Articles from AdWeek Advertising and branding

At the dawn of the 1970s, the Huffy Corporation (which made gas station equipment before turning to bicycles in 1934) was losing air from its tires. Cheap bikes manufactured in factories overseas had grabbed nearly 40 percent of the market, and a recession was looming. So Huffy made a strategic marketing decision: It would shift most of its attention to the kids demographic. This 1971 ad proves just how good Huffy was at it, too.

Dawn Winchester has been named North American chief digital officer of Publicis—a new role at the Publicis Groupe shop. Most recently, Winchester was chief marketing services officer at Interpublic Group's R/GA, where she spent 14 years and worked on brands like Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Capital One, Microsoft, Nike, Samsung, Unilever, Verizon and Wal-Mart.

Young & Rubicam is shifting from a regional to global approach to shopper marketing with the appointment of Jon Bird as global managing director of Labstore, the agency's retail marketing arm. To date, Labstore's footprint has been limited to parts of Europe, South America, Central America and Asia.

It's such a great, simple idea: Young Brazilians want to learn English. Elderly Americans living in retirement homes just want someone to talk to. Why not connect them? FCB Brazil did just that with its "Speaking Exchange" project for CNA language schools. As seen in the touching case study below, the young Brazilians and older Americans connect via Web chats, and they not only begin to share a language—they develop relationships that enrich both sides culturally and emotionally. The differences in age and background combine to make the interactions remarkable to watch.