CONSUMER-MARKETING | ENGAGEMENT

The Walt Disney Co. will acquire Pixar Animation Studio for $7.4 billion to combine the two animation studios, which gives Disney greater access to Pixar characters for marketing deals.

Online music service Napster is hoping that a partnership with snowboarding champion Gretchen Bleiler and some marketing muscle at the Winter X Games will help its branding efforts. The music subscription company has erected a 144 square-foot lodge at ...

Frito-Lay has begun a yearlong campaign supporting SunChips' sponsorship of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. SunChips has signed as the official sponsor of Komen's Race for the Cure Series National Volunteer Recognition Program. The brand ...

American Airlines is celebrating its 80th anniversary with a sweepstakes award a trip for one winner and nine guests to the Bahamas. Starting Feb. 1, consumers can enter the Family Reunion sweepstakes by completing an entry form at Family.whyyoufly.com. ...

EBay is running an online contest that gives new parents a makeover, using only goods bought on eBay. The "eBay and Real Savvy Moms Baby Dream Room Contest" will give $2,500 to each of six finalists to redecorate a room, then let consumers vote on the ...

Starz Entertainment Group is dangling a $4,000 sweepstakes reward to the viewer who correctly chooses this year's Academy Award winners. Starting Jan. 31, when the Oscar nominees are announced, viewers choose their favorites for the top six categories ...

The folks behind 5 A Day are bringing Curious George to 2,000 Wal-Mart stores next month. The Produce for Better Health Foundation teams with Wal-Mart Stores for an in-store promotion pegged to the Feb. 10 premiere of Universal Studios' animated film ...

Marketing giant Valassis Communications is claiming that its top competitor is using brutal images of beatings from an Al Capone flick as one way to gain an unfair advantage in the sale of both newspaper FSIs and in-store ads and promotions. The ...

Starbucks and Yahoo Personals are enticing consumers with a sweet treat, dangling an offer for a $10 Starbucks card to consumers who subscribe to the online dating service.

(Corporate Meetings & Incentives)—Less than a third of the respondents to our annual incentive trends survey say that 2006 budgets for group travel incentives will increase over 2005.