Here is a look at some standout brand-building and advertising communications stories that caught our attention this week:

Rethinking Strategy, Planning & Agency Roles

• When Emotional Reasoning Trumps IQ (as in Strategy)
• Why the World Needs More Misfits
• In Praise of Dissent
• A Simpler Way to Make It Simple
• A Weird Way of Thinking Has Prevailed Worldwide
• Does Availability of Content Make Memorizing (and absorbing) Knowledge Obsolete?
• 10 of the Web’s Most Insightful News Infographics
• John Winsor’s (Victors & Spoils) Message to Harley Davidson
• SCVNGR’s Secret Game Mechanics Playdeck
• Klout: Do You Have Enough Influence to Get the Job?
• The Inevitable Demise of the ‘Social Media Strategist’
• On Web 3.0 (the Internet of Things) and Why I Might Empathize with a Garbage Disposal
• DNA Makes Some People Averse to Surveys
• 5 Mistakes Smart People Make

Innovation, Creativity, New Brand Work

• The 10 Greatest Accidental Inventions of All Time
• What Creativity Crisis?
• Sketch Jam Kickoff
• Pepsi Refresh Doubles Its Commitment to America’s Communities
• Martin Scorcese’s Spot for Chanel
• H&M Fans Got it Right: Lanvin Collaboration
• Honda Takes Social Gaming for a Test Drive
• Information Overload vs. Poor Design
• Two Years of Google Chrome (with beautiful illustrations)
• Kraft Macaroni & Cheese for the Grill (by way of CP+B)
• Tarp Surfing
• Still a Virgin? Sony Pictures helps you lose it
• How QR Codes are Connecting On and Offline Worlds (Brand examples)

Some Implications for the Future of Health

• FearLess Cottage Interview with Jeffrey Smith (author of Seeds of Deception)
• Frog Design’s New Vitals Monitor: An Antidote to Human Error
• Fitness First: Wait Watching

Digital Media & Marketing News

• Video Recap of Apple’s Fall Event
• Apple TV is the One You Date, But You Marry Google TV
• How to Respond When Social Media Attacks Your Brand
• The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time
• Ask A Curator on September 1st, 2010
• Google vs. Facebook and How Marketers Win (or Lose) in 2011
• Alternatives in Behavioral Targeting
• Texting Drives Increasing Mobile Phone Use
• Go Shopping, Change the World with CauseWorld
• Causeon: Groupon for Cause Marketing
• Target to Sell Facebook Credits Gift Cards
• Where Should Brands Spend Their Social Media Budget?
• How to Tell If Your Company is Advanced: 10 Criteria of Social Media Maturity
• Social Interaction Design: Better Engagement Through User Experience and Social Practices
• Demographics of Most Popular Social Media Sites in Infographics
• Twend.It: Track Twitter Topics
• Americans Shrug – for Now – at Location Sharing Apps