Contests

Starbucks will use its more than 24 million fans on Facebook to help usher in the fall holiday season and announce the anticipated return of its popular Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Fashion - especially luxury fashion - came slowly to social media and related ad technologies. However as the industry quickly catches up, gaming appears to be the next format it will adopt.

There's no shortage of companies claiming to help businesses navigate the world of social networking. But Jon Fahrner, CEO of a new startup called BumeBox, argued that what those businesses really need isn't just another sharing widget-it's a way to hold events and promotional parties on Twitter.

Poptent, which crowdsources commercials and videos for brands and advertisers, is running a contest on behalf of HomeAway - a company that has launched spots during the Super Bowl - to create a new ad for the firm.

Want to see your grinning mug up on a screen while catching the tube in London? For the next several weeks, it could happen. Colgate is running a Britain-based campaign that combines Facebook, out-of-home (OOH) digital displays, consumer-generated photos, goodwill, and smiles.

Bertolli Olive Oil has launched a campaign that integrates all worldwide advertising under the same theme: "Where Flavor Comes From."

Call it Madison, Vine and Houston. 7-Eleven is sending someone into space as part of a campaign around the Steven Spielberg-produced Paramount sci-fi horror feature "Super 8," which hits theaters next week. The capstone in the effort is an honest-to-goodness trip into near-orbit for the winner of a Foursquare location-based promotion. Private aerospace firm Space Adventures, Ltd. is providing the seat into suborbital space.

Beginning Thursday, May 19, Starbucks is hosting a Gaga-themed scavenger hunt across its digital properties from Facebook to Twitter to Foursquare. Followers are able to track her exploits and ferret out clues. The top winner gets special access to a Lady Gaga concert during her 2012 world tour.

Photo-sharing contests used as an engagement and email-generating method are hardly a new idea, but restaurant chains seem to be knocking themselves out on creative variations these days.

Swiss chocolatier Lindt USA is serving as host sponsorship of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami for the first time. Participating in the tournament, which takes place over two weeks, starting on Monday the 21st, is Lindt's global brand ambassador, Swiss tennis great Roger Federer.