On occasion, I like to use a visceral device to give readers some perspective on the way Madison Avenue looks at the media universe. It involves a simple piece of paper. So if you will, grab a sheet - perhaps this very page if you are reading this article in print.

It isn't 15 minutes of fame, but fans of Andy Warhol can achieve 90-seconds of fame by submitting screen tests to an interactive Web site produced by New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to promote the Andy Warhol: Motion Pictures exhibit.

The fast-growing e-reader market is finding its way into the American kitchen. Austin,Texas-based Key Ingredient is betting that the explosion of low-cost e-readers will make information about preparing food an underserved content niche. The firm, a veteran of the online publishing wars, has been offering Web-based cooking tips, recipes and blogs for about five years. The site is a mix of home cooking tips, social content, blogs and professional advice about food prep and the culinary life. The mainstream cooking elite have taken notice. Martha Stewart and Oprah have reviewed and recommended the product on their respective media outlets.

IKEA knows that grass-roots volunteerism and community work are the new hot buttons for any brand that wants soul. Working with Ogilvy, the company unveiled a new identity and TV campaign in September, pushing the idea that if you improve your decor you are improving your life. It's the brand's first major ad campaign in three years.

Regardless of the perspective, getting social media right is Madison Avenue's new imperative," says Joe Mandese in this month's cover story. And as you'll see from our twin takes, entwined around the consumer, there's no shortage of perspectives on what being social means ­- or even what social media is.

Getting into the gift-guiding spirit last month, Twitter tested out a service that suggested present ideas based on users' recent tweet history. "Struggling to find the perfect gift?" Twitter asked. "Wish you could read people's minds to know what they truly want? Well, now you can."

Why support a charity when you can promote a new consumer technology, plug a rap album, and be charitable all at once? Equally enterprising in nature, that's what Microsoft, Diddy and social marketing firm Izea had in mind with Twelve Days of Tag. Over the holidays, the program encouraged consumers to download Microsoft Tag -- the software giant's mobile bar code reader -- so they could access bonus content from Diddy's latest masterpiece, "Last Train to Paris" and help decide which causes would receive donations totaling $50,000.

Sailing the Caribbean...skiing the Alps ... sampling Napa's finest - That's how one might imagine American Express cardholders redeeming their precious "reward points." Painting a more modest customer profile, however, AmEx recently added online gaming points to its rewards menu.

It wasn't difficult for me to get inspired to write this piece on Inspired. Fear is a strong source of inspiration for me and I was fearful of how annoyed my editor would be if I didn't turn in this article when it was due. I was also inspired to write by the inspirational nature of my subject, a book that finds authors Dorte Nielsen and Kiki Hartmann picking the brains of Europe's creative elite - we're talking fashion designers, architects, photographers and advertising agency creatives - to learn how they think, how they work and where they find inspiration.

The latest Tommy Hilfiger campaign is trying to prove its classic, preppy image can still be "cool" in the Facebook era. But the work seems to have created more irony than the prep-school envy it wanted.