Doodle 4 Google, an international creative contest for young artists to create their own Google doodles, this year was hosted in Russia for the first time. While the company’s headquarter chose a futuristic topic for the 2012 event («If I could travel in time, I’d visit…»), Google Russia gave the contest a rather patriotic twist having devoted it to the Russian authentic culture and history («My city. My country»). As it was announced yesterday, Pyotr Alekseyev, an 8-year-old schoolboy from Belgorod, named the winner.

This month sees the two biggest Russian financial companies — VTB Group and BinBank — to launch their new retail banking brands on the local market. While VTB’s Leto Bank is seen as a future leader of the mass retail lending with a developed chain of offices, Elixir has recently started operating in Moscow and St Petersburg as a virtual financial branch issuing credit cards for individuals online.

Heineken teamed up with LA-based retail store Union LA and fashion designer Mark McNairy to create a new stunning product as part of the ongoing creative “Heineken 100” project. Together they have created a new  kelly green colorway for McNairy’s classic saddle shoe as part of the program, which mission is to champion “Men of the World,” visionaries and tastemakers.

The Dewar’s blended Scotch whisky brand has collaborated with Freemans Sporting Club to create a special holiday kit, which embodies the brands’ style and attitude to true of male symbols. The whisky brand approached FSC to create a kit just for upcoming winter holidays 2012—the finished product is a great 6-pocket bag, handmade in NYC, which includes a range of travel essentials.

Сoca-Cola is reorganizing its prime hub, www.thecoca-colacompany.com, to make it fit into the modern digital environment, shifting from the corporate website image to an online magazine positioning. According to The New York Times, the update is described by the company’s executives “as the most ambitious digital project they have undertaken.” The scope of subjects to be covered on the reimagined platform is ranging from entertainment, the environment, health and sports to corporate announcements, the website will also feature press releases as well as opinion columns, interviews, video, audio and photo content.