1. And the Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year is…“Selfie”Every year, The Oxford Dictionary announces their International Word of the Year, in previous years we’ve had “bovvered”, “simples” and “credit crunch”. Arguably each year’s word tells a lot about society and the culture at the time. In 2011 “squeezed middle” was the Word of the Year and in 2007 it was “carbon footprint”.

2005: sudoku
2006: bovvered
2007: carbon footprint
2008: credit crunch
2009: simples
2010: big society
2011: squeezed middle
2012: omnishambles
2013: selfie

Despite the fact that the word ‘selfie’ first appeared in 2002, where it was used in an Australian online forum, it has taken 11 years to make it to into mainstream culture. Social networking apps and sites such as Instagram and Snapchat are a large part of the cause and we’re not sure what this says about today’s society; we’ll leave you to be the judge!

2. Inspiration for integrating Pinterest into your email marketing

Over the last few years Pinterest has become one of the fastest growing social networking sites in the world. Since the site launched in 2010 they have grown to have over 70 million active users.

Many brands, big and small, are catching on and beginning to use the platform more intensely and if you haven’t already thought about whether or not it could benefit your business, then you probably should. For businesses where the ‘visual’ is less intrinsic, it can be harder to use Pinterest in an effective way but for those of you whose business embraces ‘imagery’, here is some inspiration for you.

This week we found a great article from Econsultancy which showcases 20 retailers integrating Pinterest in their email marketing. To have a look, click here.

3. Coke’s hideous Christmas sweaters

 As the run up to Christmas begins, the shops are full of gifts for family and friends. Christmas decorations are starting to emerge and festive food fills the aisles in supermarkets. The competition for the most loved Christmas advert starts again, with John Lewis, Marks and Spencer and Waitrose amongst the usual favourites. Their classic Christmas adverts can be seen on television during nearly every advert break; however, this year Coca-Cola decided to do things a bit differently.

In recent years the hideous knitted Christmas jumper has made a comeback, appearing in shops everywhere. Coke Zero’s latest marketing campaign is in homage to this traditional Christmas apparel. The drink’s brand have launched a campaign to design of the ugliest Christmas sweater. Users design their jumper and then vote for other peoples. The 100 best tacky sweaters will win their very own custom-made hideous Christmas sweater. To enter, click here.