Here is a look at some standout brand-building and advertising communications stories that caught our attention this week – as well as some macro trends and themes we’re tracking to:

Strategies & Shifts Reshaping Planning, Branding & Advertising (and Business)

• The Agency of the Future
• How the Internet Has Changed Advertising
• Brand Loyalty in the Age of Social Media
• (Almost) All Market Research is Wrong)
• Seize the Persuasive Moment After ‘Thank You’

• Be a Leader, Not a Pollster (or don’t let public opinion guide your brand strategy)
• 7 Habits of Effective Marketing Organizations
• The Planner’s Book of Things to Make
• You Are What You Watch, Research Suggests

On the future of media – including objects:

• Dentsu and Berg on the Future of Rich Media Consumption
• Designing Behavior and Robospam (Networked Objects, Internet of Things)

Informative Statistics (& Infographics)

• thinkholiday with Google
• Location Services Have Not Caught On
• 10 Mindblowing Social Gaming Stats
• The Mobile Developer Journey, from App to Monetization
• Everything Explained through Flowcharts

Innovation, Creativity

• The UK’s Most Effective Ads
• 7 Ways Games Reward the Brain
• Truth in Numbers? Everything, According to Wikipedia
• Burberry‘s CEO Discusses the Company’s ‘Soft Strategies’
• Free Online Course Materials: MIT OpenCourse Ware
• What is Digital Creativity?
• Why the HTML5/JS Community Should Respect the Flash Community
• Flash vs. HTML5
• America’s Happiest Companies

Brand Content (for better and sometimes worse)

• IDEO: Nine Examples of Branded Environments that Mimic the Web’s Fluidity
• Nike on the Power of Social Media (on ‘Write the Future‘)
• More from Honda’s ‘Dream the Impossible’ Series
• Lanvin for H&M Fall/Winter 2010
• The iPad and Your Brand: 6 Things to Know
• Gatwick Airport Unveils ‘Discovery’ Tour Using Barcodes
• How Cirque du Soleil Uses Social Media
• Star Wars Augmented Reality Mobile Game

Digital Media, Tech & Marketing News & Resources

• New Facebook Places Features Poised to Expand ‘Checking in’ to the Masses
• Foursquare: A Glimpse at the Future (more on the future of check-ins)

• Gravity App Scours Facebook & Twitter to Predict Your Interests (predictive search)

• Comscore Reports Sept 2010 US Mobile Subscriber Market Share
• Facebook ‘Unlike’ Comes to the Newsfeed
• Apple Envisions Interactive, Augmented Reality iPhone Multiplayer Games
• Do Mobile Users Prefer Browsers Over Apps?
• State of the App Industry 2010
• International eCommerce: Three Things to Consider

Permeating mobile and social commerce:

• How Big Retail Deploys Social Commerce
• Walmart’s Group-Buy App in Facebook: 10 Ideas for Competitors
• On iPhone 5 Mobile Payment Speculation
• Groupon Lets Merchants Process Deals with Smartphones
• Leaving Your Friends Location-Based Surprises via Foursquare
• Amazon Allows You to Send Giftcards to Friends on Facebook
• Facebook Deal Brings Customers to Your Facebook Place
• How The Gap and 24-Hour Fitness Plan to Use Facebook Deals
• How Facebook is Pulling an Android – and Why