When the ad was posted on billboards, the Vatican said it was ‘damaging not only to the dignity of the pope and the Catholic Church but also to the feelings of believers’.

On its Russia-dedicated Facebook page the brand has more than 11,000 fans and also a strong local following on leading social network VKontakte. L2 says Android and iPhone apps available in Russian complement a robust Russian-language e-commerce and mobile site in the market.

Localisation is a key issue. Among those brands that have tailored sites, just a fraction of them (5–10% depending on the BRI market) have invested in local website content, while only 11% have developed local content on their social media pages. L’Occitane is one of very few brands to offer local news, contests and promotions on each of its local sites in Brazil, Russia, and India.

The company says it’s repositioning Caffrey’s to attract a new drinkers to its smooth ale and believes the Spotify marketing campaign will help modernise the brand by inviting consumers to interact with it by voting for ‘classic songs redefined for a new generation’.

“This campaign uses Spotify’s huge catalogue of over 18 million songs as well as providing entertaining branded content that you can hear only on Spotify,” says Jack Milligan, brand partnerships director at Spotify. “Giving users the chance to vote on tracks to be included in the shows is a fantastic way to leverage the level of engagement that music generates.”

“We are seeing continued passion as well as new enthusiasm for vinyl through our online store Uvinyl and the great support the format gets from those indie music shops which are still flourishing, but by harnessing the latest technology we hope this partnership with Pretty Green will lead to much wider opportunities for selling music on the High Street,” says Universal Music UK’s commercial division md Brian Rose.

“As music is a large part of Pretty Green’s heritage the collaboration with Universal Music and Simply Tap is in perfect synergy with our brand values,” says Pretty Green’s brand director Nigel Grant. “Through our label we strive to bring style, culture and music from past decades firmly into the future. We feel that by providing the virtual vinyl outlets in-store is a further complement to our brand and ideals.”

Dunkin Donuts has also rolled out new menu items inspired by Men In Black 3, including Black Cocoa Creme Iced Coffee (served with a special pink and black straw), Undercover Black Cocoa Donut (a star-shaped yeast donut) and Chocolate Lunarmax Donut (with chocolate icing drizzle and star sprinkles).

The research firm points to BlackBerry’s well-documented problems both in the UK and worldwide. Nokia, despite currently having the lion’s share of the feature phone market, has been unable to convert this base to its Lumia smartphone models and may capture just 4% of feature phone converters within the next 18 months.

“This situation may be a case of Nokia coming to the smartphone party, too little and too late – their loss of share may be permanent”, says John Gilbert, Consulting Director of YouGov’s technology and telecoms team.

The brand says the social alarm app aims to make waking up every day an enjoyable experience, with music written by Grammy nominee Cornelius and Yoko Kanno. The app also allows users to share a record of their wake-up in the shape of the time, weather, and temperature at the moment they stop the alarm via social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, RenRen and Weibo.

The custom game features three levels, with users and their avatars getting the chance to take on Pepsi Max footballers in a game of skill while running across the crowd (re-creating some of the scenes from the ad). On completing each level players get digital prizes such as Pepsi-branded avatar T-shirts and Pepsi Max football themes for their home screens.

“The New Xbox Live mini-game has enabled Pepsi Max to leverage its high-impact TV advertising collateral in a highly interactive gaming environment,” says Michael Dwan, senior director of global creative solutions, Microsoft EMEA. “Users will want to keep coming back to the game as they strive to reach top of the leader board, sharing their rewards with friends and playing with a host of athletes to eventually unlock their Pepsi Max theme.”