Red Bull, the most popular variety of kiddie speed (at least until caffeinated beef jerky or caffeinated maple-bacon lollipops catch up), is besting Coca-Cola (KO) in Winter Olympics marketing.

Red Bull’s got the better sponsorships, including of Shaun White and Lindsey Vonn, “two of the top three athletes on Forbes‘ top-earning Winter Olympians list,” says Fast Company. “Coke’s athletes, including speed skater Apolo [sic] Ohno, aren’t exactly nobodies, but they’re definitely low-profile compared to superstars like White.”

Some observers pooh-pooh the winter games, noting the superior marketing juice of the Summer Olympics. Good point. I haven’t heard of any of the winter athletes mentioned by Fast Company. Granted, I don’t pay much attention to such things, but I surely have heard of Michael Phelps. “But,” Fast Company says, “Red Bull may wind up having that last laugh” because this year’s Winter Games might draw many more viewers than usual, thanks to the weak economy. Sunday’s Super Bowl drew a record-smashing number of viewers partly for the same reason—people are increasingly staying home to watch sports on TV. 

Burger King (BKC) identifies its targeted demographic as “superfans.” Until now, that has meant young guys who regularly stuff themselves with fast food. But now Burger King is redefining the term: Advertising Age reports that the company has taken to defining a “superfan” as anyone who regularly stuffs himself—or herself—with fast food.

After years of creating obnoxious (and occasionally clever) ads aimed at young men, Burger King is “courting the very same ladies it’s happily risked alienating, with lower-calorie ‘Positive Steps’ combos slated for promotion in women’s magazines,” Ad Age says. “The company has also signed on to do another Twilight promotion this summer, for what is now being called the ‘female superfan.’ It seems a bit of a shift for a company whose franchisees have in recent years fretted that the brand’s advertising would alienate women, seniors and minorities.”

The reason for the shift: sales have been falling for a year, even as McDonald’s (MCD) and some other fast-food companies have flourished (at least in relative terms) during the recession. 

Loblaw, Canada’s largest grocer, has joined Safeway (SWY) and Target (TGT) in halting the sale of some endangered varieties of seafood. All three chains made their announcements over the past couple of weeks. It seems like the start of a real trend.

No longer will Loblaw sell Chilean sea bass, shark, orange roughy, or skate. The aim is for the chain to be selling only “sustainable” fish by 2013. Loblaw worked with WWF Canada, Greenpeace, and the Marine Stewardship Council to determine what seafood is sustainable and what isn’t.

None of these efforts seems like greenwashing; all three chains are halting sales of some big-selling products. That said, there’s a good deal of marketing mojo that can be derived from such efforts, as companies like Wal-Mart (WMT) have learned.

Target has stopped selling farmed salmon at its stores nationwide, now offering only the wild-caught variety. Greenpeace, which worked with Target, described wild salmon as “relatively sustainable.” After shrimp, salmon is the second biggest-selling seafood in the United States. Farmed salmon wreaks all kinds of havoc, including polluting of waterways and spreading parasites. 

Safeway, meanwhile, is working with the conservation group FishWise to develop a more comprehensive policy for marketing sustainable seafood. The chain plans to screen out suppliers that do not conform and to stop selling grouper, red snapper, and monkfish, all of which are overfished.

Long time friend, colleague and Borderbuster fan, Paul Barsch, Global Services Marketing, Teradata (CA), who has weighed in thoughtfully from time to time on this blog (e.g., here and here), has written still another provocative piece for the Marketing Profs Daily Fix Blog with a headline of: “Going For Growth … In China.”

Fortunately, I had the great honor and pleasure of being interviewed for part of it. I say fortunately because Paul has a way of making all information concerning China — palatable. And in this case, he doesn’t let us down. Here’s an excerpt:

Why all the difficulty? Western firms must deal with the fact that for all the excitement of capitalistic economic zones in China, most of the enterprises in China are state owned. That means Western companies must deal with plenty of costly and unending red tape from protective Chinese authorities. And while China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, there is much work to be done to level the playing field for Western companies to effectively compete.

So take a moment to read Paul’s post to learn tips and strategies for how to prosper in Chinese markets. The comments are enlightening too — be sure to add your own.

Many thanks Paul!

According to Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO of Gallup, “hardly.”

There are still vast new business frontiers left unexplored.

– thank goodness!

Here are 14 questions that Jim addresses with interviewer Jennifer Robison of GALLUP Management Journal® (GMJ) on the future of corporate leadership.

GMJ: Before you talk about the next generation of leadership, what was the last generation of leadership?

GMJ: How is the business jungle more dangerous? And what should the next generation of leaders know?

GMJ: What do you mean by “states of mind”?

GMJ: Explain what you mean by “mathematically describing states of mind.”

GMJ: So why will leaders who can quantify states of mind be the winners in this new world?

GMJ: What’s the value of mathematically describing states of mind?

GMJ: Do you need direct access to people to affect states of mind?

GMJ: That’s the political angle. What’s the business value of quantifying states of mind?

GMJ: Such as workers and customers?

GMJ: Quantifying your customers’ states of mind seems difficult and expensive. Isn’t it cheaper and easier just to create their state of mind through marketing?

GMJ: That’s a lot of complicated things for businesses — or governments, for that matter — to measure.

GMJ: When does policy succeed?

GMJ: How, ultimately, will behavioral economics data benefit leaders?

GMJ: Well, yes. What’s the meaning of life?

Read — but get yourself in the right “state of mind” before doing so — the fascinating discussion here. And while we are on Gallup, you might also explore the Gallup World Poll.