20 bottles sell at retailers such as Whole Foods and L.L. Bean.

They “are an accessory like your cell phone or your iPod,” U.S. President Steve Wasik says.

Bottled-water marketers are pushing back by promoting its convenience and health merits.

They also are trying to address environmental criticism. The IBWA ran newspaper ads recently that included promotion of industry efforts to reduce packaging. Brands such as Aquafina, Coca-Cola’s Dasani’s and Nestle’s Poland Spring, Ozarka and Arrowhead have cut plastic use by 30 percent with thinner bottles. Ozarka ads promote the “eco” bottles with a tree hugging a man, a play on “tree hugger.”

“We are doing what we can to make sure our environmental critics understand our positive environmental track record,” says Jane Lazgin, Nestle spokeswoman.

NEW YORK – Fifteen minutes of Web fame is turning into 15 seconds of TV ad fame for some consumers as a couple of big advertisers, KFC and Geico, mine sharing sites such as YouTube for video to use in commercials.

On Tuesday’s “American Idol,” KFC aired an ad built from snippets of consumers’ Web videos. The ad, called “Celebration,” shows people pumping fists, flipping, jumping and generally going bonkers, ostensibly for the chain’s new menu of chicken with no trans fats. KFC evaluated 400 videos and got approval to use 35, before making the final cut to clips from 13 people, including a vegetarian.

“The idea of using consumer-generated content and putting together a bunch of unrelated videos to tell one story was so exciting we wanted to move on it,” says James O’Reilly, KFC’s vice president of national marketing.

Geico, meanwhile, pokes a little fun at the goofy video craze in four ads that began airing recently. They show consumer video silliness such as jousting with mattresses or juggling in a human-size plastic cone.

In ads by The Martin Agency, Geico suggests that if consumers are online, they could spend the time more profitably by going to Geico.com and getting a rate quote for cheaper insurance.

“We say that Geico.com is so easy to use that’s it better to do than watching that horrible content,” says Ted Ward, Geico’s vice president of marketing.

Using that content in 15-second ads, however, shaves about 75 percent off the near-$200,000 average cost for such a commercial with professional video and can be made in about a third of the time.

Making commercials the old-fashioned way – from scripts and storyboards to scouting locations to auditioning actors and then shooting and editing the ads – is not likely to disappear.

Many marketers are eager to find ways to add consumer-generated video into the mix because they think consumers identify with and enjoy real people doing real things.

The people in the video KFC spliced together for its ad, however, aren’t really reacting to the new menu. Hasan Robinson, 27, who lives in Kansas City, Mo., and is shown doing a flip, is, in fact, a vegetarian.

“I don’t care. I was so excited,” he says about being in a chicken ad.

KFC lucked out finding Ricardo Skratch Charles of London, who is a KFC fan. He’s seen in the ad’s closing shot blowing out candles placed in a KFC bucket.

“We typed in ‘KFC’ at one of the sites,” says Tom O’Keefe, chief creative officer Draftfcb in Chicago, the agency that made the ad. “That scene popped up.”

Cheap and easy-to-find consumer video may not put pro commercial actors out of work, but their union, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), is concerned.

The impact of new media on traditional advertising production is being evaluated in a study sponsored by SAG and other media and acting organizations.

“We want to make sure that in new media, professionally produced and acted commercials remain the dominant way that advertisers communicate with consumers,” says Doug Allen, national executive director of SAG.

To view KFC’s compilation, click here.

NEW YORK – Stolichnaya vodka, which wants to oust Absolut as the reigning vodka in the gay and lesbian market, has launched a year-long series of programs on Viacom’s Logo cable channel.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT for short) consumers are attractive both as trendsetters and for high disposable income: an expected $641 billion in spending this year, up from $600 billion in 2005, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Absolut, the top U.S. import, for many years has courted this market.

Stoli’s campaign began with a one-hour, ad-free documentary that it produced, “Be Real: Stories from Queer America,” on the LGBT-oriented Logo channel. The film will appear at least 10 times on Logo as part of their year-long deal.

Stolichnaya looked beyond traditional advertising to market “in a culturally relevant way,” says Adam Rosen, senior brand manager. “Because of the nature of the community as trendsetting, they are heavily marketed to and very skeptical of advertising,”

The deal with Logo also includes a six-episode reality show to air in April, tentatively titled “Be Real.” It will profile pairs of couples going through parallel experiences, such as a commitment ceremony. Last month, Stolichnaya launched www.stolibereal.com, where visitors can watch the documentary online and also nominate couples for “Be Real.”

The shows contain no commercials within, but will open and close with “sponsored by Stoli” messages and a 30-second ad for Stoli’s latest flavor, Blueberi.