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I discovered two new innovative Christmas social media campaigns this year.  They're not as heartwarming as airlines giving Christmas gifts to passengers, but still makes clever use of social media to create some buzz.

First up is Heineken's Social Christmas tree.  It's an installation of 48 LCD screens shaped as a Christmas tree in the middle of Clarke Quay, one of Singapore's most prominent nightspots.  If it was just a simple installation with flashing lights and predefined Christmas-themed films, it would have been pretty standard - however Heineken made it more social by linking the tree with Facebook and turning photos of people into Christmas ornaments. Other planned events are a virtual light show and a virtual tree choir with singers from around the world shown in each of the screens.

If you're in Singapore, the show starts at 6pm everyday.

The Heineken Social Tree

(via PSFK)

The second campaign that caught my attention was from Telefonica O2, a European telecommunications company.

This time, Telefonica's twitter followers were given a chance to receive personalized Christmas greetings from Santa Claus via Youtube! Similar to the Old Spice formula, users just had to tweet Telefonica with the message they want Santa to read with the hashtag #O2Santa. They would then get a video response from Santa posted on Youtube.

The campaign was created by the agency Hope & Glory, and any messages received before December 15 would get a response in time for Christmas.

Telefonica O2

(via PSFK) 

RFID, which stands for Radio Frequency Identification technology, is a technology that uses radio waves to wirelessly transmit data between two or more devices. An example of RFID technology is the card that we tap to enter the turnstiles at train stations.  Below are some recent campaigns using RFID technology to engage customers with brands.

For the Amsterdam Motorshow in 2011, Renault used RFID to let people "Like" cars that they see in the show.  Guests received RFID cards which they associated with their Facebook accounts.  When they see a car they like, they tap the card at a special pillar in front of the car, and their "Like" will automatically be posted on Facebook.  Check out the video below.

Ushuaïa Beach Hotel in Ibiza also uses RFID to push Facebook posts, but uses a wristband for a cooler form factor. There are numerous points in the hotel where users can scan their wristbands, and each scan can be a text-based status update or even a photo.  Check out the video below.

Facebook integration Ushuaïa Beach Hotel from Dorst & Lesser // Social Media on Vimeo.

Great Wolf Lodge waterpark resorts in Washington pushes RFID technology further by using RFID wristbands as room keys aside from a Facebook posting device.  Guests register their wristbands via special kiosks in order to link them to their Facebook accounts.  Then, they can have a photo taken at any of the park's 5 special "Paw posts", scan their wristbands, and have these photos automatically posted to their Facebook accounts.

Click here to see the press release.

Inamo St. James, an oriental restaurant in London, UK, uses a virtual tablecloth to show diners the food on their plates before they order.  Each table uses overhead projection technology to project the food onto the plates, and customers have a touch panel to scroll through the menu and order their meal.  In addition, the "e-table" also lets customers view live footage from the kitchen, view London maps, and even book a taxi.

Click to view the Inamo St. James website.

I talked about Axe Excite's Fallen Angels integrated campaign a few weeks ago, where a variety of media was used in pushing the campaign - TV, outdoor, online, print, iAd, even a Big Brother-esque angel house.  Now they've pushed it further via an augmented reality billboard at London's Victoria station, where angels fall fro the sky and interact with bystanders.  Check the video out below.

Repetto, a French ballet shoe company tried to do something different with their window display.  Instead of showing a plain static display showing a mannequin wearing shoes, or even a video of a ballerina, they went one step further by creating an interactive window display.  With the help of the Marcel Agency, they came up with a video that reacts to swiping gestures of bystanders.  The bystander just needs to stand in front of the window and swipe right or left to change the scene.  Pretty simple but awesome effect - check out the video below!

Repetto - Vitrine interactive from Marcel on Vimeo.

Now and then, companies come out with their predictions of how their industry's future will look like, giving us a glimpse of technologies that we would be encountering in the years to come.  I've compiled several "future" videos ranging from hot technologies such as augmented reality to even the future of glass.  Each video is worth a view, showing us a fantastic, minority report-esque world where all our gadgets work together and user interfaces are superior to anything we've seen today.

First up is the future of augmented reality from Metaio, a leader in the field.

The Future Home, from Microsoft.

The Future of the Book, from design company IDEO.

The Future of Screen Technology, from TAT.  Now this is awesome.

The Future of Glass from Corning.  Who knew glass could be so cool?

Whether these predictions come true or not, exciting times are ahead.

Forget buildings. BeamSystems, a company based in Amsterdam, came up with a clever application of 3D projection technology.  They took a white-themed living room, and using lighting and video mapping technology, decorated the room without even touching it by applying textures, colors and patterns on the wall, the couch, the carpet and even the table. Check it out kids.

Living Room from Mr.Beam on Vimeo.

AXE recently launched a campaign covering TV, outdoor, online, print, an iTunes song, "Big Brother" contest and iAd for their new Excite cologne. What's great about it is that it carries the same message across different media, showing how an integrated campaign helps deliver a clear, consistent theme.

Let's check out the ads.  First, the TV spot:

And let's see how it's carried to the iAd, where you can interactive with the angel, download wallpaper and view videos.

Click here for the online ad.

The Netherlands though pushed it further with a full "Heaven on Earth" site, where they have "3 angels" living together and webcams set-up all through the house ala "Big Brother."  I don't understand the language, but it seems you can also win a sleepover in the house!  Check out the promo video below.

I'm a huge fan of the Black Eyed Peas, so when I heard about them launching a video iPhone app, I quickly downloaded it to my iPhone.

It has some pretty cool features in it - a 360 degree interactive music video, similar to what we featured here, where the viewer is immersed in a club somewhere watching the Black Eyed Peas.  He can then turn around, zoom in and out while watching the video, giving a feeling that he was actually there - mostly.  Another feature is augmented reality - point the iPhone's camera to the band's album cover, and out pops a cartoon version of Will.I.Am. 

The BEP are really doing something innovative here, and it's pretty cool.  Check out the video below to see more features.

What a heartwarming campaign.  Last Christmas eve, an overnight Spanair flight flying from Barcelona to Las Palmas decided to give all its 190 passengers Christmas gifts. While waiting to claim their luggage, gift-wrapped gifts rolled out of the baggage carousel, and each gift had the passenger names written on them.  The nice thing was that not all the gifts were the same - a teddy bear, a top hat, etc... Check out the video below.

Another airline gave gifts to their passengers but with a social media twist.  For several weeks last November, KLM ran a campaign where people who checked in via foursquare for KLM flights or tweeted about a KLM flight at particular airports received a personalized gift, depending on who they were.

KLM had a team who was "listening" for tweets or foursquare check-ins, and after identifying potential passengers, researched each person's social profile so they could come up with the right gift for them.  One woman was given a Nike sports watch because she was athletic, while another was given tickets to see "The Social Network" because she was attending a social media conference.  Great use of social media "stalking".  Check the video below.