IPG Lab, the research arm of marketing and advertising conglomerate IPG Mediabrands, has three anti-predictions to share for 2012. These are basically things that many in the company's field of expertise have got wrong, putting millions of dollars at risk.

Alloy Digital, the online video affiliate of young adult targeter Alloy Inc., has acquired collaborative media company Generate to create a multi-platform media company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Citibank’s parent company has developed an original way to use social media as a customer engagement tool. Citi released a Facebook application that ties in with its loyalty reward plan, for the first time making it possible to combine points toward a shared goal – while the company grows a treasure trove of data.

New research from Chadwick Martin Bailey found that half of appropriately capable smartphone owners had scanned a QR code, and a fifth of those had gone on to make a purchase. It also pinpointed ways to improve those numbers.

Everyone at Hearst Magazines received a letter from company president David Carey that reiterated his ambitious 2012 target of more than a million paid digital subscribers via iTunes, Zinio, Nook, Amazon and Next Issue Media, as well as promising that all sites were fast-tracked for HTML5 transition.

Social games publisher We R Interactive has received financial backing from the European Union’s MEDIA program to develop an online music game, provisionally called "I Am Star," which already has investment from a former EMI Music CEO, a co-founder of Working Title Films, the founder of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, and other well-connected individuals.

Personalized radio service Pandora is turning its recently launched live concert series into the foundation for an online hub. Both the free live performances and their Pandora Presents online extension are made possible by sponsorship, which at least initially comes from Budweiser.

Just in time to ruin New Year’s diet resolutions, integrated ad and marketing agency Barkley has released apps and widgets to promote Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Sending alerts that doughnuts have just come out of the oven is a small but real-world example of the Web of Things, Barkley said.