Buick, long the solid and staid choice of those who wanted to seem professional without looking ostentatious, had watched its market share slip slowly away as its core drivers aged. The brand had once been the perfect car for, say, a doctor who made house calls. He wanted to look like he was doing well (but not too well). The problem, though, was that the brand's image was, to most people, about as relevant as doctors who made house calls. However, in a harsh economic climate, the idea of luxury that didn't bask in ostentation was as timely as ever, …

At OMMA, we sometimes get burned out with the barrage of media and technology news - especially recent research that's found it might be making us depressed and hurting our self-esteem. Even the most cynical of us find ourselves constantly clicking on reliable digital distractions: baby animals, fluffy cats and goofy dogs. After months of OMMA editors swapping Lolcats over email, we thought it would be a good idea if we could get an expert to validate our burgeoning obsession. We called Pamela Rutledge, director of the Media Psychology Research Institute, who holds a Ph.D. in media psychology, to see …

Perhaps the best way to talk about disruptive start-up NewsCred is to describe what it's not. It's not trying to compete with the Associated Press, but it is a newswire, albeit for the digital arena. It's not encouraging a publication to shed staff journalists, but it does give freelancers incentive to not be tied down to a single news organization. It's also not trying to condense or cheapen the quality of journalism. NewsCred is simply trying to marry good journalism to its appropriate outlet. And as most people know, the key to any successful marriage comes from mutually beneficial exchanges, …

While it's exciting to see the many ways marketers are putting digital platforms to work for their brands, it's just as thrilling to see how others in the MediaLab are rethinking technology itself. Here are three that are making the digital world more effective, more selective, and in the case of one hotel, simply more beautiful.

Consumers may be getting more skeptical about brands by the day, but their enthusiasm for causes is growing by leaps, texts and clicks. Whether through cause-related product purchases, rubber bracelets or just "liking" their favorite nonprofits on Facebook, people are increasingly excited about saving the honeybee, responding to natural disasters or supporting the arts. Two worth a closer look:

MetLife Foundation's "Remember Me" Web site is, among other things, a virtual gallery of family photos. A glance at the site's home page reveals many a family memory - from sisters smiling on a sunny day to men playing cards on a fishing trip. When visitors go to the site, saveamemory.org, they're greeted with a pop-up message telling of the millions of people who lose their memories to Alzheimer's disease every year. Hover over a photo and a prompt appears: "Click to save this memory." MetLife Foundation gives $1 to Alzheimer's charities every time someone clicks a photo in the …

Last May, 500 people met in the New York Public Library's main branch and stayed there all night. Gaming, not reading, was the agenda for the evening. The crowd had gathered to help launch "Find The Future: The Game," a social game and mobile app created in honor of the library's 100 years in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in midtown Manhattan. Caro Llewellyn, producer of the Library's Centennial celebration, explains that the game was designed in part to highlight the library's substantial collection of historical artifacts, ranging from Jack Kerouac's glasses to a letter opener made from the paw …

Wonderbra's new Ultimate Plunge bra - its deepest cleavage bra to date - makes it possible for women to comfortably wear tops and dresses with plunging necklines. The look is popular on the red carpet these days among celebrities ranging from Jennifer Lopez to Jennifer Aniston. But, not surprisingly, many women are a little shy about showing so much skin. In fact, research shows that Wonderbra's target demo of fashion-conscious females ages 18 to 25 won't even bother to experiment with a new look when they don't feel confident enough to pull it off. So how do you empower these …

While other fashion brands clamor to sell more, Patagonia's full-page ad in The New York Times on Black Friday 2011 told readers to buy one of the company's most popular fleece jackets. A few days later, on Cyber Monday, the company launched The Common Threads Initiative, the first branded eBay store featuring user-generated listings of used Patagonia clothing. The company's message shocked many. "We're asking consumers to take a pledge and enter into a partnership with us," explains Bill Boland, creative director for patagonia.com. "If you pledge to only buy what you need, to reuse things and give them back …

It's strange to describe a brand as enormous as Lenovo as having a recognition problem. The world's fastest-growing PC company, it's also No. 2 in worldwide shipments. And in its native China, it isn't just a well-known entity, it dominates an impressive one-third of all personal computing sales. But despite extensive ad spending in the rest of the world, it is often the brand no one can recall, confesses Tracey Trachta, Lenovo's vice president of brand experience. "We are the brand no one has heard of," she says. "Businesses around the world choose us over the competition, but as of …