For literary lovers and romantics everywhere, Penguin publishers in the UK created a Web site where "book lovers meet," pairing an unexpected combination -- novels and nights out. And it works. In a smart move, they've partnered with the experts at Match.com to power the site, creating a robust destination for the literary minded. Sometimes the unexpected pairings are the most powerful -- and more logical than you think. That's certainly our approach in creating Seed the Day, an initiative from Dagoba Organic Chocolate to nurture urban gardening.

- Jen Maxwell-Muir

"Ok, so this doesn't actually dispense cars, but it does pop-out small canisters containing brochures for the cars along with sheets of stickers showing the various colour options. Also, as we would expect for the highly connected Japanese market, the literature directs users to the Smart website, playsmart.jp, not via a written URL, but via a QR code, which when photographed with a mobile phone camera, links through to the digital portal." (If you understand this last part, e-mail me. I want to learn.)

"Once on the website, visitors can then 'play smart' - an addictive application which allows you create your own smart car with a variety of funky paint jobs and graphics, before racing it around a series of 3D circuits. As you progress through the levels, your interactivity is rewarded with more customisable options for your car. Once you are satisfied with your level of 'pimp', you can then submit your design along with a user name and in doing so, add your creation to the colourful swarm of Smart Cars on the home page. However (and this is where it gets really good), to finish things off, you can then print out a colour net of your vehicle, to construct a proper miniature 3D model!"

It works on so many levels: it maps to the audience, connects with cultural trends, leverages current (at least in Japanese standards) technology, and engages consumers both on and offline. And yet it's pretty simple too. I haven't seen anything quite like it in the U.S.

- Jen Maxwell-Muir

- Jen Maxwell-Muir

I consider myself pretty in the loop on social marketing trends, so you can imagine my surprise just now when I received TotSpot.com friend requests from my own children. They're two years and four months old.

Yup. About the same age as my youngest, TotSpot is apparently the Myspace of the diaper brigade and my two boys are now (by way of their early-adopter dad) "networking" away with cousins and friends. Heavy on privacy (phew) and light on detailed profile information (another phew), TotSpot seems to be hurtling the wee ones into the center of social networking culture.

Not sure how I feel being a "friend" of my kids, but so far the site seems like a safe, fun forum to keep friends and family members up to date on the lives of little ones.

- Erica

- Jen Scott

Ran across this art in Utne Reader today and was mesmorized. A Korean artist is bringing children's drawings to life and then photographing the vignettes. There's something magical, creepy and endearing about it, all at the same time.

As an agency that's often tapped to develop creative ideas for consumer engagement programs, I wanted to give a shout out to the new Silk Soymilk Greencap Project. The campaign is a great example of a promotion microsite that effectively uses a sweepstakes to drive purchase and integrates education and values-led marketing with sales.

Confession: I'm not a big soymilk drinker. But, this promotion makes me want to go buy some just so I can enter the lid on the site. To me it's a testament to the value of offering a great prize that resonates with your target consumer. A $20,000 green home makeover sure sounds good to me...and who knows, I might fall in love with Silk on the way to winning (I'm crossing my fingers on both counts).

On a more nuts 'n' bolts note, the homepage has a couple clear calls to action right off the bat, making it easy to figure out what to do when you get there. But then, if you've got a little extra time, there are several other features to fiddle with which make the site more sticky - and fun. I especially liked the share your green tip page. It's set up kind of like Kettle Foods' 25th Anniversary "Kettle Universe" page and creates a neat little feedback loop for visitors to talk to each other. Plus it's pretty and the tips fly around and drop in from the sky. Cute.

Check it out!

- Erica

The site is all user-generated, with consumers posting good and bad ads and ranking each on a scale of 1-5. No preaching. No soapboxes. Just good honest discussion about the marketing we are bombarded with every day.

I'm the last person in the world who's going to say we need more marketing jargon and buzzwords polluting our language, but this one feels good. It represents frustration on the part of consumers and it holds companies accountable. The Greenwashing Index is just what we need to sort through this mess.

- Jen Scott