It is not an easy question to answer: what memories will you conjure upon hearing "2012" mentioned in the future?

It could be the Olympics, Obama being re-elected, or Felix Baumgartner skydiving from space. It could be the phenomenon of Fifty Shades of Grey, a new JK Rowling offering in bookstores, or the world collectively and obsessively dancing to Gangnam Style. It could be the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking, Delhi establishing itself as the most unsafe country for women, and the renewed spotlight on the Middle East.

There are a plethora of ways to remember 2012, but perhaps the best is as the year the world didn't end. For centuries and decades, enthusiasts of Mayan beliefs have believed that the world would end on December 21st, 2012. It was such a widespread and popular belief, it was what Google churned out every time you searched for "2012." But the world didn't end, and you're reading this. And perhaps that's how we should look forward to 2013.

With certainty, and the confidence of life. With the anticipation of all that is possible; a whole year of new Google Doodle's, new trending tweets, new faces and stories that make up the headlines, new words to read and images to soak in 2013 is a new year to live in.

Few shows have affected the way we think about education, parenting, childhood and cultural diversity the way Sesame Street has. When it arrived, scientists were just discovering that our brains are not fully formed at birth and could be affected by early experiences.
 

When Mitt Romney announced he would cut PBS funding if he became president, the world rose up in universal uproar at what this would mean for Sesame Street. Would Big Bird be fired?

Internet memes flooded the web, showing their support for the beloved yellow bird who is the spokesperson of all things good about childhood.

Studies show that "children are influenced by media – they learn by observing, imitating and making behaviors their own." And it's true. The media we were exposed to as children has remained with us. We have absorbed it as part of ourselves; it has helped in shaping the adults we have become.
 

Disney buying Star Wars, caused generations of now-adults, then-children/teenagers to protest. We have different associations of both equally treasured legacies. The essence of Mickey Mouse and the essence of Darth Vader, belong in two separate parts of ourselves. We grew up with both, but one represents innocence while the other represents the thin bloodlines of good and evil.

Watching Disney cartoons, we remember what it was like to be children, to laugh at Timon and Pumba, to learn about love from Beauty and the Beast, to understand that everything has a feeling, a voice, a life. Whether it's a teapot or stone statues. Watching Star Wars, we learnt of the complexities between the good side and the bad side. Of how life doesn't have to be in black and white. More often than not, it is grey.

From a regional perspective, Captain Majid taught Arab children the value of friendship, the importance of healthy competition and the lifelong bond that can be formed with sport. Similarly, Marroco showed little girls the joyful drama that can be found in the simplicity of daily life.
 

Our childhood comes back to us when remembering the Marroco theme song, Yoda's voice, and Cookie Monster's rhyme. Our childhood is safe – as long as we have our media memories.

Brands can also learn from political campaigns, because these are very much like marketing campaigns; the key difference is consumers "vote" with their pockets.

It’s the interaction that matters. The number of Facebook fans or Twitter followers a candidate has isn’t as important as how many people share their candidate’s message with their own network, and how much attention beyond social media those actions receive. Brands could learn from this insight. Without social interaction, brand awareness might be high, but brand loyalty would be low.

If a person sees a politician’s tweet that strikes a strong enough chord, that tweet will become a topic of conversation between him and his friends. That tweet will keep a political message in people’s memory. It will keep a candidate in their mind.

Current US President, Barack Obama won his first election partly because he was connected to young voters over social media. Young voters – predominant social media users – still make up a significant proportion of Obama’s strength. A recent poll showed that 90% of the public already knows everything they need to know about Obama, thanks to his perseverance in keeping his social media presence alive during his presidency.

Political candidates also use media as ammunition against opponents. The website www.romneytaxplan.com is one such example.

Created by the Democratic Party, it is a playful but tactical mockery of the Romney Tax Plan – or lack of it. A button for details of the plan dodges and jumps out the way of users’ cursors if they attempt to click it. This along with a fake slogan, “We Believe in Half of America”, serves to highlight how essential the media is as a strategic political tool.

It’s a powerful resource, media. It’s propaganda, it’s potent, it’s politics.

If leaders keep their employees down, even while recognizing their potential, they become a company of dwarves. But if leaders put employees on their shoulders, encouraging them to excel higher, they become a company of giants. 

Good leaders understand power. But great leaders understand that power needs to be nourished. Good leaders can sense true potential. But great leaders nurture that potential even at the cost of overshadowing themselves. 

Joseph Kittinger is a great leader. 

Kittinger, at the age of 32, set the world record for the longest skydive from a height greater than 31 kilometers (19 miles). At the age of 84, he directed Felix Baumgartner on his record-breaking 39 kilometers (24 miles) freefall from Earth’s stratosphere. 

He put his heart and fears up in space along with Felix. He also promised Felix that the same guardian angel who watched over him in 1960, would watch over him in space. 

"I had a guardian angel look after me and the same guardian angel looked after Felix. I think God has a special guardian angel that's space qualified that he sends to take care of people like Felix and I."

But Felix’s guardian angel was an 84-year old man, whose calm voice the world could hear giving Felix instructions. 

It has been said that great leaders are born, not made. Kittinger is one of those leaders. A man who felt that making history was more important than his record being broken.

See, he may not have wings – despite having dived from space – but guardian angels don’t get much better than him. Especially when he was the guardian who helped bring Felix home. 

If you answered (C), congratulations on your upcoming success! If you answered (A) or (B)… well, keep reading and you just might be an innovative thinker by the end of this article. Behind great brands lies innovation that has stemmed from something small and something beautiful.
 

If Steve Jobs hadn't dropped out of college and taken a calligraphy class in his free time, the Mac would never have been the first computer with beautiful typography and renowned design elements. It took Bill Bernbach to realize the power behind the underdog; Avis Rent A Car was only Number 2, so they suggested you went to them instead of Hertz because "the line at our counter is shorter" and "we try harder."
 

One of the most inspiring innovation stories is when a mistake led to the birth of one of the most renowned brands in the world. Dr Spencer Silver of the 3M company was trying to develop a super-strong adhesive, but accidentally created a "weak low-tack" adhesive. "A failure", he told himself and his co-workers – among whom was church-goer Arthur Fry.

Fry loved singing hymns at church, but was getting increasingly frustrated when the bookmarks kept falling out of the book, making him lose his page. If only there was a way to mark his page that wasn't permanent…and just like that, the Post-It was born. A sticky slip of yellow paper that is now internationally beloved. Incidentally, the choice of the color yellow was also a fluke, as a neighboring lab to the Post-it team had scrap yellow paper, which the team initially used.
 

People say don't sweat the small stuff. But perhaps it's the small stuff that is the gateway to innovation.

Before we even let our minds dwell on the stand's size or design, our first priority is always to make the stand "stand out" as a functional, enticing and memorable masterpiece. We never lose sight of the fact that visitors come to learn about the brand – hence the stand should not just be about "eye candy", but "mind candy" as well. We dig deep to see what will best enhance the brand's bottom line and brand personality in a world-class manner. Our role is to give the client the best possible advice – whether logistics, location or crowd pulling. However when the event is over, for us it's only the beginning of the story… We help clients with post-event ideas to convert the exposure they gained into solid returns on investment.

Seeing is believing: Contact us for a "test drive" of our Exhibition Stand.

THE MISSES

What starts out as a brilliant idea can quickly backfire into a spectacular disaster.
 

Disaster Scenario: A leading fast food giant learned this the hard way, when it created a Twitter campaign that invited followers to share their wonderful experiences at its outlets.
 

On paper, this sounds like a wonderful way to interact with the audience and generate testimonials. In reality however, it quickly mutated into a nightmare for the brand, as followers exchanged tweets about the horrible service and disgusting food they'd received at its outlets.
 

The lesson: Always have a Plan B for reputation management. For instance, this brand could have turned these lemons into lemonade, by turning previously unsatisfied customers into brand ambassadors. Endorsements are much more credible when they come from previously unhappy customers.
 

THE HITS

Viral and apps are alive and well, as evidenced by some outstanding campaigns.
 

Success Story: For the Ramadan campaign of its client du, Alsayegh Media developed an app where fans could record their questions, to be answered by a highly-respected Sheikh via video.
 

The lesson: Always give your audience something that's relevant to their lifestyles, relevant to the time and relevant to their needs.

Conclusion:

This year, social media has put its foot on the accelerator and become an irreversible part of our lives. As proof, the London Olympics are about to be the first "social media Olympics". Athletes have been given guidelines on what to tweet or post and what to avoid, to protect the Olympics' reputation.