What do a polar bear and a bird have in common? Well, quite a bit if they happen to be Coke’s Polar Bears and Twitter’s Larry (yes, there is a name for Twitter’s bird icon and it is Larry).  And it will be no joke when they get together on February 5th to “watch” what is arguably the single biggest event in the media world – The Super Bowl.

You see, just when you think social media can’t get any bigger or more integrated into our lives – it does.  Coke has announced that its famed polar bears will watch the big game and react live through a special micro-site that Coke hopes will dominate the social media conversation during the game.  And it’s an innovative game that is ripe for leveraging through social media. Last year’s Super Bowl saw a record (for a sporting event) 4,064 tweets per second in the closing moments.  It’s not a stretch to imagine that this year we might see the all time record of 6,939 tps (set at New Year in Japan last year) broken – especially if it is a close game.

At the top of most pundits’ lists for major innovation and social media trends for 2012, integration into TV is cited as what to keep an eye on….and this year’s Super Bowl will very much get that off to a running start.

And just in case social media fever leading up the Super Bowl is not high enough, Facebook is expected to launch its long-awaited IPO next week – just before the big game.  It’s expected to be the largest tech IPO in history – and one of the largest IPOs ever.

When old solutions are applied to new challenges, the results are never good.

And so while the Senate has postponed a cloture vote on the PROTECT I.P. Act (PIPPA) and even early co-sponsors (Rep. Blackburn, Tennessee, (R) ) of the companion House bill  - Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) – have now withdrawn their support, the key lessons from this debacle may very well have gone unlearned and this legislation might still be re-submitted at a later date.

The key lesson here is simple – the innovation economy is different.  It has changed everything.  Applying “traditional” solutions to the digital challenges and issues that it can present will not work.  Attempts to rein in the creativity and participatory nature of the internet will only suffocate it.

This lesson will remain unlearned until legislators who truly understand the Innovation economy are sent to Washington.  Those who are entrenched in their positions of power now do not.  And that is a significant problem. The growth of the U.S. economy is dependent to a significant degree on the Innovation economy.  For it to prosper, we need legislators who understand what that economy is all about.

Ben Huh, CEO of the Cheezburger family of sites, summed it up best when he said on PBS this week, “this is a very bad bill because it doesn't understand the way the Internet works.” And really, listening to the arguments made in favor of the bill (mostly emanating from the traditional entertainment industry), that is difficult to argue with.

Let’s find ways to cultivate the Innovation economy and harness its ability to reproduce the next-generation of technology, services and entrepreneurs–adding value to our overall economy.  Let’s not neuter it.  For that to happen, we need those who understand how the internet works, and what it can still do, to shape legislation that befits innovation.

One additional lesson learned last week – the internet is a powerful tool for marshalling support and generating awareness.  Two organizations that I have been involved in for decades, that helped people better understand the destructive impact the bill could have, are TechNet and CEA with The Innovation Movement initiative, which played a significant role in bringing this legislation to an end – albeit temporarily.

It was another action packed CES this year and Ad Age took a look at why more and more CMOs were flocking to the Consumer Electronics Show.  As Beth Comstock, CMO of GE explained, "I'm a marketer and that makes me a behavioralist. (I need to know) How is tech changing the behavior?"

Basically, as CMO after CMO explained, technology is changing all behavior, in all settings, among all groups.  It is imperative that companies understand how that behavior is changing and how it will impact their business.  Not just the core consumer electronic businesses, like LG/Zenith where I used to be the CMO, that need CE innovation to fuel their growth–but any and every business on the planet.

Reflecting upon some other recent news and meetings I've attended with public CPG, auto and even food companies, it occurs to me that it is not just CMOs that should be attending CES, but CEOs and board members as well.  Because it is all about change and the decisions that CEOs and board members make must be predicated on and anticipating that change.  Just ask Kodak.

Once a giant of corporate America, Kodak is now on the verge of delisting by the NYSE and is involved in bankruptcy talks.  And while Kodak saw some of the future and has repetitively tried to change, it has not been enough–or fast enough.

And in that is a lesson for board members as to why they should visit shows like CES.  Because walking the exhibit halls is like having those hired by the Caesars who used to walk behind them whispering in their ears “you’re only a man” as a reminder and guide for wise decision making. Except at CES, the whisper is, “change is all around, and it is accelerating fast.  It will impact everything you do–and don't do”

With that knowledge, CEOs and Board members can better protect themselves, and their stakeholders, from the type of insular thinking that can bring even a Kodak down.

The famed media social scientist Marshall McLuhan maintained that successful media innovations were not only disruptive, changing the order of a broad swath of life, but invariably displaced existing media platforms as well.

When it comes to the media platform that arguably came of age in 2011 – the smartphone – the innovations it has brought forward have not only been disruptive, but also displaced a range of technologies that at one time (and not that long ago) were thought to be major growth categories.

Recent news that the latest technology dragon to be slain by the smartphone is the camera.  According to NPD, the percent of photos taken with a smartphone grew from 17 last year to 27 this year while photos taken on any camera dropped from 52 percent to 44 percent. With the improving picture quality of smartphones, that trend is likely to continue.

But cameras are far from the only technologies to be nudged toward obsolescence by smartphones.  According to a recent survey by Oracle, smartphones are also replacing MP3 players and GPS devices. Add that to that list gaming consoles, TVs and even computers.

As new applications emerge, there seems to be no end to the appetite of smartphones for gobbling up other technologies.  They might come to be known as the “black holes” of the tech world, consuming everything around them because there seems to be no end to what they can do better, more effectively and more efficiently.

It’s a vivid reminder that innovation does not just disrupt, it displaces, too.  And through that displacement, whole new industries often arise while others vanish.

Media and marketing is awash in data and metrics.  So much so that it is nearly impossible to productively process and use it all when making decisions.

But there’s one measure that is instructive – and that’s how much time an individual spends with a particular platform. Time is the one commodity that we have a finite amount of.  So how we choose to expend it is a fairly honest barometer of what is important to us.

Right now, to no great surprise, it’s mobile when it comes to media.

Though we are living in a TraDigital Media World, eMarketer just reported that in 2011 the time consumers spend with mobile media (over an hour each day) will surpass the time spent with print (44 minutes).  Along with the increased amount of time they spent with TV and digital this year, consumers are now spending an astonishing 11 hours and 33 minutes every day with media.

But what are consumers doing on mobile?  Well, we know – as data coming out of Black Friday showed – that they are shopping on smartphones and tablets.  But here’s another astounding milestone just reported. This month, the 1millionth app for a mobile device was introduced. There are now 543 apps for Android platforms released every day and 745 for iPhones and iPads.

If one could possibly review them all, one might undoubtedly find some incredibly innovative and inventive applications.  Because out there someone understands that with that much time being spent on mobile devices an opportunity exists to radically change how we use them and how they govern our lives.

Among all the clamor for rich media, lead gen, video on demand, apps and the like, the engine that drives the digital economy is – and for the foreseeable future will continue to be – paid search. It’s not even close.

Paid search accounted for 48% of all U.S. internet ad spending in 2010, according to Ad Age – some $12.4 billion.  The next closest was banner ads clocking in at $5.9 billion.

And Citigroup says online advertising will continue to grow this year – they are estimating 21% growth when 2011 concludes and 17% growth in 2012. The bulk of that growth will come from paid search.

But despite its standing as the digital platform advertising king, search is a comparative pauper when it comes to innovation.  Yes, much of that is because text is the canvas paid search has to work with, not to mention the nature of the search engine platform – but if search is the type of advertising consumers actually want to engage with – where is the innovation?  Maybe it is because search is not really “advertising” at all, but problem solving.  But if search is driving the digital economy there are ample opportunities for game-changing innovation.  It requires, however, that innovators be able to look at it very differently as a platform.

If they are going to come up with such innovation, however, they had better hurry up.  A little interface known as Siri – iPhone’s voice activated assistant – poses what many feel is an existential threat to search.  Why?  The very essence of what paid search is based on – keywords – is not relevant to Siri.  There are no keywords to bid on. It’s just a question of ask, and you will receive an answer.  And that’s all the more reason that those involved in search are best served by starting to seek some hard-core innovation – sooner rather than later.

Earlier this week, as anticipation for Cyber Monday reached a fever pitch, some interesting bits of news largely escaped notice.

First was the speculation that Microsoft’s Kinect motion and voice control systems might be integrated into TVs. Next came word that Apple’s long-awaited iTV might make its debut at this January’s CES show, with a Siri application and an iCloud content storage and retrieval capability being the main features.

These innovations can’t come fast enough.

This week Nielsen reported that for the first time in the history of its Television Audience report, which dates back to the 1970s, the number of households with a TV declined.  It’s just a 1% decline, but it’s a decline and it’s the first time that has happened.

Why? What does it mean?

Well, back to Cyber Monday. As you know by now, this past Cyber Monday was the biggest on-line shopping day ever, including us at Entertainment.  And many of those purchases were made on mobile devices.  Paypal Mobile reported a 552% increase over last year in global mobile payments for the day, while mobile traffic to e-commerce sites rose from 3.9 percent on Cyber Monday 2010 to 10.8 percent this year.

That’s in keeping with estimates that say mobile purchases are set to increase by 91% this year over last ….and, interestingly, according to Paypal, 60% of mobile-influenced buyers are inclined to make their purchases on their mobile devices at home.

And that’s the uphill battle facing television.  Consumers now have a new best friend, and it’s a mobile device.  They can not only watch videos on them, but communicate, shop, play games – and bring them to whatever room in the house they want to be in.

Maybe Kinect or iTV can save TV.  But if they can, they better do it fast.  Because the tide is turning against what has long been the content and marketing platform king.  And consumers are quickly becoming accustomed to life with a screen that they can do more with than just watch.

Some very interesting new data points on mobile device usage have just emerged. In a survey not yet published by Gartner, they found that 46% of people 18 – 24 prefer Internet access over access to their cars.  They have also estimated that within four years there will be 7.5 billion mobile connections worldwide—the entire population of the planet at that time will only be 7.2 billion!

According to a study conducted by SSI, 95% of people in industrialized nations own a cellphone.

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, 85% of all magazines and newspapers offer mobile content, that’s up from 76% last year.

Yet another study showed that 67% of men and 54% of women use their mobile phones to check information and pricing while shopping in-store.

The list goes on, but the point is clear, we have turned a corner and mobile devices today rule the digital landscape and are seriously threatening to commit the computer – even the laptop – to the dustbin.

That means it’s time to not just optimize content for mobile, but to create for this platform its own, dedicated and unique interface and content that people can do cool things with…like Entertainment's Mobile App.

What’s needed is a distinct approach to brand communication and marketing to emerge just for mobile because the consumer has spoken – and the cord has been cut.

The defining characteristic of technologies such as smartphones and tablets is their portability.  You can easily take them with you.  So naturally, marketers saw this as opportunity to design apps, promotions and programs for the consumer to use on the go. 

Except, the consumer saw something different.  They saw technology that was easy to take with them where they spend the most time – at home.  And that in fact is where these devices are being used most often–in the home. Yes, they are also being used outside of the home, but that is not really what is coming to define them.

A Google-Ipsos study earlier this year, for example, found that mobile devices are most often used in the home with 93% of people using it in this capacity. Part of this is due to mobile phones having replaced land lines for most consumers, but the smartphone is travelling with its owner from room to room and being used in each.  And so are tablets.

A recent Jumptap and comScore study documented that tablets are being used for purchases at a rate approximating that of PCs. They are not just for watching movies and playing games on the go, tablets are being used in the home just as PCs were – for shopping.

As always, the consumer will make the media match the moment.  And increasingly it seems they are saying thanks for the portability, but we like the way these devices make our lives better right here at home.  In the process, they are making the concept of “mobile” seem as out of date as the PCs they are quickly replacing.

Hulu and YouTube recently announced an innovative pilot advertising initiative that would provide viewers a choice as to which commercial they would prefer to watch.

The rationale behind it is that a viewer would be more apt to watch a commercial that they selected and therefore – by extension – found relevant and interesting.  But even as the developers of the pilot themselves admit, the consumer does not really want to work that hard and this test might be destined to fail.

After all, as Randall Stross of The New York Times noted in reporting on the pilot, it might be easier to just create commercials that people actually look forward to watching.  It’s reminiscent of the reason cited as to why Steve Jobs didn’t conduct focus groups – it was not the consumer’s job to know what they wanted.  That was Apple’s job.  As Stross cites in his reporting on the Hulu and YouTube test – last year’s Old Spice commercials  featuring “the Old Spice Man,” after all, reached 100 million views in just two months – and that was by consumer choice!

There’s something to that.  Compelling content driven by consumer choice will always win out. Consider research reported in this week’s AdWeek.  According to sharing platform AddThis, which I use for my blogs, the amount of data willingly shared by consumers online in one week is more than what the Hubble Space Telescope collected in its first 20 years! There are 2.65 billion daily views of pages shared each day worldwide!

So before we ask the consumer to work on our behalf in shaping more compelling advertising, let’s remember that they would willingly participate in that process and share it with others, if only what we gave them was compelling to begin with.