Here is a look at some standout brand-building and 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)

• ‘Hyper-Networked‘ Teens are Drugged Out, Sex-Crazed Binge Drinkers
• Teens’ Risk-Reduction Strategies on Facebook
• Economic Opportunity Index: A survey of how different American demographics/psychographics perceive opportunity
• 37 Emotional Benefits to Use in Marketing
• Looking for Systems in Everyday Life
• W+K on Being Young & Stupid: (& the unreliability of ‘expert’ prognostications)
• An Exploration of Authenticity in Social Media and In Real Life
• Hulu’s New Economics: $240 Million in 2010 Revenue
• Twitter and the Future of TV
• Shopper Marketing Grows Faster than Digital, Social
• Digital Strategy: Bogusky, Gladwell and Revolution
• How to Be a ‘Digital Ninja‘

On Cultural Movements:

• The Anatomy of a Movement
• The Movement is the Medium
• The Bridge Personality (Connecting Cultures)

Social Media/Tech Trends to Pervade in 2011

• Social Media Trends to Watch for in 2011
• Key Tech Trends this Holiday Season
• A Few Days In, Some RockMelt Tips (Social Browsing)
• Why Facebook Browsing Annihilates Web Browsing
• 7 Social Commerce Networks to Watch
• 14 Social Commerce Examples
• Ping Gets Social with Twitter (Social Commerce)
• Groupon Founders Invest in Start-Ups to Manage the Social Web (Group Buying, Social Commerce)
• Why Publishers of Digital Content Need to Know About the Semantic Web

Innovation, Creativity

• 31 Technology Start-Ups That Could Change the World
• Toyota’s Ideas for Good
• Lessons from London’s CaT Conference
• 8 Principles of Innovation
• 5 Best Design and Life Manifestos
• MoMA’s The Contenders 2010
• The Power of Participation: Spending Time at Hyper Island’s Playground
• Google Suggest Venn Diagram Generator
• Paris vs. NYC: A Tally of Two Cities
• MUJI, the Book

Brand Content (for better and sometimes worse)

• Ralph Lauren 4D Fashion Light Show (Projection Mapping)
• New Balance Sneaker Projection Mapping
• Honda Projection Mapping (uhm, noticing a ‘trend’ here)
• Orange’s Balloonacy
• Is Urban Outfitters’ Site Redesign for Real?
• FourSquare Founders Check Into Gap’s Holiday ‘Want’ Ads
• KLM Surprises Foursquare Users with Little Acts of Kindness (making digital experiences…real)
• Planters’ Holiday Party (RDJ!)
• OfficeMax’s Elf Yourself is Back
• Hermes Finger Skate Viral Video (???)

What the Google/Facebook Data Portability Fight Entails:

• Google Gets Feisty, Kicks Data Portability Battle with Facebook Up a Notch
• Facebook Slaps Google: ‘Openness Doesn’t Mean Being Open When It’s Convenient’
• On the Interoperability of Social Networks

Digital Media, Tech & Marketing News & Resources

• Photo Sharing On the Go is the Latest Hot Investment Niche
• Google Now Lets You Preview Search Results Before You Click Them
• Google Refine (a tool for working with messy data)
• User Research Shows iPad is Mobile – But Only Inside the Home
• HTML5 Project Brings Tablet Reading Experience to Any Browser
• Valuing Facebook’s Ads
• For Employees, Facebook Counts as Free Speech
• Facebook ‘Mentions’ Feature Shows What Friends are Talking About
• Weather Channel Creates Private Ad Network