In the world of Altoids, you can't be curious enough. Which is why, with the help of Energy BBDO, the brand is inviting fans to explore the Altoids Hall of Curiosity. The site includes a back story on how "Once upon a time a there were Altoids.

A mint so strong, it changed the course of history forever (and ever and ever.)" Historical relics from Altoids' "curiously strong" past are on display and also available on eBay for auction to the highest bidders.Continue reading...

Despite weekend talks the NBA lockout continues, making Nike's latest "Basketball Never Stops" spot from W+K (above) all the more poignant. Starring a determined LeBron James, Nike's social marketing including a Facebook push and Twitter hashtag, #BasketballNeverStops, managed by the Nike Basketball feed. The owner of the Miami Heat, meanwhile, was fined $500,000 last week for venting on Twitter about the stalemae. More on the campaign below.Continue reading...

TRESemmé gives a "Fresh Start" when an unexpected date arrives (above) and Alberto Culver’s dry shampoo is now number one in the category with Q4 2010 retail sales topping $7.7 million.

Alberto Culver is more than a global beauty-care company, it’s an online savvy brand that launched its first private online community, My Beauty Café, in 2007. When research showed that women wanted hair rejuvenation on days when they didn’t shampoo, the brand had turned to Communispace, a leader in online consumer insights communities founded in 1999.

The Omnicom-owned firm has created more than 400 communities for major brands including Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever and GlaxoSmithKline. Communispace also recently won the Forrester Groundswell Award in the “Business to Consumer, North America” Embracing category for their work with Alberto Culver.Continue reading...

As a major sponsor on Simon Cowell's American version of The X Factor now airing on FOX, it's in Pepsi's interest to engage fans in the series.

That's why it's behind two digital platforms to do just that: Pepsi Pulse and Pepsi Sound Off, which combine gamification and social TV to enhance the viewing experience, and deliver on the promise that fans would experience the program in ways “never imagined.”Continue reading...

Ikea is teaming up with YouTube to bring us one step closer to never having to participate in reality. By accessing a customer's Facebook account, Ikea UK's YouTube App uses social media information to build  "everything you need to be happy in bed."

After accessing your Facebook information, Ikea's YouTube app construct a 3D bedroom designed and furnished based on the lifestyle and interests information obtained from the Facebook profile. The Ikea items in the bedroom are interactive, with a click leading to purchase information on the Ikea UK website.

The app, accessible to anyone with a Facebook account, offers a couple of neat tricks.Continue reading...

A new study out of the Harvard Business School finds that restaurants reviewed on the site can count on higher business. Even a one-star increase on Yelp's five-star ratings scale, according to WSJ.com, "was associated with a 5 to 9% increase in revenue."

The research comes as businesses, especially small businesses, are pondering the benefits of participating in group-buying deals such as Groupon or LivingSocial. They offer not just good deals but new experiences is possibly new parts of your city that haven’t been fully explored. That’s all well and good for the consumer. But for the businesses offering the deal, it might mean eventual bad news.Continue reading...

Religion is trumping pop culture on Facebook, as the "Jesus Daily" page continues to have more active fans and engaged followers than the official Justin Bieber page.

According to AllFacebook.com, during the last three months, more people have “Liked,” commented and shared on Jesus Daily than on any other Facebook page, including the Bieb’s. With almost 8.6 million fans, Jesus Daily counted 4.3 million interactions in a single week, compared with 866,000 interactions from Bieber’s 36 million fans.

Jesus Daily launched as a hobby in 2009 by social media savvy North Carolina diet doctor Aaron Tabor, who learned many of his marketing moves by pitching his diet business on the QVC home shopping channel.Continue reading...

Daily Deal sites are among the fastest growing online vertical. Leaders like Groupon, LivingSocial and Gilt Groupe dominate a category that has attracted $1.6 billion of VC investment this year so far, according to the most recent 2011 Daily Deal Investment Index.

“Globally, there are more than 3,000 total daily deal companies, including more than 1,000 in China, more than 900 in Europe, and more than 600 in South America," according to dailydealmedia.com.

Groupon expects August U.S. sales to rise 12% over last month, with marketing expenses down 20% and declining, as the brand’s focus moves from subscriber acquisition to securing paid customers. Its CEO, Andrew Mason, recently addressed rumors surrounding an imminent IPO: “When I read some of the press this weekend, I realized a rational person could read this stuff and wrongly conclude that we’re in trouble. The irony is hopefully clear: We’ve never been stronger.”

Mason accused competitor LivingSocial.com of “buying gift certificates from national retailers and reselling them to users to give the appearance of a 50 percent off deal,” to which LivingSocial spokesman Brendan Lewis replied: “No Groupon executives have access to our internal revenue or financial numbers, and thus any claims made by such executives should be met with deep skepticism.”Continue reading...