It’s fitting that the ancient mythical figure Icarus is the poster boy for marketing maven Seth Godin’s latest manifesto, The Icarus Deception.

A prodigious author of more than a dozen bestselling books translated into more than 30 languages, this aims to be more than just a book. It's Godin’s most provocative thesis to date, using the entire publishing process itself as a marketing experiment to illustrate how the connection economy works by creating and activating a community to participate by making and sharing their own "art" (he takes a broad view on art, as you'll see).

Godin’s aim is to reinvent the process of writing, making, funding, marketing and launching a "book" by sparking a public art-sharing project. On Monday he launched the first ever "Icarus Session," get-togethers organized via Meet-up and his website Squidoo, in a bid to create a worldwide event in 1,262 cities with 11,168 "Linchpins" and "Artists." 

The sessions invite strangers to share (in 2 minutes and 20 seconds) something they've made or something that inspires them. That passion could be a company or brand, a piece of art or literature, or another creative expression. Godin will pick the best to publish on YouTube.

As much about the process as the end result, Godin sold his publisher, booksellers and readers/participants on the concept by launching it as a crowdfunded project on the Kickstarter website. The creative trailblazer launched the project on June 18, 2012 and ended it July 17, 2012, having raised $287,342 (well above his goal of $40,000, which he passed within three hours of launch) from 4,242 backers.

A video that Godin co-produced with Squarespace and highlighted in a blog post, features Sasha Dichter (Acumen Fund), Sarma Melngailis (One Lucky Duck), Josh Rubin (Coolhunting), and Tina Roth Eisenberg (Swiss Miss/Tattly).Continue reading...

Coca-Cola has long made happiness part of its brand DNA. Now extending that joy into social, the iconic brand's Happy Places photo app and social network is encouraging people to share their happy moments with a new photo-sharing social network, Happy Places, and a free mobile app to enable it. The launch comes as Twitter is rumored to be ready to launch a photo filter, a move that Instagram's CEO says doesn't scare him.

While the website's domain name was registered in June it's not yet activated, although its free iOS app was released November 1st, described as: “that place where you can upload photos of your happy moments, share them, and remember them any time you want. Take a picture or pick one from your albums, add it to your profile, and share that moment of happiness with your followers in Happy Places, or your friends in Facebook or Twitter.”Continue reading...

We've noted how McDonald's, as one of the TOP sponsors of the London 2012 Olympics, is promoting its new lower-calorie menu and Team USA contest in the US, and encouraging kids (and adults) in the UK to get active and check out its revamped Happy Meal, among other local marketing efforts ahead of the games.

The company brought its top executives to London for the Games opening last week, where the big message was "McDonald's Takes Olympic Stage to Announce Advances in Children's Well-Being, Menu Innovation and Access to Nutrition Information."

Now the Summer Games have started, the fast-food giant is rolling out digital and social content that aims to "match the fun, competitive spirit of the Olympics," according to a spokesperson.Continue reading...

Apple slims down next iPhone as analyst says that iPad Mini and iTV are real products.

AT&T is introducing shared data plans as iPhone users fear iPhone FaceTime charges.

Bank of America swings to profit.

Bob Evans may be considering sale of Mimi's Cafe.

Coke and PepsiCo step up campaign against New York soda ban.

DirecTV finds unlikely friends in dispute with Viacom.

Ericsson earnings plunge on economic slowdowns.Continue reading...

In a bid to outdo last year's April Fool's Day jokes, a few April Foolin' Around branded fake gags today include:

• Richard Branson's next adventure, Virgin Volcanic, will take the intrepid billionaire to the center of the earth with Tom Hanks;

• in addition to really advanced search and Google TV Click, perennial prankster Google brings its self-driving car to NASCAR racing (above) and, below, announces Morse Code-based Gmail Tap (double your typing speed!) with LL Cool J, plus 8-bit Google Maps for the neglected Nintendo Entertainment System, and more:Continue reading...

Wikileaks spoofed Mastercard's "Priceless" campaign this week. Watch the spot below, along with new perfume commercials featuring Scarlett Johansson and Christina Aguilera, plus place branding with a twist and more.Continue reading...

New York's Finest is extending crime-fighting to social media, with the New York Police Dept. creating a unit to track potential law-breakers who reveal their plans or brag about crimes on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook.

According to a report in the New York Daily News, NYPD Assistant Commissioner Kevin O'Connor, 23-year veteran and resident gang guru, has been tapped to head up the new juvenile justice unit charged with mining social media for signs of troublesome house parties, gang showdowns, and stings to catch predator perverts. 

The growing power of social media, in particular Twitter and BlackBerry messaging, has been evident in the London riots this week, and utilized by both sides – cops and rioters, sharing news about police positioning and targets to burn and loot, and outraged citizens posting photos of looters on Tumblr, Facebook and Flickr of the rioters.Continue reading...

The “Army strong” marketing theme introduced in 2006 keeps on getting stronger – and more social. The above video, voiced by actor Gary Sinise, highlights "leadership" by playing up the army uniform as a “symbol of strength,” and suggests, “Try it on at goarmy.com.” 

Additional spots in the US Army's new campaign highlight the themes of education and opportunity. But the campaign goes beyond traditional TV advertising, as the US military's marketers, ever tilling for new recruits, are taking their campaign to Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube.Continue reading...