Dr. Strangebrand is not usually one for games but every once in a while he is intrigued. Such is the case with live action role-playing or LARP for short, and all the brand extensions surrounding this geeky hobby.

Like many others, the Dr. was first introduced to the phenomena through the movie Role Models, where the character Augie (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse) was an avid LARP-er. Participants of the game act out their character’s roles, usually in costume, in a fictional setting that spans many genres and styles, from sci-fi and medieval to live combat or tell me more

Over the last five years, J.Crew has steadily gained market share and a base of loyal followers who aspire to embody the effortlessly chic aesthetic of J.Crew’s President and Creative Director Jenna Lyons. She’s become a media darling, strutting her style on red carpets and even doing a guest stint on the HBO series Girls. It’s a rise emboldened by her boss, the fearless Mickey Drexler, J.Crew Chairman and CEO.

These two prominent fashion mavens took the helm of the company a decade ago, and soon started driving tell me more

Publishers of children’s products will create books, puzzles and craft activities

New York, NY – May, 29 2014 – PBS KIDS will soon extend its commitment to educating and entertaining children with two new product lines. Parham Santana, The Brand Extension Agency, secured licensing deals for PBS KIDS with Mudpuppy and Downtown Bookworks, both publishers of creative children’s books and products. Downtown Bookworks' new line tell me more

The new coffee bar at Urban Outfitters’ 5th Avenue location.

Omni-channel is the retail buzzword of the moment, but retailers must continue to maximize their largest investment—brick-and-mortar stores, especially those located in high profile and high rent Manhattan locations. In addition to sharpening their merchandise presentations with exclusive product, Club Monaco, Uniqlo, Urban Outfitters, and others have gone one step further. They’ve added coffee tell me more

How do you expand your floor presence nearly three-fold at the world’s largest retailer? Understand how she shops the category.

Parham Santana partnered with Maidenform to help launch Flexees, the number one shapewear brand, at Walmart. The project started with research that uncovered a key insight: Women shop the shapewear category by three usage occasions—casual, career and formal. Based on this truth, the team re-shaped the Flexees brand strategy, evolving the line’s positioning, tell me more