We’re back with our weekly recap of the interesting and inspiring, with a particular eye for what shifts and ideas brands should be tracking, evaluating and acting on. This is a collection of some standout business strategy, brand-building and digital media stories catching our attention. In short, some key themes we saw concentrate this week:

• The continued importance of content (strategy) in marketing – and what makes it worth reading and spreading
• Further examples of what makes for an interesting story/narrative – from locale to sincerity to service/experience
• Hype vs. sustainability – what makes new behaviors (or platforms, products or experiences) stick
• Interesting: YouTube continuing to livestream more events – from the US presidential debates to Jay-Z’s concert

Discussions Shaping Strategy, Creativity & Innovation  

• Advertising is Dying, Long Live Design
• A Short Lesson In Perspective (on the notion of the idea, and life, in advertising)
• Holiday Sales to Grow As Much As 4%
• Bottling Customer Experience (the best customer experiences tend to come from co’s with major service components)
• Correcting Creativity: The Struggle for Eminence (on the need to challenge the status quo)
• The State of the Internet (deck)
• 7 Basic Types of Stories: Which One Is Your Brand Telling?
• Why I Got Fired from Facebook (A $100 Million Lesson) – lessons on the type of employee to be (or not)
• Content Strategy and UX: A Modern Love Story (a good UX is somewhat dependent on good content)
• 3 Examples Why Content Is More Effective Than Traditional Ads
• What’s Your Powerful Brand Message? Think Local (Real Madrid + ManU have succeeded by emphasizing their locale)
• Social Media Doesn’t Connect Us. It Deepens Existing Connections.
• The Pivot: How Politicians Get Away with Dodging the Question
• How to Make New Behaviors Last for Good (our own and others’)

Notable Ideas: New Products, Platforms and Projects 

• The 2012 Digital 100 (Business Insider’s)
• Ranking the Top 50 Startups (focus on business tech)
• The Worst Pieces of Design Ever Done
• Xen: The World’s First Interest Exchange (a new network trading interests as currency – necessary??)
• Branch Rethinks the Social Cliches that Rack Facebook and Twitter (public conversation platform, but invite-only debates)
• Meet the Nimble-Fingered Interface of the Future
• ResumUp (who and what you need to know to achieve your career goals)
• Skype in the Classroom: Humans in Space

Brands, Companies and Entities of Note (some more obvious than others)

• How AirBnB Evolved to Focus on Social Rather Than Searches
• For Oreo Campaign Finale, A Twist On Collaboration
• The Real Problem with Apple’s Maps Isn’t the Maps – It’s Apple’s Whole Strategy (on the lack of cloud computing investment)
• An Experimental New Starbucks Store: Tiny, Portable and Hyper Local
• How Fage Lost the Greek Yogurt War (Stateside – lessons in entering a new market)
• Target Releases Shoppable Film
• Estee Lauder’s #MySimplePleasures Instagram #InstaWalk
• Food Network Wants Startups’ Pitch (think local, mobile, UX for recipes)

Digital & Social Media News and Resources

• Mobile Phones and Tablets Now Account for 1 in 8 US Internet Page Views
• YouTube Live Streams US Presidential Debates for First Time
• Jay-Z’s Barclays Center Concert Livestreamed on YouTube
• Meh. No, Thanks. Three Hyped Tech Products Consumers Are Passing On (electric cars, mobile payments, 3D-TV)
• 13 Ways to Make Something Go Viral (by Jonah Peretti)
• Facebook Hits 1 Billion Users
• Your Facebook Fans Are Hiding Your Posts At An Alarming Rate
• What Sheryl Sandberg Says is Facebook’s No. 1 Problem Right Now (finding the best ways to advertise on Facebook mobile)
• Want to Advertise on Tumblr? Probably Should Create Some Cool GIFs
• Reasons to Follow A Brand on Twitter
• Twitter Rolls Out Promoted Tweets Surveys
• Foursquare in Space! Mars Curiosity Checks In on Mars
• Introducing the Ability to Follow Thought Leaders on LinkedIn