London-based creative agency JKR, which for the second year round has been running the blog for branding & marketing industry people—Design Gazette—has recently published its second Anthology called “The Blue Lady’s New Look and Other Curiosities”. It rounds up all the core trends and observations previously appreared online on the blog and adds a lot more new thinking on top.

Russian subsidiary of Interbrand, the leading global agency in creating and managing brand value, in cooperation with the Kommersant DENGI weekly, announces the publication of its annual Best Russian Brands 2010 lead table. It is the fifth year that Interbrand research in Russia has helped to define the top 40 national trademarks that create and retain high value in today’s competitive marketplace.

This festive season, beer brands are demonstrating their dedication to classical Christmas songs and creating their own modern versions of festive tunes. Grolsch has recently unveiled its own adaptation of the ‘Oh, Christmas Tree’ (‘O Tannenbaum’) carol—the best known version of which was  written in 1824 by Leipzig-based teacher Ernst Anschütz (the melody is an old folk tune). The beer brand created a video Christmas card, which features the Swingtop Philharmonic Orchestra playing the iconic melody on green bottles.