THE TRENDWATCH — Many companies are using RFID (radio frequency identification) to manage the supply-side of the equation. But what about using it to stoke consumer demand? Here’s a look at 3 brands linking RFID to social media: 1) Vail Resorts, Epic Mix App - Vail Resorts in Colorado has launched a new social gaming app which enables skiers and snowboarders to track their activities and share them with their friends and family. The app is powered by RF chips embedded in season passes and lift tickets...

MEDIAPOST — The NY Jets released a social video game in Facebook to feed the fans' love for football. The Ultimate Fan becomes the first NFL-backed game in the social network to generate revenue through virtual goods and product placement sponsorships. Fans have the ability to purchase virtual tailgate items, and team gifts through the Ultimate Fan experience. Not a football simulator or a fantasy league game, Ultimate Fan, created and developed by Arkadium, allow fans to engage with the team online. Fans can predict game scores or passing yards, as well as hold a virtual tailgate party with others across the U.S...

FORBES.COM — The millions of videos on websites like YouTube are, for most of us, an amusing way to pass the time. For one B-school professor, though, this sprawling digital library is all business. Anita Elberse teaches marketing at the Harvard Business School, and is interested in how the Web is changing the ways companies reach customers, especially companies in the entertainment industry. It turns out that things are changing less than is commonly believed. The new world of social media may be a lot like the old world, if not more so...

MEDIAPOST — Contests in which consumers help design or contribute to special product labeling -- closely tied in with digital/social media and larger marketing missions, of course -- seem to be popping up with increasing frequency among food manufacturers these days. Two recent examples include Chiquita Brands International and Knorr, Unilever's largest brand...

CLICKZ — Virgin America's two-for-one, airfare-to-Mexico offer on Loopt garnered the fifth-best revenue day in the airline's three-year history, according to the companies. On Tuesday, they told ClickZ, "thousands of people" flocked to a designated taco truck in San Francisco and Los Angeles to check in and take advantage of the eye-catching offer. Of those onlookers, according to Loopt, 1,300 checked in using Loopt's Star program, and 89 percent then downloaded the coupon after receiving an e-mail confirmation. The coupons expire after Sept. 30 and are good for flights to Cancun or Los Cabos...