Peet's Passions is a beautiful book that communicates Peet's Coffee & Tea's new set of corporate values and provides ways to engage the company's employees. Peet's Passions is the most comprehensive internal branding and communication program ever developed at the company, and because of its historic photographs, is a tangible piece of Peet's history and culture.

Many companies are using social media very effectively from a business-to-consumer perspective—and social media are starting to affect the investor relations efforts of public companies as well. The “rule book” on how social media can and should be used by a company’s management team for IR is still being written. However, in the not-too-distant future, this new paradigm will be an integral part of every public company’s communication efforts.

The seventh biennial Communication and Public Relations Generally Accepted Practices (GAP VII) study, conducted by the USC Annenberg Strategic Communication and Public Relations Center, provides communication practitioners with practical information they can use to better manage the communication functions in their organizations. GAP VII is the largest and most comprehensive study to date of senior-level PR/communication practitioners in the U.S.

A recent survey of executives by Pulse Point and the Economist Intelligence Unit reveals that members of the C-suite are seeing the benefits social media brings to their organizations. According to the survey 81 percent of respondents indicated that social media had increased their company's market share.

In this Tech Talk column, Christopher Swan looks at how gamification is transforming traditional incentive programs. With the increase in popularity of gamification, consumers are now coming to expect rewards from companies in exchange for their loyalty.