Mercedes-Benz: The Twee...

Finding a car space at Christmas time is a daunting task just about anywhere in the world, so Mercedes-Benz created “The Tweet Fleet” to fix just that by tapping into the “Park Assist” feature. Mercedes-Benz Park Assist can automatically detect empty car spaces near you as you drive, so what if they could take that Related Digital Buzz Posts: Mercedes-Benz Tweet Race Case Study Mercedes-Benz: B-Class Microsite Mercedes Benz: Sexy E Class Coupe Website

Zynga Gets a Home of It...

It’s a proud and a sad day for Facebook, as their little boy Zynga sets out on an adventure all his own. Armed with a degree in gamification, Zynga is taking on the world from his new digs, Zynga.com. But don’t think that means he’s leaving home for good. Oh no. Like most young adults, he’s keeping his old room back home just in case. Here’s Mark Pincus to tell you more about their new “ Platform for Play .” Zynga.com is designed to make it easier for you to play with friends. We’re excited to offer new features like the live Social Stream which will enable you to play in real time with your friends and find new ones. Player profiles will let you check your friends’ helpfulness score to see who’s most likely to help you back. And you’ll be able to chat and play live with your friends and a community of players interested in the same games as you. At Zynga, our first value is to build games our friends and family love to play. And when we launch a new product or game, for us it’s like Christmas day with the chance to surprise and delight millions of you. I like his enthusiasm. This move is interesting because it’s a whole new dynamic for both Zynga and Facebook. The two will still be connected. You’ll still need your Facebook logins and coins to play on Zynga.com, but it will be like bringing your toys over to a neighbor’s house instead of playing at home. Manuel Bronstein, general manager of Zynga.com said in a press release: “Zynga.com was created based on listening to players and understanding what they want and need to make their play time more fun and meaningful.” Simple, but oh so smart. People love to play Zynga games, but as the games got more complex, Facebook’s restrictive environment started to get in the way. With this new platform, Zynga can expand in ten different directions. They can run a dedicated gaming fan community without the distractions of Aunt Minnie’s family reunion photos and pings from that annoying person you avoid at work. Marketing Pilgrim’s Social Channel is proudly sponsored by Full Sail University, where you can earn your Masters of Science Degree in Internet Marketing in less than 2 years. Visit FullSail.edu for more information. What’s funny, is that Facebook was built on the concept of having it all and doing it all in one place. Now it seems we’re reverting back to the concept of keeping our life parts in separate buckets. Will Zynga’s new community hurt Facebook? Unlikely. There will always be a group of casual players who like the convenience of clicking through from their profile page. But for those dedicated gamers who drop hundreds of dollars for in-game upgrades and virtual goods, Zynga.com could become their first social stop of the day.

Disrupt NYC Is Back! Ba...

Thanksgiving is over, Christmas has come and gone, a New Year has arrived, and spring flowers are starting to bloom. Hopefully you know what that means. That means it’s almost time to disrupt the technology industry yet again. Disrupt NYC is back and bigger than ever. We will be taking over New York City this May for our incredibly popular Hackathon , and our world-renowned Disrupt conference . We will have more guests and speakers than last year, more hackers from all around the world, more topics to dive into about the technology industry, and more twists, turns, and surprises than we have ever had before. Disrupt NYC will be taking place on May 21st through the 23rd with the venue being announced soon. Last year, Getaround was the breakout star of the New York Battlefield companies and walked away with $50,000, the coveted Disrupt Cup, and all the press and headlines they could have ever imagined. Since then, they have received millions of dollars in funding . What do you think disrupters? Do you think your company could be the breakout star at this year’s Disrupt NYC? Apply now for the Disrupt Battlefield here . Applications are open until Sunday night, April 1st. Of course it wouldn’t be a Disrupt event without our Hackathon kicking it all off on May 19th through the 20th. We hope to have hundreds of hackers from all around the world come join us to code, hack, drink, eat, and create something memorable in the 24 hour time period. Who knows, you might just be as big as these guys . Our Disrupt conference is one of the biggest conferences of the year, and we killed it last year in New York City . We are back and ready to do it again. Who’s with us? Get your tickets now!

Nice To Meet You: A Soc...

When you’re a building company tearing down half a town, you’re never always a going to be a popular company, no matter how great the end result promises to be. So Bonnier Properties, who are currently building a huge shopping centre in Hornstull (the last undeveloped place) in Stockholm, Sweden, decided to create a social Related Digital Buzz Posts: Nike Shout: Game Day Social Installation Prisma 1666: Interactive Light Installation Heineken: Super Social Christmas Tree

You Can Buy Me Love, Bu...

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and the majority of us are likely scrambling to find that special gift. (The rest of us, meanwhile, are cursing couples.) A Valentine’s Day gift is usually more important than others because it’s a one-on-one situation, unlike Christmas or birthdays. Just one gift, to just one person — and it better be good. With that in mind, I’d like to address an article out of AllThingsD this morning that sourced information from PriceGrabber’s Valentine’s Day Dashboard Report. The report took information from February 4 through February 5, finding that various tablets, TVs and phones are hot items for gift-crazed Valentines. The information itself isn’t that intriguing, but it did get me thinking about handing out gadgetry as a gift. What makes gift-giving so special to us — and such a huge part of our culture — is the fact that it’s proof of one person’s thought for another person. We’re naturally very self-centered, all of us. But by going out and thinking of, finding, buying, and wrapping a gift, we give that special someone proof that we’ve been thinking about them — proof that they’re important to us. Of course, expensive gifts are often seen as better gifts, but that’s just a product of our consumer-driven lifestyles. To spend more on someone is nice, if thought is also a large part of the equation, but without thought the gift becomes empty. For example, last year I bought my girlfriend a pretty expensive necklace from her favorite jewelry store. I figured that since the store was her favorite, and that particular necklace was one of their most expensive, I’d be good to go. Wrong. She said the necklace wasn’t her style, which made a lot of sense after we went through her jewelry box and found that she only owned silver jewelry. The necklace I bought was gold. Unfortunately, most gadgetry falls into this category. Just because it’s expensive and flashy and has an Apple on it doesn’t mean that it’s the most meaningful gift. Especially considering the fact that our gadgetry is so very personal. The type of phone you own and enjoy using says a lot about you, and it is inevitably a part of your daily life for about two years. For some of us, it’s a more steadfast, stable relationship than the one we have with our Valentine. Why would anyone ever want someone else to pick it out for them? The same is true for tablets and PCs. Just think of how many configurations your laptop could have come in. But you thought about it, knew your needs, knew your price range, and configured your notebook accordingly. Chances are, no one else could’ve done that for you. Of course, there are exceptions to both of the points I’ve made — that expensive gifts are empty and that gadgets need to be chosen by the owner. Ever since I was 16, Christmas changed at my house. There were no longer a dozen small gifts under the tree. Instead, my dad asked me in October if there was anything that I really, really wanted, and that one gift is what I’d get on Christmas. This is how I got my first car, help with the down payment on my apartment, and almost every piece of gadgetry I’ve ever owned, including the iPhone 4S. So, according to my earlier logic, my dad would be an awful gift-giver. But that’s not necessarily the case. See, in the instance of my family Christmas, my dad always asked me what I wanted, and in turn I was as specific as possible. I was getting the end-all, be-all of potential Christmas gifts because it’s exactly what I had chosen. Plus, we’re talking about my dad and Christmas, not your lover and Valentine’s Day. So do your Valentine a favor this year: Unless he or she has asked very specifically for this or that gadget, take an extra minute to think what would truly make this person happy, and do your very best to make it happen for them. Tablets and phones are great, but knowing that someone has spent time thinking about you… that’s priceless. [Img credit: Lasse Kristensen, ShutterStock]