Sometimes it pays to lighen-up on the brand standards.

Marketing without science is fanciful. Success comes from hypothesizing, testing and repeating. Experimenting and testing can get ugly. Is your brand in the dark ages? Learn why it’s about share of mind –and share of shelf –not loyalty.

When Pew speaks, I listen. Their new study suggests The “Facebook as news-feed” narrative continues. This makes Facebook vulnerable in that its “specialness” is at risk.

Most Facebook users receive more from their Facebook friends than they give, whether the measurement is the number of friend requests received, the use of the “like” button, the number of messages sent or tagging people in photos.

The main factor driving this phenomenon is that there is a segment of “power users” who specialize in different Facebook activities and contribute much more than the typical user does, according to a new study that for the first time combines server logs of Facebook activity with survey data to explore the structure of Facebook friendship networks and measures of social well-being.

There’s that term “power users“. They matter. A lot. I think many of them (particularly women) are very compelled–or will be –by Pintrest. Ultimately the site doesn’t matter nearly as much as how Facebook will keep their power users happy. Stay tuned.

I’ve written about this before but it’s nice to see it starting to happen
From Business Week

Microsoft Corp., aiming to take advantage of a backlash against Google Inc.’s policy changes, is rolling out new ads that say its rival is risking users’ privacy to squeeze more revenue out of them.

The three-day print campaign started today in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today. A blog posting with the title “Gone Google? Got Concerns? We Have Alternatives,” written by Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw, was posted on the company’s website.