"Can the Virtuous Mouse and the Wealthy Elephant Live Happily Ever After?" focuses on acquisitions of three social icons: Tom's of Maine acquired by Colgate, Stonyfield Farm Yogurt purchased by Danone, and Ben & Jerry's bought by Unilever. (Similar deals include L'Oreal's deal for The Body Shop, Cadbury Schweppes' acquisition of Green and Black's, and Coca Cola purchasing a significant interest in HonestTea.)

As the authors write, "Making a virtuous mouse and rich elephant merger work is a delicate, but potentially high-value undertaking in terms of generating both greater economic and social value."

Want to give your customers a little brand experience? Then open up a store. You’re not a retailer? Who cares…. Companies are using retail space in imaginative ways to, quite literally, give their customers a taste of their products. Isaac Mizrahi launched his range for the Target chain in a special store, Song - the value airline - announced their launch with a SoHo store where you could even try the seats and eat the food!!

Even though we're down to the last week for Christmas pop-up shops, Pepsi has decided to make an appearance with their new logo by hosting a one-day fling from 12-7pm on Saturday in the Openhouse event space at 201 Mulberry Street in Nolita. Reeling from their success last week in LA, the "Pepsi Proper" Shop, co-sponsored by streetwear site Hypebeast, will absolutely be attracting an eclectic crowd.