Walmart Beauty Scoop, Best and Worst of 2012, Free Bologna Trips

The Strategist picks the day’s most relevant and interesting stories about the world of content from around the web. Here’s what you should be reading today:

Walmart Puts out Branded Content Magazine

Walmart and Conde Nast have teamed up to create BeautyScoop, an online and print magazine that includes editorial features on hair, makeup, and skin ideas.

According to Women’s Wear Daily, sources have claimed that the multi-million dollar project is trying to emulate the look of Glamour (without the suggestive headlines).

There are benefits for both sides: “In addition to the jumbo-sized payoffs, Condé also gets dibs on a major advertiser that isn’t necessarily a natural for its luxury-positioned brands, Wal-Mart pays for the production costs and there’s added exposure for its magazines among millions of discount-conscious shoppers. Plus, it helps them establish a reputation not just as marketing vehicles, but as branders.”

Best and Worst Advertisements in 2012

The Wall Street Journal has ranked the best and worst ads of 2012.

In the former category is Red Bull and the space jump, Dollarshaveclub’s “A Dollar and a Dream,” and Chipotle’s “Cultivating Customers.”

The worst included McDonald’s and its #McDStories hashtag campaign that utterly failed, along with Pizza Hut’s Cheezy Stunt. The pizza brand dared anyone at the presidential town hall debates to ask what type of pizza they prefer to win free pizza for life. Nobody asked it.

Bologna Giving Away Trips for Tweets

ClickZ reports that the Italian city of Bologna, in an effort to increase tourism, “is offering free all-inclusive weekend trips to active social media users in exchange for publicity on digital networks.” 

The campaign, called the Social Media Free Trip, has had two winners out of 80 candidates. People who want to be entered have to submit their Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Foursquare usernames onto the Bologna Welcome page on Facebook. They have to tweet about why they would like to go to Bologna to win.

The Ten Rules in Content Marketing in 2013

Mashable’s Shafqat Islam lists 10 rules that will apply to content marketing in 2013. 

Some of them include targeting audiences on multiple platforms instead of just creating microsites, and fully commit to efforts by going local and international. Marketers will have to catch up to publishers by figuring out copyright laws, break news, and dive into the world of native advertising.

2012’s Best Content Marketing Ebooks

EConsultancy highlights the best content marketing ebooks of this year. 

The ebook from Content Marketing Institute, “100 Content Marketing Examples,” takes the cake. There’s also an ebook that has advice on cheap ways to do content marketing called “29 Secrets About Content Marketing & the Undercover Agents Who Shared Them,” and Hubspot’s “A Practical Guide to Killer Marketing Content.”

News Corp’s $2.1 Billion Loss

The New York Times’ Amy Chozick reports that News Corporation showed a $2.1 billion loss in the fiscal year that closed on June 30.

News Corp will soon be establishing a spin off publishing company that will include The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, and the HarperCollins book publisher, among others. The loss occurred after the phone hacking scandal at News of the World. It’s also due to the fact that advertising is declining in print publications.

Best and Worst Advertisements in 2012

The Wall Street Journal has ranked the best and worst ads of 2012.

In the former category is Red Bull and the space jump, Dollarshaveclub’s “A Dollar and a Dream,” and Chipotle’s “Cultivating Customers.”

The worst included McDonald’s and its #McDStories hashtag campaign that utterly failed, along with Pizza Hut’s Cheezy Stunt. The pizza brand dared anyone at the presidential town hall debates to ask what type of pizza they prefer to win free pizza for life. Nobody asked it.

Bologna Giving Away Trips for Tweets

ClickZ reports that the Italian city of Bologna, in an effort to increase tourism, “is offering free all-inclusive weekend trips to active social media users in exchange for publicity on digital networks.” 

The campaign, called the Social Media Free Trip, has had two winners out of 80 candidates. People who want to be entered have to submit their Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Foursquare usernames onto the Bologna Welcome page on Facebook. They have to tweet about why they would like to go to Bologna to win.

2012’s Biggest Social Media Moments [INFOGRAPHIC]

Mashable has posted an infographic from The SEO Company and Nowsourcing that shows the biggest moments in social media this year.

In January, Pinterest was named the best new startup of 2011, Facebook Timeline was introduced, and President Obama held his first virtual interview on Google+ Hangouts. Kony 2012 reached more than 87 million views in March and in April, Time Magazine named Anonymous Group as the “Most Influential Person.”

Facebook purchased Instagram for $1 billion, LinkedIn started gaining 175,000 new members per day as of September 2012, and in December, Gangnam Style made YouTube history with one billion views, while the Pope joined Twitter.