The Body Shop has over 700 natural beauty products sold at 2500 retail stores across America. However, the global manufacturer feels that they are not conveying their vision well to the consumers.

The chain hopes to change this in their upcoming advertisement campaign titled Natures Way to Beautiful. This campaign includes advertising on print, the internet and within stores.

Within the store, the campaign will involve displaying ads narrating stories behind products. One angle is the products natural ingredients.

Starting September 3, Facebook users will be able to access the Body Shop microsite for the Together and Fair campaign. The site encourages Body Shop consumers to share their experiences about the products.

Drive and Deliver - a 45-minute documentary about how three long-haul truckers ride across America - is scheduled to premiere tonight at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas.

The Columbus Dispatch has already printed praises about its production value, saying the documentary looks like a Hollywood movie and is directed by a Hollywood director. This includes not only the show, but also the premiere, which is set to have everything from the red carpet to the stars walking in it.

But, unlike a Hollywood film, this show is not bankrolled by a studio. Its actually a promotional project of the Navistar International Corp.

The leading manufacturer of heavy trucks and mid-size diesel engines shelled out over $2 million to put the show in production.

It is part of the marketing campaign to promote a new truck model the LoneStar.

The LoneStar, which will begin sales this October, is getting early exposure from the show. In the show, the three truckers will be driving the $140,000 truck.

Apart from the Production costs, Navistar is expected to add around $3 million to promote the documentary.

The company has invested over $15 million to LoneStars marketing campaign.

 

Wal-mart  (NYSE:WMT) the retailer juggernaut, said that legendary rock band AC/DC will sell its upcoming album exclusively at Sams Club locations across America.  This deal, reported first in the Wall Street Journal, gives sole right to distribute the new AC/DC album to Wal-Mart solidifies the companys strong bid to be a big player in the music-industry. 

The new album, titled Black Ice, will be available at retailers stores and Web sites on October. Fans are looking forward to this album, because it has been eight years since the last AC/DC album.

The bands arrangement with Wal-Mart aims to replicate the successes of previous bands that made the same deal. A few months ago, legendary rock bands The Eagles and Journey inked contracts with Wal-Mart. Both albums had solid sales numbers.

However, this deal comes at a risky time. Statistics show that CD sales are declining. More and more consumers are making the transition to digital music downloads. With these impending threats to the market, Wal Mart has announced that they will release fewer CD stocks, which might not be a good prospect for AC/DC.

The decline in CD sales, paired with the fluctuations in fuel prices, make the market more risky.  However, Wal-Mart remains confident, While inflation and higher fuel costs are pressuring suppliers, retailers and customers world-wide, we're confident that Wal-Mart is well positioned, asserts H. Lee Scott Junior, a Chief Executive of Wal Mart.

 

In the world of the Product Placement expert - the goal is to get brands integrated with Entertainment properties.  On the production side, 'clearances' or approval from brands for being in a shot is a major issue.

American Apparel's Snafu - no clearance from Mr. Allen.

Last May, they used an image of Woody Allen from a film on billboards in New York and Hollywood without his permission.  

He is seeking $10,000,000.

A copy of the filing can be downloaded here.