TheStar.com: When it comes to marketing to youth, it's usually worse to aim at the demographic and miss, than it is not to advertise at all.

When McDonald's launched the "I'd Hit It" online advertising campaign in the U.S. — without knowing the slang translated to having sex with a cheeseburger — the gaffe blew up in the company's face.

Sites such as http://www.andrewteman.org/blog ruthlessly picked apart the fast-food giant, as visitors took the opportunity to chronicle other examples of just how lost advertisers are when marketing to youth.

Another offender listed on the site is Wal-Mart, for an ad featuring a young black actor uttering the line "Wal-Mart has everything I need. No diggity."

One of the chain's Canadian commercials features young people in Wal-Mart-purchased clothes — the same labels sold at many of the 4,000 Wal-Mart stores worldwide — claiming they aren't "afraid to be different." And a recent commercial for The Bay has actors in designer duds doing what most young people do after getting dressed up — riding skateboards.

All of these ads expose the companies to ridicule because it's clear to the target market that these retailers know very little about young people — but want their attention and disposable income nonetheless. Essentially, then, these ads expose the companies as the posers they are.

Manufactured Cool [TheStar.com]

Entrepreneur.com: Bored by the idea of giving her husband a traditional gift basket to celebrate his promotion, Kate Dyer-Seeley made her own by filling a sleek, plastic box with treats including brainteaser games, mints and other cool, fun items. When her husband took it to work, the box was such a hit that Dyer-Seeley, 29, and two friends, Karen O'Hollaren, 30, and Erin Cox, decided to make a business out of it together. (Cox left the company a year later.)

Initially, they worked out of Dyer-Seeley's garage, and each invested $1,000. The three friends also attended gift shows to discover other amusing products-such as scented candles, games, gourmet food products and CDs-to include in the Urbanaboxes. For example, two current box styles are the Swank box, which offers a stainless steel shaker, martini olives and a jazz CD set, and the Baby box, which includes a lullaby CD, a baby massage book, a cotton blanket and calming tea.

Presents of Mind [Entrepreneur.com]

Yahoo! News: Lycos is making it easier for lonely hearts to find their soulmates online.

The company will launch on Wednesday a search engine that only indexes dating Web sites, giving users links to personal profiles found at iMatchup.com, LoveAccess.com, Tickle, True.com, and Lycos' own Matchmaker.com.

"We did research last year and it revealed that [online] dating customers want a robust and efficient way for searching for dates online," says Curt Degenhart, a Lycos senior product manager.

Lycos Dating Search, as the search engine is called, contains millions of profiles and photos, and Lycos is in the process of striking deals with other online dating providers, he says. There will be a link to the site from the main Lycos portal and from other sites on the Lycos network, he says.

Lycos Goes Looking for Love [PCWorld via Yahoo! News]

FOODnavigator.com: The news this month that the world’s number one drinks giant Coca Cola has linked up with Tate & Lyle's Splenda sweetener in a new branding venture could signal the beginning of a new wave of ingredient – manufacturer tie-ups.

Danisco’s head of global marketing services Henrik Vesterborg Andersen speaks to Lindsey Partos about the challenges and benefits such a symbiotic venture can bring to both ingredients supplier and food maker.

Danisco’s marketing director believes two barriers need to be overcome before an ingredient can be put on the road. “The ingredient plucked for promotion must be aligned with the brand strategy of the food manufacturer: and the end consumer must understand the value of the ingredient,” he says.

Competition is fierce in the food industry; and with price pressures, squeezed margins and higher costs eating into their revenue stream, any additional leverage the ingredients player can supply the food maker is a clear competitive advantage.

Essentially, innovation is the impetus to drive the food industry forward. But if the ingredients players can take their knowledge, founded on hard investment and a watertight understanding of the market, to the manufacturer, they could be on the way to a successful co-branding venture.

Branded ingredients: the path to growth in pressurised industry? [FOODnavigator.com]

CEE-Food industry.com: A Russian dairy company has created a new ice cream brand called UFO whose extra-terrestrial name reflects its ‘unearthly’ ability to avoid melting.

Produced by dairy processor MyasoMolTorg, based in Reazan, UFO is a cherry-flavoured ice cream product made with the latest in stabiliser technology. Once removed from the freezer, the ice cream does not melt into a liquid but turns into semi-solid jelly, making it far less messy.

The new product is just one of many introduced by MeasoMolTorg this year as it seeks to rekindle growth in a Russian market which has declined by 11 per cent compared to 2003 to 374 million tons.

Non-drip ice cream leads wave of Russian innovation [CEE-Food Industry.com]

eCoustics.com: iFun, Jazz¡¦s latest USB mobile theater, is especially designed for women and young-aged notebook users. With its compact size, stylish shape and fancy color, iFun features not only its hi-tech design but also easiness to carry with your notebook; it is also thanks to its USB bus power so that no external adapter is required. No doubt iFun is always your best partner when traveling ¡Bmeeting and enjoying entertainment.

iFun consists of one driver for each speaker and adopts the latest Xear 3D technology to provide 5.1 CH virtual effect and adjustable EQ (equalizer) such as Jazz, Rap, Rock, Live and so on. Moreover, the software is very user-friendly; you may create various kinds of listening models which suit your own style. Just clicking the buttons, the superb software tools are ready for you.

Be amazed at Jazz¡¦s innovation on USB speakers! Visit JS @ CeBIT 2005 [eCoustics.com]

Wired News: Picture an Elmo or Winnie the Pooh plush doll that knows a child's name and favorite food, and tells stories and sings songs incorporating such personal details. Or a new version of Furby that recognizes voices and reacts with emotions from surprise to dismay, and responds to specific words a child says.

These electronic toys, which make a child's play more interactive and personal, are among the products manufacturers are betting on to help them reclaim sales lost since 2003 to grown-up gadgets like iPod music players.

"Kids tend to remember experiences that are personalized," said Reyne Rice, a toy trend specialist for the Toy Industry Association, the industry trade group.

Toys R Kids: High-Tech Playmates [Wired News]

We Make Money Not Art: When threatened, animals often display physical warnings; e.g. porcupines or puffer fish both erect their spines as a physical defence and warning, snakes rattle their tales or expand their body, chamelions change colour...

Wearable Warnings, a project by Philip Worthington at the RCA in London, is a coat inspired by such behaviour.

The prototype coat features warning strips of fur that become electro-statically charged when the wearer feels threatened. "When charged the fur begins to stand on end; a visual indication that the wearer is uncomfortable. If someone invades the wearer's personal space they will begin to feel a second warning; as they enter the coat's electrostatic field they will feel tingling skin sensations and their hair will stand on end. The fur will begin to twitch toward them and emit crackling sounds. If the 'threat' proceeds to touch the fur then 100,000 volts of electro-static charge discharges from the fur, into the offender's body."

Wearable Warnings [We Make Money Not Art]

InfoWorld: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is readying a series of multimedia kiosks that it hopes will save operators, retailers and users time and money when it comes to fixing common phone faults. The company showed an early sample of the kiosks in its booth at the 3GSM World Congress.

A common remedy for mobile phone performance problems is to update the firmware (the basic operating software coded into a semipermanent memory such as flash). However, this usually involves sending phones back to a service center, a process that takes several days at best. This is costly for the retailers, who must pack and ship the phones, and for the network operators who miss out on call revenue -- not to mention the customers, who lose the use of their phones while all this is going on.

Sony Ericsson wants to simplify the update process by letting customers update their own phones at multimedia kiosks installed in busy stores. The cylindrical kiosks, about 0.5 meters wide and 1.5 meters tall, contain a small PC and feature a touch-sensitive flat-panel display and a docking cradle for a mobile phone. Customers will be able to slot their phone into the cradle after first removing the SIM card, then follow the on-screen prompts to update the firmware. The process will take about seven minutes, Sony Ericsson staff said. The kiosk's computer will also contain a variety of multimedia content that customers can consult while their phone is being updated, and at other times the screen can display promotional messages, either for Sony Ericsson phones or for the store hosting the kiosk, according to Jesper Lykking, who is responsible for service portfolio management at Sony Ericsson.

Press release

Shiny Shiny: Been on a stakeout recently? No, us neither, but if we ever had reason to go on a stakeout, this is the cup we'd want with us. The Intellimug plugs into your car's cigarette lighter and warms up tea, coffee, soup and any other liquid food or drinkstuff you care to mention. A temperature display on the side tells you when the drink becomes too hot to handle, and an alarm will sound if it gets too piping, shutting the mug warmer down. The mug costs $29.99 and can be bought from all sorts of online establishments, including here.

Intellimug - Warm Beverages In Your Car [Shiny Shiny]

Wired News: NEW YORK -- Picture an Elmo or Winnie the Pooh plush doll that knows a child's name and favorite food, and tells stories and sings songs incorporating such personal details. Or a new version of Furby that recognizes voices and reacts with emotions from surprise to dismay, and responds to specific words a child says.

These electronic toys, which make a child's play more interactive and personal, are among the products manufacturers are betting on to help them reclaim sales lost since 2003 to grown-up gadgets like iPod music players.

"Kids tend to remember experiences that are personalized," said Reyne Rice, a toy trend specialist for the Toy Industry Association, the industry trade group.

While these high-tech offerings account for only a small number of the products being unveiled at this year's industry expo, the American International Toy Fair, which officially begins Sunday, they represent the "wow factor" -- the kind of product that draws parents into stores, said Chris Byrne, a New York-based independent toy consultant.

Toys R Kids: High-Tech Playmates [Wired News]

Engadget: We were seriously wondering why Google hadn’t already rolled this out (especially with their movement towards the geographical with maps.google.com and their purchase of Keyhole), but Yahoo’s definitely beaten them (and everyone else, it seems) on the driving directions via SMS tip. Hit the “Send to Phone” link on their Yahoo! maps page and you’ll get the data via SMS, with images also available with your data connection (you do have a mobile data plan, don’t you?).

Yahoo! Sends Driving Directions To Your Phone [Engadget]

RFID in Japan: A bit late for this year's valentine's day but Nippon COMSYS Corporation and Mary's Chocolate co-developed a technology for printing 2D barcodes (QR Code) on the surface of chocolates. This technology could be used to allow consumers to access a website by taking a picture of a chocolate using their mobile phones. At the moment, QR codes can only be printed on white chocolates. Note that QR codes themselves are also made of chocolate so you don't have to spit it out. It's soft, but I put this entry in the hardware category.

QR Code Chocolate [RFID in Japan]

BusinessWeek: From the recent Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards to the upcoming Grammys and Oscars, award-show season is upon us. And for a handful of specialty companies, it's time to take their own stroll down the red carpet. Over the past several years, a cottage industry of professional gifters has capitalized on the union between award shows, product placement, and celebrities, giving birth to an enormous and growing marketing opportunity for brands big and small.

These days, no affair is complete without a bag bulging with the latest beauty products, cell phones, resort vouchers, and fragrances. "It's an integral part of the event world right now," says Samantha Haft, co-founder of New York-based On 3 Productions, which has produced gift bags for the Tonys and the Independent Spirit Awards.

Shmoozing Celebs Is a Whole New Bag [BusinessWeek]

Springwise: With a name like Sparschwein, it has to be good! Indeed, Munich-based Sparschwein (German for piggy bank), is a new direct seller venture encouraging Germans to go on a domestic treasure hunt, exploring their basements, attics, cabinets, and garages for valuable items, especially fashion accessories, antiques, baby products, computers, electronics, cameras, domestic and garden appliances, design furniture, and certain financial contracts. Unearthed items will then be sold by one of 1,000 Sparschwein agents who will later this year go door to door in German cities and villages to collect the items, and sell them on eBay and other auction sites on behalf of the owner.

Sparschwein: consumers are richer than they think! [Springwise]

Influx Insights: One of the latest incarnations of the pop-up store is Nike Runner's Lounge.

The lounge is the brainchild of one of Nike's Canadian marketing partners and is designed to help runners prepare for the Vancover Half Marathon.

It provides runners with a space where they can test drive Nike product, get information on local running routes, receive post-run massages and listen to talks from Nike guest speakers.

It's a perfect example of a great pop-up store. It allows the core audience of runners to interact with the brand, through a relevant experience. Since runners are always on the look out for information on routes, shoes and finding new training partners, this idea fits perfectly with a target need.

It also fuses a number of elements together in an interesting way; Nike product, Nike's sponsorship of the half-marathon and extends the brand promise from a product to a service relationship.

Nike does a pop-up store [Influx Insights]

San Francisco Chronicle: "The Brainwash Cafe is cool," my friend tells me on the phone after I announce my plans for the evening. "I read my poetry there."

I never knew she wrote poetry, much less went anywhere to read it. "And the washers have names. It's really cool.''

I'd looked up the cafe on the Web: bright pictures of the laundry area, a detailed calendar of performances.

Although I don't regard visits to the Laundromat as drudgery, I was looking forward to something different. My gentleman caller was a good sport about our date. "We going where, now, baby? How do I have to dress? Tell me again why I'm bringing the laundry?" he asked.

It takes a moment to spot the Brainwash in the Folsom Street gloom. The neon sign is on but the lights are low in the cafe, which faces the street; the side entrance for the Laundromat is bright.

A night out -- plus clean clothes; S.F.'s Brainwash Cafe serves up food and live entertainment along with a Laundromat [San Francisco Chronicle]

WebWire: Patient safety will drive the use of the next generation of active-RFID (radio frequency identification) location tags from Radianse, Inc., an innovator of indoor positioning solutions (IPS) used to locate and associate equipment and people in hospitals.

Radianse will show the industry’s first single-use active-RFID tag for patient location at the 2005 HIMSS Conference and Exposition (Booth 6655) February 14-17 in Dallas, Texas.

The wristwatch-sized device is one-eighth the price of the average competitive tags marketed for patient location. It’s designed to maximize comfort, safety and convenience across a patient’s length of stay. It can even be worn safely in the shower. The Radianse single-use tag can be slipped onto a patient’s ID wrist band. Or a hospital can choose to print patient ID information on Radianse tamper-resistant wrist bands using existing printers.

The tag has a button that can be programmed based on the patient’s location. In the PACU, for example, a button push might signal the patient is ready for transport.

Patient location applications shown to improve safety and satisfaction.

Press Release

Yenra: Kohler will use its sponsorship of Olympus Fashion Week to introduce the Purist Hatbox toilet, a product that redefines common perceptions of what the traditional American toilet should look like.

"Like the fashion industry, design is part of the fiber of everything that we do at Kohler to constantly develop new products that enhance the gracious living possible in today's kitchens and bathrooms," said David Kohler. "During our 130-year history -- from introducing the first colors on plumbing fixtures in the 1920s to advancing the home spa with flagship whirlpools and performance showering products -- Kohler has been progressive in making sure the products we create are innovative, bold, and forecast the next trends in home design."

Attendees of New York Fashion Week are the first to see the new Purist Hatbox toilet, on display in the main lobby of Fashion Week. Conventional cues of the traditional toilet are removed as the minimalist inspired electric toilet offers a clean, streamlined aesthetic both visually and physically with its innovative tankless design.

Hatbox Toilet [Yenra]

USATODAY.com: After getting a taste of the radio business in college, software designer Craig Patchett never lost his interest in broadcasting. But without a job in radio, it seemed likely to remain one of those unfulfilled passions — until something called "podcasting" came along.

Now, Patchett's creating shows and sending them out to the masses every day — not over the airwaves to radios but over the Internet, from his personal computer in Carlsbad, Calif.

His listeners download his shows to their iPods and other digital music players.

Patchett, 43, is among a growing number of people getting into podcasting, which is quickly becoming another of the Internet's equalizing technologies.

'Podcasting' lets masses do radio shows [USATODAY.com]

Cool Hunting: Shaken, stirred, gin, vodka...enjoy your martini (or a bloody mary) even more with these pickled green pear tomatoes from Froehlich's, a small store in Three Oaks Michigan. Most everything they make is from their own gardens, and if you happen to be in the 'hood stop by for some of the best bread around.

Froehlich's Pickled Green Pear Tomatoes [Cool Hunting]

RFID in Japan: Bandai announced a new toy doll for kids that responds to RFID'd objects.

The toy doll, which is called Naoru-kun, acts almost like a robot: it speaks 150 different phrases including "Let's play!" and "I..am...er....." and responds when it's shaken hands, hugged, petted, etc. But, the most impressive feature is its ability to get sick.

So, it needs to be taken care of by owners. The concept is somewhat similar to Tamagocchi's, I think. The company says this toy would foster caring mentality in kids' minds.

How does it get sick? While playing, Naoru-kun starts coughing and sneezing. According to symptoms, kids must use one of the items including "syringe," "candy" and "medicine." The doll reads RFID tags embedded in these items and responds accordingly.

Dolls That Get Sick, Curable By RFID [RFID in Japan]

Popgadget: You can't but this (yet), but Mark Argo's Hugms would be popular today. Another great thesis from ITP, Hugms sends a text message when you squeeze your Bluetooth-connected, light-up sensor. The message varies depending on how hard and how long you squeeze your Hugms. Long squeeze: 'hhhhhhuuuuuuuuuuggggggg'; Short hard squeeze: 'hhHHUUUUUUugg'. Even better, if the recipient of your hug has a Hugms, their own device will glow with light and they can give a squeeze, letting the sender know their hug is being returned.

Hugms: Hugs Over SMS [Popgadget]

Cool Hunting: Like the Tamagotchi, Archimedes is a little friend from Japan brought to you as a way to care for and consider the meaning of life. Unlike the Tamagotchi, which was digital, Archimedes is analog. You get a little guy in a glass vial with some seeds. Over the course of about a month the habitat will sprout, bloom, flourish, die, and decay. Little Archimedes survives the changes until the very end when he becomes mummified.

Whether you're looking for a philosophical muse or a new short term friend, Archimedes is here for you.

Archimedes: Chia Pet Meets Tamagotchi [Cool Hunting]

Business Wire: There's 'sweet' news for sugar lovers this Valentine's Day! Introducing Shugr -- the world's first truly natural, zero-calorie, diabetic-safe sweetener.

Shugr is a remarkable new sugar substitute that tastes and cooks like sugar, is tooth friendly and also contains pre-biotic fiber, which assists in healthful digestion. Due to overwhelming demand since its introduction last December, Shugr will now be available at major health food and natural products stores starting in March 2005, with expectations to be in mass drug and food stores nationwide by year end.

Shugr is made from a proprietary blend of erythritol, which occurs naturally in many fruits and vegetables, and tagatose, which provides added sweetness and pre-biotic fiber to aid digestion. This unique formulation results in a sweet taste that is remarkably like cane sugar with none of the aftertaste typically associated with other no calorie sweeteners. Shugr's formulation is patent pending and its ingredients carry a GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) designation for food safety, as determined by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

Leading zero-calorie sweeteners available today do not offer consumers a natural alternative. Splenda is made from sucralose, a synthetic ingredient, while Equal is made from aspartame, also a synthetic ingredient.

The Sweetest Valentine: Swiss Diet Launches Shugr, World's First Natural, Zero Calorie Sweetener [Business Wire]

Seattle dBusinessNews: Ecuity, Inc.,a leading enhanced Voice over Internet communications company serving the small-to-medium business and residential markets, and Azatel Communications, a manufacturer of integrated SIP and MGCP related products, announced the joint development of Voice over Dial Up service. This partnership will, for the first time, bring the innovative benefits and cost-savings of VoIP to the currently underserved residential and small business markets that have not switched to broadband Internet access.

Over the past few months, Ecuity has worked in concert with Azatel to develop appropriate technology to bring VoIP to home and small business users with dialup internet access. In order to reduce latency of the dial-up network infrastructure, Ecuity has completed a substantial rebuild of the associated components related to the authorization and accounting of dial up Internet users.

As a result of its success in delivering cutting edge Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to customers nationwide, Ecuity’s subsidiary Ecuity Advanced Communications was named to the 2004 "Pulver 100" - which is the VoIP industry's premiere listing of companies that represent the future of the communications industry.

ECUITY AND AZATEL THE FIRST TO OFFER VOICE OVER DIAL UP INTERNET SERVICE [Seattle dBusinessNews]

IndiaDaily: Over 34 million mobile phone subscribers in Russia can now add colour to their sexual life the Indian way, albeit by listening to passages from the "Kamasutra" on their mobile phones. An advertisement for Russia's largest GSM operator Mobile Tele Systems entices its subscribers to use the new service to "master new sensations" and "listen to passages from the Kamasutra - the ancient Indian art of love and erotic awareness." The 24-hour service, charged at the rate of fifty cents per minute plus 18 per cent VAT, costs subscribers almost five times the amount charged for regular calls.

Russian operator offers Kamasutra on mobiles [IndiaDaily]
Master new sensations (aka Kamasutra on your mobile) [Adverblog]

Yahoo! Finance: Young adults have a loyal attachment to mobile phones and a distinct passion for video games. Recognizing that, VIRTU MOBILE has used the Campbell's® Soup at Hand® 3D Snowboarding game as an innovative way for Campbell Soup Company to promote Campbell's Soup At Hand sippable soup to this elusive market segment.

Customized mobile games like the Soup at Hand 3D Snowboarding, which is licensed from Bonus.com, are the latest marketing trend used by advertisers to deliver mobile messages to a younger adult audience. This is a demographic group that does not typically make buying decisions based on traditional media like newspapers, TV and radio. The game, which incorporates the use of the product and the brand's logo is downloaded from a Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) server to the mobile phone.

Players are challenged by the Soup At Hand 3D Snowboarding game to go down the slope and score points by doing tricks and while doing so, capture Soup at Hand cans in an effort to win added life to prolong the game's longevity.

According to Joe Barone, president of VIRTU MOBILE, mobile game growth is growing rapidly and Ziff Davis projects there to be more than 100 million users by 2006. "We are pleased that Campbell's had chosen us to help them target this market in an exciting, innovative fashion," he comments. "We have developed a lively, fun way to send a powerful message about the product while reinforcing brand identity."

To download the Soup At Hand 3D Snowboarding game or for more information about the game, visit www.sah-mobile.com.

VIRTU MOBILE Teams up with Campbell's Soup at Hand to Reach Young Adults Through Mobile Games [Yahoo! Finance]

BBC News: Space tourism is less than three years away, Sir Richard Branson has claimed.

There are already 13,500 potential passengers for the £100,000 ($190,000) "Virgin Galactic spaceliner" trip, Sir Richard told the BBC.

The entrepreneur is having five "spaceliners" built in the US by the team which launched the SpaceShipOne rocket plane last year.

Sir Richard said he himself, his children and his parents all plan to be on the first flight.

The Virgin Atlantic airline boss told the BBC's Breakfast with Frost the space travel plan "is an extremely exciting project".

He signed a £14m agreement last September with Mojave Ventures, the company set up by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and aviation pioneer Burton Rutan.

Mojave Ventures plans to use the technology developed for SpaceShipOne - the first privately-developed carrier to go above 100km last June.

Virgin boss unveils space trips [BBC News]

Adverblog: Chocolate brand Ferrero celebrates Valentine's Day in Italy with a dedicated web site. The site presents Ferrero's products Valentine's special edition (Mon Cheri, Rocher, Raffaello), a love trivia, and some editorial content with excerpts from famous love stories in the literature (Lancelot and Ginevra, Romeo and Juliet, Anthony and Cleopatra).

The creative is by DGT Media, which also created a series of online ads running on the main Italia portals.

Chocolate and Valentine's Day [Adverblog]

Adverblog: Swisscom Mobile, the Swiss Post and The Communication Museum have launched a cool initiative to engage users with MMS. In English it would be called "Swiss Mobile - A Country on the Go" in German it's "Swiss mobil - Ein Land unterwegs". The three partners are going to create the first series of stamps made with photographs taken with camera phones. Swiss citizens are asked to send their own pictures which will be then displayed on www.mms-stamp.ch. Site's visitors will express their vote with an SMS. The best four pictures will be issued as stamps for the collection.

MMS pictures will become stamps in Switzerland [Adverblog]

The Green Head: I think most of the Green Head Crew has given up the miserable smoking habit. Only Jenurple seems to be having trouble trying to stop and the cool product we're showcasing today isn't going to help at all!

The Smoking Donkey Cigarette Dispenser is one of the the funniest things I have ever seen. You load up your donkey dispenser with 24 of your favorite smokes and when you feel the crave, just push down on the donkey's ears and a cigarette dispenses from the back of the ass. Literally!

This would be a great gift for all your Democrat friends who recently picked up the habit.

Smoking Donkey Cigarette Dispenser [The Green Head]

Entrepreneur.com: Parents weary of the bustle of day care, baby-sitters and carpools for their young children need only to look to the TeacherCare child-care and teaching program for some relief. Founded by Terri Brax, this service provides qualified teachers to work in people's homes and serve as both teachers and caregivers.

Brax is familiar with the needs of working parents--she left her job as an account manager in the computer field because of her lack of child-care choices. With child care on the brain, Brax heard her best friend's story of a difficult experience with a nanny. Her friend, in need of one-on-one child care for her son, eventually found a teacher who could care for him during the day while engaging his mind in learning activities. "When I'd visit her, both of our sets of children would light up," recalls Brax, 42. "That was when the light-bulb moment happened. I realized that this is just wonderful for the children and for us as parents, and other parents and children would really benefit from this, too."

After setting out to recruit teachers who were passionate about the concept, Brax found many eager for the one-on-one teaching atmosphere a home setting provided. And parents loved the concept right away--so much so that they became TeacherCare's spokespeople, spreading the company's message via word-of-mouth.

Kid-Tested, Mother-Approved [Entrepreneur.com]

New York Post Online: Saleh is part of a new kind of advertising phenomenon - one that goes beyond more established methods like street-teaming (campaigns orchestrated to look as though they're "up from the street," through graffiti or sidewalk chalk scrawls, for example) or stealth marketing (in which corporations hire young, attractive, charismatic people to go into bars and clubs and be "overheard" raving about a brand of alcohol or cigarettes).

"If the right person is wearing the right thing, people want it," says Kelly Cutrone, founder of the fashion branding firm People's Revolution. Cutrone gives thousands of dollars worth of free clothes to Saleh and other New Yorkers who aren't rich or famous, but who run in desirable circles and wield a lot of social influence.

"We call it 'mainlining,'" she says. "That means we take it out of the industry and put it on people on the street, so that they're seen."

Under Their Influence [New York Post Online]