More recognition for our client, the High Point Market, for their tremendously successful Style Spotters Promotion that premiered this past fall.

Volkswagen's "The Bark Side" is the #1 most shared ad leading into the Super Bowl.

To create Sabi, a McKinsey-trained former VC paired with all-star designer Yves Behar. Their process offers lessons about finding a good business opportunity--and a monumental change in American life.

Tátil, a Brazil-based design agency, has created a miraculous, multi-sensory logo for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The logo, which was designed in full 3D, offers a whole new level of accessibility, as it can be interpreted by absolutely anyone, regardless of a disability.

While it may not be practical for every brand to implement a 3D version of their logo, this step speaks volumes to the way brand identity can be lost among the blind. After seeing this, I can’t find a reason why major brands wouldn’t be very interested in the idea of illuminating themselves to members of the population that cannot perceive their visual identity, especially now with this precedence in place.

Rio 2016 Multisensory Paralympic Brand from Tátil Design de Ideias on Vimeo.

 

Pinterest has been dominating tech and social media news as of late, arguably making it the breakout “next social media thing” of the new year. For those who aren’t familiar, Pinterest is a way to create moodboards of ideas, items you love, and things that inspire you. It’s also one of the fastest growing social properties for brands and consumers alike on the internet. Pinterest lets you engage with design-minded consumers, run Pinterest campaigns, and generate site traffic.

How to use it:

Pinterest “Pin it to Win it” contests generally utilize Facebook to share the rules and winners, and in some cases contestants need to submit a link to their pinboard on Facebook for consideration. Pinboard entries should include hashtags and/or @mentions of the brand to ensure virality. Winners tend to be chosen either by the contest sponsor or by popularity, i.e. how many likes, comments, and repins it gets. Influential winners can be added to a shared pinboard – a highly valued prize.

Some great brands and campaigns on Pinterest include:

Real Simple - Pinterest drives more traffic than Facebook for Real Simple. Real Simple plans to integrate Pinterest more deeply into RealSimple.com, starting with ‘Pin it’ buttons on the website, which make it easier for fans to pin product images. Any image pinned from a site links directly back, a potential source of revenue.

Nordstrom  - Nordstrom uses Pinterest to see what trends and styles the community likes based on engagement  – likes, comments, and repins.

Seahawks  -The Seahawks’ Pinterest contest requires users to start a Seahawks themed pinboard for a chance at winning 12 prizes. Contestents’ pin boards must include their tagged #favoriteseahawk, #FavoriteSeahawksPhoto, and #musthavegamedaygear. The rules and prizing were managed through a Facebook tab.

Lands’ End – In their “Pin It to Win It” Pinterest contest, ten fashionistas won $250 gift cards to Lands’ End Canvas by creating pinboards re-pinning their favorite Lands’ End Canvas products from Lands’ End pinboards.

High Point Market – High Point Market recruited home fashion trendsetters to capture images of their favorite finds as they walk the High Point Market, listing the exhibitor name and showroom number with the photo. The trendsetters also present the exhibitor with a sign that highlights the Style Spotter’s name and a QR code and URL for the Pinterest board. Everyone can vote or comment on their favorite pinboards and the most popular pinboard wins that Style Spotter a free trip to the next High Point Market.

Gilt Home - Gilt Home uses Pinterest to introduce their audience to in-house industry experts, promote contests and events, and share pinboards with design influencers on creative ways to decorate your home, which allows cross pollination of readership. (client)

Other great Pinterest boards to check out: Klout, Cabot Cheese, Bergdorf Goodman, Whole Foods,Williams-Sonoma, BHLDN, Feterie, Etsy, VandM, Rue, Lonny, and Nina Garcia.

Pinterest is a great platform, and we're happy to see our client, the High Point Market, achieve recognition for the tremendous trend-themed, Pinterest-hosted promotion they premiered during their Fall show.

If 2011 will be remembered for the irruption of Google+ onto the social media center stage, it could also be rightly defined as the year when online influence measuring came of age. Klout and its close competitors Kred and Peer Index have been busy rewriting the rules of the game at a speedy pace, and – despite their more or less obvious imperfections – there is no way back with respect to the step forward they represent and their long-term, profound implications for online reputation and personal branding.

This article originally appeared on Personal Branding Blog – Dan Schawbel and has been republished with permission.

To support a new initiative from Intel aimed at uncovering and supporting young Innovators, PSFK has tapped some of the world’s established innovators to share some insights into what young entrepreneurs should be on the lookout for in 2012. Below is a summary of their thoughts.

via PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2011/12/trends-for-2012-ten-innovators-share-their-though...

From industrial to interior design, visualization to graphic, the world's best are presented here. To view the interactive infographic, shoot over to: http://j.mp/qDQa5K

18 million users in a little less than a month - that's amazing growth. It will be interesting to see how the email address issue plays out and how it affects adoption in the long-term.