Another crazy week has come to an end, and that means we are armed and ready with a chunky list of the best in online management, social media marketing and digital engagement news. Sit back and enjoy our 5 things you might have missed.

1.) Ferris is Saved: That long-awaited and much-discussed Matthew Broderick/Ferris Bueller Honda ad finally saw the light of day online just days ahead of its Super Bowl debut. The result? Ferris and the humor from the ’80s may not have aged all that well, but those of us from the John Hughes generation are sure to make this clip a viral hit.

2.) Let the iPad 3 Rumors Begin: As the Super Bowl passes and a predictable awards season slumps towards the finish line, America needs something to look forward to. Thankfully, the hubbub around the spring iPad 3 should do the trick. The usual fever pitch of crazy is happening, proving even without Steve Jobs, new Apple products can still stir up a PR frenzy.

3.) Komen Foundation Flails on Facebook: Oh goodness. We’re doubt you missed this story if you own a computer and have logged on Facebook at all this week. Nevertheless, it is listworthy for proving how fast bad news travels in the age of social media. The Susan G. Komen Foundation announced it would sever its ties with Planned Parenthood this week and within hours the story exploded on Facebook and was trending topic on Twitter. Komen thus far isn’t backing down and Planned Parenthood supporters are already on the defensive. Look to Facebook to continue serving as the battleground for this hotly-debated topic.

4.) A New Kind of Bear Tale: A new interactive documentary, Bear 71 makes the list for showing how technology, Internet marketing and viral content can be used to make provocative points while drawing attention to important issues. Bear 71 hopefully is the wave of the future for online marketing of documentaries that normally get lost in the blockbuster shuffle.

5.) Back in the Groove: Another ’80s favorite is back for the Super Bowl — Madonna! The original Queen of Pop returned with a full-court media blitz this week and was everywhere from Leno to Google+ and beyond. Madonna at 53 is still an innovator when it comes to pushing her brand in new ways and we’re happy to have her back.

Perhaps you’re just dipping your toes into the blog creation and blog marketing pool. It might appear as though by blogging for your business, your blog probably wont be seen by very many people beyond your devoted group of followers. Maybe. But maybe not. Thanks to the easy practice of Twitter marketing, your blog could develop a long and far-reaching life — one that could even lead to big-time book deals.

Okay, so we can’t promise that people will want to buy your book based on your blog about shoe repair, but hey, crazier things have happened, right? In fact, we’ve seen dozens of writers and small brands catapult their blogs into big deals just by diligently using Twitter. Twitter, with its limited characters and lightening-fast results, takes well-read blogs and gives them the instant satisfaction treatment. Lots of super-popular blogging stars — like The Bloggess, for example — use Twitter to continue the conversations started on their blogs while chatting about new things that come up while live on Twitter. The Bloggess, thanks to her one-woman PR juggernaut on Twitter, has a hotly-anticipated memoir coming out this spring.

This pattern of blog to Twitter to book has become somewhat of a blueprint for new authors and wannabe Internet stars. So why couldn’t the brilliantly, witty thoughts you have on Twitter translate into a bestseller? But let’s say you don’t want to be the next David Sedaris; you just want people to find your blog and your company. Twitter can still totally help with that. Recently, I worked on a project with a staffing agency who wanted to use their blog to give job searching tips. I thought it was a great idea, but knew in order for the blog to get real traction, Twitter would have to be utilized. After some convincing, they now use Twitter to post new jobs, start conversations about career changes and direct folks back to their informative blog.

In the end, your company blog, even if it is about shoe repair, deserves to be read — and Twitter is a fantastic way to bring readers to you. And who knows… if you tweet with finesse, you could end up on the best seller list.

Social media experts like ourselves have been predicting the arrival of the branded social network for years. But the truth is many have tried but few brands have been able to inspire the kind of ongoing conversation and interaction needed to keep a social network alive. Yet Lego’s new attempt at branded social media might be just the thing to catapult the platform into mainstream popularity.

ReBrick is a little bit social, a little bit Pinterest, and 100 percent Lego. Lego is already one of the most photographed and shared brands on the Internet, so why not create a hub that serves as an exchange of all things awesomely Lego? And that is exactly what ReBrick intends to do. As a toy and iconic brand, Lego has always been about creating, so ReBrick highlights the best in Lego creations instead of the latest in Lego products. Mainly the project hopes to unite the millions of existing Lego-based communities that are spread all over the web. “Lego has a very strong and vibrant community, with hundreds of thousands of videos and many millions of pictures on online,” said Peter Espersen, Lego’s online community leader in an interview with Click Z News. “But they’re all distributed across hundreds of blogs and thousands of websites. It’s about giving fans the credit that they deserve and putting an amplifier to the interesting stuff they’re doing so everyone around the web can find it.” For Lego fans, ReBrick could prove to be the all-in-one stop for great ideas and creations from all over the web. For social media marketing gurus, the expansion of branded social networks could prove to be a challenge.

Granted, it takes a mega-brand like Lego to conquer its own social media platform but as niche networks expand, the need for the general social media management might diminish a tad. Custom-made social networks that speak directly to a vivid and enthusiastic audience are undoubtedly the wave of the future. And only time will tell how this will change the face of social media marketing.

What a week! Between awards show cattiness, brand breakdowns and Internet shutdowns, there is no shortage of things to dish about. So let’s get right into all the latest online marketing news in a list we all know and love as our “Five Things You Might Have Missed.”

1.) Timeline App-valanche: In its short life, Facebook’s Timeline has been known for garnering a lot of resistance and headlines. We can now add apps to that list. Tons of blogs reported on the addition of Timeline apps this week because, love it or loathe it, Timeline is Facebook’s latest product and apps could be the next big thing in Facebook marketing.

2.) Lionel Richie, Free Speech Protector? This video from slick ad director Matthijs Volt may not have set out to say a lot about piracy and SOPA but by using dialogue from hit films (without permission) to recreate Lionel Richie’s hit “Hello” the video is the kind of thumbing of the nose the movement needs right now. Funny, brilliantly edited and released at a time of year when we celebrate film, this viral hit laughs at piracy laws and makes us smile, too.

3.) MINI is Red Hot and Social: The itty bitty car MINI has launched a giant Facebook campaign in which one of its cars is suspended on a hill by a rope with a Bunsen burner underneath, burning away at the rope. This crazy science experiment relies on Facebook page likes to release the car into the wild. Users who like the brand also get to check in on the car’s status.

4.) From Tart to Sour: This week, Pinkberry was the latest brand to hop onto to Twitter to put out a bad PR fire. Co-founder of the yogurt empire Young Lee was arrested after chasing down a transient and beating him with a tire iron. Company heads swiftly took to Twitter to state that Young has not been an active part of Pinkberry since 2010 and now serves solely as a stockholder. The company is desperately (and understandably) trying to distance itself from Lee, but given the amount of negative posts online, it might take more than a few tweets and a press release to make its image sweet again.

5.) Going Wiki-less: During the SOPA protests blackouts of Wednesday, many big websites shutdown services, and the most missed site had to be Wikipedia. Wiki withdraw proved how much we would miss uncensored unregulated information and the message was received loud and clear.

It’s no secret that MySpace, once high on every social media management guru’s list, has experienced a well-documented fall out of popularity. But the site might just have a comeback left in it, if Justin Timberlake has anything to say about it.

Last week, Timberlake, MySpace’s new co-owner, pulled an Ashton when he showed up at a press conference to tout the awesomeness that will be MySpace TV. In one of those churned-out celebrity endorsement speeches, JT told an audience last Wednesday, “We’re ready to take television and entertainment to the next step by upgrading it to the social networking experience. Why text or email your friends to talk about your favorite programs after they’ve aired when you could be sharing the experience with real-time interactivity from anywhere across the globe?”

The folks at GetGlue could argue that they already offer that kind of thing and Facebook devotees are most likely questioning the upgrade in the first place. But the ace up MySpace’s sleeve are the technological goodies to offer an immediate and communal experience that none of its competitors can top. MySpace TV will first draw on the site’s some 42 million songs and 100,000 music videos for programming and then branch out to produce reality and sports television with its partner Panasonic. Sounds like a new version of MTV — without the Snooki.

Timberlake promises MySpace will be the bridge between social networking and television.

“As the plot of your favorite drama unfolds, the joke of your favorite SNL character plays or even the last-second shot of your favorite team swishes the net, we’re giving you the opportunity to connect your friends to your moments as they’re actually occurring,” he adds. “This is the evolution of one of our greatest inventions, the television.”

Yet it remains to be seen if Timberlake (whose last hit record was popular right around the first time people cared about MySpace) and Panasonic can put the brand back on the map. What do you think, readers? Can MySpace pull a Cher and make a big comeback? Does the concept of social real-time television have real marketing possibilities? Tell us all about it in the comments section!

On today’s five-item menu: The White House serves up a meaty Twitter marketing topic, IKEA hosts a hot sleepover jam, a juicy burger from the dark side and so much more. Bon Appetit!

1.) Turning the Tide: Here in the U.S., many states have taken drastic measures to get rid of plastic grocery bags. Yet worldwide, the pesky polluters continue to be a problem. So in a wise effort to get shoppers to switch to reusable grocery bags, Tide came up with one you can write your shopping list on. This planet-friendly maneuver is also brand-friendly, as Tide’s logo is prominently displayed.

2.) Take a Bite of the Dark Side: This crazy-ass Darth Vader hamburger from France’s Quick fast food chain was on every blog this week. But in case you missed it, the restaurant came up with a “Dark Vador” burger to celebrate the release of the Phantom Menace in 3D. Notable for its black hamburger buns and strange-looking sauces, this burger might cause a travel frenzy to Paris from geeks hoping to get a taste before the promotional item goes away on March 1st.

3.) Facebook Fan Slumber Party: IKEA once again took the Facebook page to another level when it held a sleepover in one of its stores in the U.K. 100 lucky followers on Facebook got to spend the night in Swedish retail slumber with massages, bedtime stories and goody bags. And IKEA took the opportunity to promote its line of mattresses and bedding.

4.) That Bag Can Talk: Tostitos debuted an unlikely but very likable spokesperson this week: a talking bag. In a series of ads that are getting a lot of play online, the bag talks about being dip worthy and entertains a group of football fans. It’s funny advertising for the snack crowd and it signals the arrival of the upcoming Super Bowl advertising-pollooza.

5.) The White House Pours a #40: This week, the White House took to Twitter to ask followers, “What can you buy with #40dollars?” The topic, which was launched in response to Congress’ rejection of a tax cut that would have put an extra $40 on American’s paychecks, became a hashtag which developed into a lively conversation between Washington and Twitter users. While detractors say the administration is out of touch with Americans, it can’t be argued how well they keep in touch with voters using social media.

Not a whole heck of a lot happening in online marketing land this week as most of us struggled to get back into the groove after the holidays. But we still managed to scoop up a quintet of interesting, funny and innovative stories from the world of online and social media marketing. Here now is our weekly list of five things you might have missed!

1.) Say it with a frog: One little French restaurant in Moscow cooked up a tasty idea to get Russians to change their minds about French food. No press releases were sent out and there wasn’t a big social media launch — all they needed were some frogs. Vatel was looking to smash stereotypes about French cuisine, so it wisely sent tiny, live frogs with invitations to members of the media and local food bloggers. Vatel says 100 percent of the frog recipents responded and now the joint is, ahem, hopping.

2.) Written in cheese: Domino’s relased a funny app to celebrate the cheesy goodness of its New Stuffed Cheesy Bread with a font made entirely out of cheese. Fromage fanatics can compose a message with the gooey font and send it to their friends. Cheesetacular!

3.) Apple is thinking about your face: iPhone announced plans to dump the annoying number passcode system in favor of facial recognition software. According to a recently-filed patent, iPhone users soon will be able to simply look at their phone to unlock it. The feature is already available on “jailbroken” phones as well as on some Androids with Ice Cream Sandwich but we’re sure it’ll be Apple that takes facial recognition tech to the next level.

4.) A slippery social media slope (literally): Vail Resort has bought back its incredibly popular EpicMix app for the 2011/2012 ski season. The new version for IOS/Android allows skiers to use their smartphones as lift tickets, chat with friends on the slopes and see live stats from the mountain as well as photos taken by the resorts photographers.

5.) Amazon gets social, too: Social isn’t just for ski bunnies; top online retailer Amazon is looking to be the premier social shopping destination. New regime changes that brought in staffers from Quora signals a push forward on the social shopping frontier and, as always with Amazon, we can’t wait to see what the company does next.

The digital newsletter is a great way to strut your custom content, expand the reach of your email marketing campaign and enrich your overall digital engagement strategy. Even better — it’s virtually foolproof; the only way that a digital newsletter could possibly destroy your brand is if you weren’t paying attention to the content and what was being printed was offensive, inflammatory and even racist. Thankfully, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul already made that mistake so you don’t have to! Paul recently displayed some truly dunderheaded brand management (or mismanagement, as the case may be) and we can all be a little wiser thanks to his idiocy.

First off, let’s get this out of the way. It doesn’t matter if you are a Democrat or a Republican or even if you vote for aliens. Paul’s mistake is not one of party lines but of a brand lacking any thought or strategy. In case you haven’t heard, Paul is currently in deep doo doo over newsletters he published in the ’80s and ’90s which featured the politician’s signature brand of straight talk. The problem with the newsletters in question is that Paul says he didn’t write the crazy racist passages that are now being quoted by every news outlet on the planet. Paul says a staffer wrote the articles in question and that’s the only explanation he’ll give. He’s even getting testy about it — he walked out of a CNN interview when questions about the newsletters arose.

Keeping far away from the icky content of the newsletters and even ickier politics involved, the big problem here is a loose cannon of a brand with zero accountability. If any of our small businesses acted like Paul and then didn’t accept responsibility, we wouldn’t be in business for long. The main marketing mishap here is that if Paul didn’t write those articles, then he took the sin one step further by not triple checking the content that has his name on it. Conversely, if Paul did write the wackadoodle articles in question, then he needs to fess up and accept his fate.

Either way, it’s a classic what not to do with a newsletter or blog or social media post. We’ve seen brands like Marc Jacobs get bitten in the back by not monitoring who is in charge of their social media postings. We’ve seen business blogs get mismanaged by untrustworthy sources. Companies big or small have to carefully and thoughtfully create content for their brand or, like Ron Paul, pay the price for not paying attention.

I was fortunate enough to run off to New York City last week and take in some of the holiday sights and sounds from the city that never sleeps — and never stops marketing. NYC during the holidays is a great place to track the effectiveness of online branding, social media marketing and digital engagement. This mecca of consumerism and flashing lights long has relied upon good, old-fashioned marketing techniques for hundreds of years… and still does. From holiday windows to parades and old-timey outdoor holiday markets, the Big Apple has its feet firmly planted in Christmas Past. But, as I found, the holiday season in New York City in 2011 is also the most digital time of the year.

The windows of the world, according to Burt Bacharach, are covered in rain. But according to Bergdorf Goodman, the windows of the world are covered in sparkling, over-the-top decorations. As retailers die across the country, the concept of snazzy holiday windows seems out of touch. Yet in New York, the windows are a must-see tradition. Bergdorf’s is the premiere stop on the holiday window tour and this year’s display is no exception. With a nod to animal themes, the display designers used unusual materials to create an eye-popping winter fantasy.

But what does this have to do with digital marketing, you ask? Relax, I’m getting there. The store invited bloggers and fashion writers down to get a peek in late November, and by the time we arrived in NYC, buzz around the windows was at a fever pitch. Clearly, the 112-year-old retailer knows that if you want people to talk, alert the bloggers. And according to early numbers, the windows are paying off. Bergdorf’s has also been teasing Twitter followers with exclusive pictures of the stunning creations since they were unveiled.

Less successful were the Lady Gaga windows for Barney’s. The pop diva partnered with her visual collaborator Nicola Formichetti to create “Gaga’s Workshop,” a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory type of store within the department store. Turns out the $95 dollar chocolate shoes, Gaga magnet sets and saggy, sad, unfestive window creations didn’t inspire, but the use of Twitter certainly has. #GagaWish is the hashtag used in the final window where shoppers and Gaga fans alike are asked to tweet their holiday wishes. The wishes then appear on a huge space-age type of screen for all of NYC to see. It’s the fun “name in lights” kind of experience that fame-hungry Gaga lovers and tourists are eating up with a glitter-covered spoon.

Finally, the future of big brand holiday marketing can be seen at Saks Fifth Avenue. Last year, the company unveiled a one-of-a-kind digital mapping projection window that made headlines around the world. And this year, the giant snowflakes and bubbles are back and bigger than ever. It’s impossible not to feel the childlike magic of the holidays as you watch snowflakes fall from the side of Saks Fifth Avenue with the tree at Rockefeller Center in the background. Over the top and totally New York, the display uses technology that others across the globe are starting to copy.

All of these blasting and beautiful displays are proof that New York is still the center of creativity when it comes to marketing the holidays. And although most no one can spend millions on holiday displays, nearly everybody can take a bite out of the Big Apple’s digital marketing techniques.

Holidays gotcha down? Work stressing you out? Well, kick your feet up, sit back and enjoy the hottest and oddest online marketing news stories in a little concoction we call our “Five Things You Might Have Missed” list!

1.) Rockin’ Around the Facebook Tree: Singapore, social media and Heineken aren’t things you traditionally think of at Christmas, but that’s about to change. The Heineken Super Social Christmas Tree in Clarke Quay, Singapore, is a digital art installation of 48 massive LCD screens that display photos and messages from app users who pop by the tree. It’s social media meets art with holiday flare.

2.) Yes, Virginia, People Still Use Blogger: The much-mocked blogging platform Blogger got its Google+ makeover this week, and it’s about darn time! Easy to use and easier to find, Blogger needs to step into the WordPress/Tumblr era and hopefully these updates will be a step in the right direction.

3.) Russian Out for a Whopper: Burger-shaped turntables, tattoos, unicorns and sassy dancing counter girls are just a few of the delights you’ll find in this Russian Burger King ad that’s going viral faster than you can say “paper crown.” If U.S. Burger Kings were this cool, we might actually eat there.

4.) Artsy-Fartsy Gets Appsy-Snappsy: Despite what the media would lead you to believe, people actually like looking at art and now there’s an app that helps art lovers find local visual delights on their phones. ArtSpotter helps visitors to London find all of the noteworthy galleries, exhibits and museums on a handy-dandy map. The app just launched and hopefully it will spread to cities around the globe. Mobile marketing and apps have made the visual arts cool and accessible and we think that’s worth celebrating.

5.) That Warm, Fuzzy Holiday Feeling: Lastly, this list of things marketers can do to give back during the holidays makes our list because it’s nice to use this time of year to actually think of others and do good stuff. Plus, the efforts are easy on the wallet and things even work-from-home bloggers and marketers can manage.