Ford is quickly leading the social media innovation parade with their new digital cockpit system that allows you to tweet and text while you drive (by voice, don’t worry it’s safe!)  A developer named Alan Mulally helped Ford develop this new technology that will surely take social media to a new level.

Aside from the fact that this is a huge technological breakthrough, is the sheer impact social media is having industry. Even Ford, one of America’s staple corporations, is modeling their vehicle around the social media sphere.

The general consensus in San Diego is that if you have good food, groovy music, and tasty beer you are pretty much guaranteed a good time. There is one establishment in San Diego that has all three—Anthology in Little Italy.

Anthology is a first-class live music and fine dining space in downtown San Diego. The primary audience is lovers of Jazz, Rock, Latin, Indie and more. Anthology participated in the recent San Diego Beer Week and received a great outcome to the beer, food pairing and Fresh Vibes event.

The event brought a new audience and demographic. Anthology was thrilled with the ambience, vibe and new guests that San Diego Beer Week and the craft beer fans brought to their venue. Rather than be like everyone else and continue to praise wine and food events, they are looking to create a fresh new series of events.

Anthology is keeping it fresh by:

1. Having hosted their first craft beer and classic rock night on January 20th. One night per month they will feature beer from a different brewery and a menu designed to complement the brews.

2. Hosting various music and beer themed contests on Facebook and Twitter.

3. Keeping their event ticket prices low. (between $5-$10)

Anthology has taken into consideration the 3 things San Diegans value in a good time and used the SoCal lifestyle to turn a profit. They’re having fun and making money all at the same time; you really can’t beat that!

Last month we alerted you about the impending social media boom and encouraged you to jump on board. We did not, however, expect it to be moving along as quickly as it has been; and only 1 month into the New Year!

One of the biggest ways Americans mark the New Year is the Super Bowl. For 44 years the Super Bowl has been a tradition; changing little from year to year. This year, however, we saw drastic changes in the way that the NFL marketed the big game. They used social media outlets on a large scale to market themselves. Three major elements of their campaign this year were:

1. Using viral video and social media sites to manufacture controversy.

2. Generating buzz about, not only the Super Bowl, but sports in general with online contests and polls.

3. Taking on advertisers, like Pepsi, who are opting out of televised adverts for alternative online marketing schemes. This year’s was an online charity for positive impact called the “Pepsi Refresh Project.”

If you think the Super Bowl, one of America’s most profitable events, was taking a chance on social media marketing, you’re dreaming! The NFL knew how impactful social media marketing has been and will be in the future. They took advantage of an online phenomenon to power their corporation and lead them to even greater success.

Not convinced? Here are some facts and figures for the near future:

- Money spent on social media marketing expected to reach $3.1 Billion by 2014

- Social media markets expected to rise 34%/year over the next 5 years; faster than any other online media

- Facebook utilization is up 116% this year with over 200 million users

- Below is a chart displaying the forecasted U.S. Marketing Spending up to 2014

*All information gathered from http://www.mashable.com, http://www.clikz.com, http://www.techcrunch.com