People can’t stop talking about Pinterest, but how can a brand (get involved in the conversation? Here are a few tips based on how some brands have successfully promoted themselves on the site. The trick, don’t push the brand, push the lifestyle. Then again, Millennials are still more influenced by word of mouth than they are social media, despite their “digital native” status) (American Express Open Forum) (ReadWriteWeb)
- McDonald’s is sure to win some points with parents by putting books (in its Happy Meals. Starting today and running through February 7, kids will get a copy of one of six titles from the Mudpuddle Farms series by Michael Morpurgo, who also authored “War Horse.” With the support of the National Literary Trust, the restaurant projects giving away about 9 million books during the campaign which is aimed at building literacy and creativity among children) (Guardian)
– Bob the Builder comes to the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch thanks to a new app (in which Bob and his team build a new train ride at Dinosaur Fun Park. Speaking of apps, device owners are about as likely to say they have a mix of free and paid apps as they are to say they have only free apps. The types they’re most likely to pay for? Games and music) (Kidscreen) (Nielsen)
– We couldn’t agree more with this take on Millennials and TV (which explains that it’s all about the content. Millennials are still watching plenty of shows, but it’s how their watching that’s evolving thanks to falling prices for Internet-ready TVs and devices that bring streaming media to TV screens) (Gen Digital)
– We’re seeing more and more gamification to get Millennails (into politics. First MTV added a fantasy sports component to its Power of 12 initiative, and now a new site built by Millennials encourages young people to “level up” by offering insightful political commentary. Elsewhere, this commentator suggests it’s not Obama that has lost Millennials, but rather Washington and government in general) (Fast Company) (NY Times)
– The Men In Black are back in the third film in the series (which comes with a new twist: time travel. We weren’t big fans of Men In Black II, but this sequel looks like it’ll be a lot of fun. Speaking of Will Smith, it was just announced that he’ll be hosting the Kids Choice Awards this March) (Static Multimedia) (NY Daily News)
- With employment opportunities low during the sluggish economy, more students (are going on to college and grad school, which means more are receiving financial aid. And then there’s also the increase in student loans; Discover has created three new private student loans specifically for grad students in the health professions, law, and MBA programs) (WaPo) (The Street)
