Here is a look at some standout brand-building and communications stories that caught our attention this week – as well as some macro trends and themes we’re tracking.

Ideas Shaping Strategy – & Inspiration for Creativity, Innovation

• Four Key 2011 Trends
• CES 2011: The Year of Tablets & Digital Living Rooms?
• People Problems Masquerading as Business Problems
• Social Commerce is the ‘Next Big Thing’
• Is Humanitarian Design the New Imperialism?
• Shape the Hive: An Experiment in Interactive Collaboration
• Shaping the Future of Play
• Digital Message in a Bottle
• Cycle the World from Home with Google Bike
• 11 NYC Startups to Watch in 2011

Brand Content, Ideas (for better and sometimes worse)

• Imagining Starbucks in 2020
• Polaroid and Lady Gaga Launch New Line at CES
• Foursquare’s New Partnership with PepsiCo (personalized location-based offers)
• Google: Sneak Peak at ‘Life In a Day’
• Coca Cola Wraps Largest Social Media Project
• Personal Branding Disorders (The Awl)

Digital Media, Tech & Marketing News & Resources

• New Year’s Eve Sets Twitter Record
• Online Generation Gap Shrinking – Still, Millennials Rule
• A Digital Renaissance for the Long Form?
• Quora Will Be Bigger Than Twitter
• Apple’s Mac App Store Opens
• Netflix Makes Its Way to Your Remote Control
• 4 Key Takeaways from Goldman’s Huge Facebook Investment
• Facebook Users, by the Numbers