Playboy (PLA) tends to be associated with the magazine and sex. Not the hardcore, nasty kind, of course -- Playboy has always been more than a tad distinguished, staying above board while the adult entertainment industry has chosen to compete in ways that my editor would delete if I even attempted.

With Iconix said to be interested in acquiring Playboy, it needs to think about where it can win with the ailing brand. The smart move may be to ditch the magazine and move away from sex -- it can't compete in either of these markets. Then, it needs to figure out how to make the brand relevant to everyone not in the Boomer generation ... or treat Playboy as an investment with a clock on it.

Nike's (NYSE: NKE) "swoosh" logo is incredibly powerful and captures the essense of the company. Interestingly enough, back in 1971 Carolyn Davidson designed the logo for a mere $35 (for more stories about logos, check out the LogoBlog).

So of course, your company's logo is critical -- in terms of branding, getting customers, and presenting the right image. And, the good news is that there are many affordable options to get a top-notch one.

I often spend a little time over at Blogmaverick.com, where Mark Cuban recently sought to give the world of blogging a little of his insightful perspective. It seems that Mr. Cuban finds little to respect in the world of blogging, or at least in the world of slipshod ,cookie-cutter blogging. Though I found Mark's blog entry a trifle difficult to read, which is quite unusual coming from him, I nonetheless agree with most of the body of his post. I especially agree with his assertion that just because a blog is backed by the name of a well-known media organization does not in itself render that blog worthy of special notice.

Mark Cuban wrote, "...newspapers having 'bloggers' is easily one of the many bad decisions that newspapers have made over the past 10 years." If newspapers are going in a wrong direction by producing blogs, perhaps they need to reinstall the title reporter and drop the title blogger to give a different perspective to the reader. If newspapers are using the term blog simply as a culture hook, then they have it all wrong and they're just selling their reporters short. I believe that I'm in agreement with Mark Cuban when I say that true reporters should be releasing content within some format other than blogs. Blogging is what I do, and I'll be the first to tell you that I'm no reporter. The titles are absolutely not interchangeable, though they may sometimes be used correctly in tandem.

Ad executive: "Guys, guys! I got an idea about how we can change the market's perception of our company and move Xerox (NYSE: XRX) into the 21st century."

CEO: "How exciting! A new product? An innovative marketing campaign?

Ad executive: Even better. A new logo.

The new logo (shown at right) marks the first time that Xerox has identified itself with an image rather than just "XEROX." And what a creative image it is: a circle with a little "X" and now "xerox" is written in lowercase! I shudder to think about how much was spent on Madison Avenue PR firms for that bit of marketing genius.

The move is part of a plan to update Xerox's stodgy image -- the stock hasn't been cool since the 1970s.

But according to The New York Times, "But Michael Watras, president of the brand consultancy Straightline International, said nothing short of a name change would wrest Xerox from the grasp of its copier reputation. 'They should have kept the Xerox brand on some products, but renamed the company.' he said. 'Without that, this is money poorly spent. If I were a shareholder, I'd be outraged.'"

I'm inclined to agree with Mr. Watras. When your name is used as a verb meaning to copy, it's hard to get past the image as a copy company with a simple logo change.

Welcome to the 40th installment of The Wal-Mart Weekly, a column dedicated to bringing you insight, wit, facts, results, opinions and just a bit of everything else when it comes down to a very hot topic these days: Wal-Mart.

Last week, I looked at the "living wage ordinance" suggestion regarding Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and the level of pay and benefits the retailer supplies its employees with. A study out of the University of California (Berkeley) suggested that a tiny increase (1%, give or take) in the average bill of a Wal-Mart customer would be enough to give a decent chunk of pay to existing Wal-Mart employees at or near the poverty line.

Would most customers see the difference? Probably not -- but its employees would reap the benefits of small across-the-board price increase (in terms of total ticket). A plan like this would raise the standard of living for many thousands of Wal-Mart employees, concluded the study. But the question then comes back to: is Wal-Mart a private employer or a social pay and benefits company?

This week, I'll change gears a bit and delve into something entirely different -- private-label brands carried inside the world's largest retailer. Are some of its store brands in need of a refresh? You betcha.

Age-old telecom company and brand AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) is launching a new advertising campaign to convince younger customers that the company is hip. Naturally, the new ads will be edgier and flashier, which apparently everyone in the 18-34 age bracket responds to according to most marketing mavens. But can a company just put some pizazz in their marketing and instantly gain younger customers, or are those customers smarter than these companies realize? Maybe a little of both, right?

Truth is that marketing is what makes most economies go 'round, and AT&T glitzing it up in this department is a testament to that claim. AT&T's purchase of the Cingular brand (and company, heh) earlier in 2007 meant that the company sees the future coming from wireless services and other areas instead of landline telephones and older technology that 10 years from now younger customers won't even know existed.

In a move back to the power of the Cingular brand (which AT&T dumped unceremoniously), the color orange will also be used as the company's primary corporate color instead of blue. The blue AT&T 'world swirl' logo has been around for decades in one form or another, and in addition to changing the color, will AT&T change the corporate logo as well? Maybe it is time to make this move, since many youngsters connect the current AT&T logo with the Death Star from Star Wars. That's not a good thing to have in mind when you're buying a phone.

According to Wired Magazine, NASA has finally come to realize that what you say is more important than what you do. Therefore, it has asked the hive mind (the U.S. public) to suggest a new slogan to replace its bland current one, "Explore. Discover. Understand."

Among those that come to my mind are:

• Went to the Moon, invented Tang. For Mars, who knows?
• Weightless sex. Open up your wallets and make it happen.
• Earth -- we're outta here!
• From the increasingly dirty blue marble all the way to the stars!
• One small step for man, one huge debt for mankind.
• NASA: We can see your house from here.
• Look up, look down -- do you see any insulation all around?
• We play with Mercury.
• We go long.
• We decide which way's up.
• Now offering development property with out of this world views!

Add your inspirations! The best suggestion (as judged by me an impartial, anonymous judge) will receive a free space pen that writes upside down!

NYSE-Euronext Inc. (NYSE: NYX) Chief Executive John Thain has a tricky branding problem.

For one thing, his company's name is a god-awful tongue-twister. Another, as the Wall Street Journal points out, is that it's geographically limiting. So what should he do?

Some are suggesting that the company take out the references to New York. That would be a huge mistake since the NYSE name is so well-known. Besides, why would the company not want to trumpet its association with New York, the epicenter of capItalism?

What the company needs is a new name that underscores its history and allows for the potential for growth. It shouldn't be one of those quasi-Latin sounding corporate names that were all of the rage during the 1990s. The Journal also shows that it would be ludicrous to simply add the names of new acquisitions to NYSE-Euronext.

To solve this sort of problems usually requires millions of dollars in fees to naming consultants to devise some idiotic, quasi-Latin sounding moniker or to makeover an existing word with an incomprehensible spelling. Luckily for NYSE-Euronext shareholders, this won't be necessary.

The Exchange's nickname The Big Board would make a great company name. It's simple, easy-to-remember and already widely used by financial commentators. The only problem is that the related Web addresses have long been taken though Bigboardsite.com is available.

If anyone can think of a better idea, let us know and we will forward your suggestions to the company.

Nearly three weeks ago, a U.S. District Judge ruled that AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) could replace Cingular logos with new AT&T logos on the #31 car in the NASCAR Nextel Cup. Last week an appeals court judge refused to move the August 18 hearing for an appeal from NASCAR and Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) to an earlier date. According to Scene Daily, Sprint Nextel is arguing that the ruling allowing the new logos has diminished the sponsorship value, which is estimated at $700-750 million.

Sprint Nextel is certainly attempting to protect its investment, but AT&T should not be forced to go to court in order to legalize the company's name change on a car of all things. The Cingular brand is dead, so why should that logo remain on the car? Obviously it is gone because of the first ruling, but if Cingular's sponsorship of that car did not dampen the Nextel logo in the four years it was on there, why would the new AT&T logo change that fact?

We should also remember that when Nextel began sponsorship of the premier NASCAR series it was only Nextel. Since then it too has gone through a merger and become Sprint Nextel. That may have no consequence or bearing on the ruling or any outcome, but AT&T has as much right to be in the sport as Sprint does. After all, they both have essentially bought into the series buy buying and merging with companies already in the sport. No the Nextel Cup will not become the Sprint Cup, but Nextel still "exists." Both companies stocks rose yesterday with Sprint closing at $23.34 and AT&T at $40.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has expanded its footprint from PC and server operating systems to internet portals and video games. Now, it is going a step further to help create the impression that it is still one of the leading edge developers in the tech community.

The world's largest software company has introduced a computer that looks like a table and works with a touchscreen. The first markets for the new product, named Surface, will be hotels and casinos where it can be used to buy tickets and play games.

The new product is a pet of Bill Gates, who believes that the next generation of PCs will need to be more intuitive and easier to use. The new product runs the Microsoft Vista OS.

If Gates is right, the new method for using PCs, making them extensions of hand motions and writing instruments could be very good news for companies beyond Microsoft. As PC sales have slowed, firms that are PC-centric including Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), AMD (NYSE: AMD), and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) have suffered.

That may change now if a new generation of PCs drives better sales.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Starbucks (NYSE: SBUX) may get its wish to own the rights to Ethiopia's regional coffee names. Starbucks had spent several months attempting to discourage the Ethiopian government from seeking trademark protection for its coffee names, but will now try to license the names from the country.

Starbucks' efforts to keep the names unprotected resulted in a predictable backlash: National media coverage and numerous organizations lashing out at Starbucks for its self-serving attitude about trademarks. Now Starbucks is doing the right thing, forking over money for the rights to distribute and market products under those names.

Starbucks has to be careful about its image. Its size and success comes with the inevitable rise in anti-Starbucks sentiment, as evidenced by sites like Ihatestarbucks.com. The company has done extremely well to date maintaining the feel of its stores, and is consistently rated one of the best companies to work for, providing benefits to part-time employees.

But blunders like the Ethiopian coffee scandal will only hurt it. The bad press Starbucks drew was probably not worth the few dollars it was trying to save.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG), which today reported better-than-expected fiscal third quarter quarter results, owes no small part of its success to Tide detergent. It's easy to see why.

Like many consumers, I am a loyal Tide user. In my unscientific opinion, it's orders of magnitude better than other brands. Plus, the Cincinnati-based company continues to amaze me with how many variations of this stuff it can dream up. My laundry room now has Mountain Spring Tide. That's sounds great, even though I am not quite sure that that means since it's been years since I've smelled an actual mountain spring.

Luckily for Procter & Gamble shareholders, there are plenty of Tide devotees like me. Net income in the quarter that ended in March rose to $2.51 billion, or 74 cents a share, compared with $2.21 billion, or 63 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 8.4% to $18.69 billion. Analysts had expected profit of 74 cents on revenue of $18.56 billion, according to Thomson Financial

Procter & Gamble also raised its guidance for the year from $3.01 to $3.03 per share compared with $2.99 to $3.03. Analysts are forecasting profit of $3.03. Sales are expected to rise 11 % to 12% this year and 5% on an organic basis.

That's quite a bit of Tide.

Still, I guess investors were expecting better. Shares of the company are trading down in pre-market trading. Maybe the company needs to work harder to come up with even more variations.

How early summer morning?

Better yet, why don't you send me your ideas for new Tides and I'll forward them to the company.