Selling books got a whole lot sexier this week as Barnes & Noble hosts a virtual Brooklyn Decker. It's all an augmented reality stunt for Esquire magazine, whose readers voted her the sexiest woman alive, prompting a February cover that is now on newsstands.

The model/actress is virtually appearing in 700 Barnes & Noble stores via GPS-enabled technology that allows iPhone users to have their picture taken with her virtual image. It's also a clever digital marketing coup for all concerned.Continue reading...

Social media has pretty much reinvented everything, including the way brand advertisers approach digital marketing. So it's no surprise that marketers are employing a promotional technique commonly used in the past, but updated for the digital world.

Live product demos (and live television shows, for that matter) dominated the three television networks in TV's heyday, the 1950s and 1960s, as Stuart Elliott points out in today's New York Times. It wasn't unusual to see personalities like John Cameron Swayze demonstrate a Timex watch being mercilessly tortured in a live television commercial that ended with the famous line, "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking."

Fast forward to 2011 and watch Hewlett-Packard reinvent the idea. Marking its first foray into branded entertainment, the tech brand will stage a live product demo on YouTube, Facebook and mobile this Friday — instead of TV. And while it won't be torturing one of its Web-connected printers, HP hopes the blend of live + crowdsourced + comedy will engage viewers with its new technology.Continue reading...

Levi's announced that they're looking for the next Levi's girl, with a national search underway through Feb. 2nd: "Are you hip, passionate about life, and social media savvy? If so, you could win the job of a lifetime: acting as the face and voice of Levi's women and the Shape What's to Come online community. To enter, upload a video telling us why you'd be perfect for the job at facebook.com/levis."

Despite our raised eyebrow at Levi's for referring to the paid internship/social media ambassadorship (announced last June) as "the Levi's girl," the first such hire — artist Meghan Ellie — brought social media savvy, artistic skills, refreshing honesty for a corporate blogger, and a quirky enthusiasm to the role. She leaves big boots to fill as she heads back to Brooklyn following her six-month stint at Levi's HQ in San Francisco.

Procter & Gamble is offering men tips on relationships, parenting, cooking, cleaning and health in Man of the House, a digital marketing initiative centered around a microsite that subtly promotes its brands in a "Girls Keep Out!" setting. 

Promotions and "house ads" for its brands such as Gillette are found alongside original content, including frank videos (such as the "Ask a Pregnant Lady" series, above), blog posts, articles organized by channel (such as money and career) and other guy-to-guy subjects.Continue reading...

American Airlines wins court order barring Sabre from hiding flight and fare information.

Barneys rumors pan out, as creative director Simon Doonan steps down to become 'ambassador.'

Campbell's soup returns to UK after two-year break.

CNN simplifies on-air look.

Facebook rolls out new profile design to all users.

Groupon raises record-breaking $950 million in venture capital.Continue reading...

FedEx is launching a digital web experience as part of its global advertising campaign focused on business trends and insights.

The brand's new FedEx Delivers to a Changing World microsite invites users to interact with content from The Economist Intelligence Unit, the research arm of The Economist, on topics including air travel, urban populations, entrepreneurs and success, the coffee effect, household appliances, education, recycled paper, and more.

An animated, dynamic world map that transmogrifies second by second mirroring trends in real-time is a central feature. Visitors can analyze EIU data, share information, participate in polls and print a 2D marker that illuminates as a floating 3D world globe with economic indicators by country.Continue reading...

With all the talk of QR codes these days, Microsoft Tag has been out in the marketplace for over a year, working with brand marketers eager to test the customizable 2D barcode. It can be displayed anywhere and connects almost anything in the physical world to virtual information, entertainment, and interactivity via a mobile device.

Tag just wrapped up its largest campaign to date, in partnership with Allure magazine, which yielded a whopping 444,572 Tag scans. That breaks the record held by JAGTAG for its 2D barcode campaign which generated 100,000 scans for a Sports Illustrated campaign earlier this year.Continue reading...

Levi's latest move in wooing women: an online fitting service. Having recently relaunched its global sizing for women with the Curve ID system, America's iconic jeans-maker aims to help them find their ideal fit in the privacy of their own (digital) spaces.

The digital offering, now available in 20 languages and 50 countries, was created by Duke/Razorfish. Based on 60,000 women’s figures worldwide, the goal is to give women almost a customized experience that eases the frustrations of the endless search for the perfect pair of jeans for their body shape and measurements.

"We started out by looking at the internal dialogue women have with themselves when trying on jeans. What we found is that when the jeans don’t fit, women blame themselves instead of the jeans," comments Mary Alderete, VP global women's marketing, to Brand Republic. “From now on, it is shape that counts, not size."Continue reading...