The Facebook juggernaut rolls on in Europe, but the first sign of declining growth rates has appeared. In particular, the sites meteoric expansion in the UK is tailing off.The social network gained

via Facebook Usage Still Rising in Europe, but UK Growth Slows – eMarketer.

For insights into the ethics, values and competencies required of today’s global leaders, Knowledge@Wharton recently coordinated a Wharton Executive Education round table discussion with four fellows from The World Economic Forum’s Global Leadership Fellows Program. The program allows participants to work full-time at the World Economic Forum while developing leadership skills through training courses at top universities.

The Complicated Lives of Today’s Leaders: Why Being at the Top Is Harder Than Ever – Knowledge@Wharton.

Canadians are behind the rest of the world in using their mobile phones for banking and for making purchases, according to a new report from KPMG.

Only about 19 per cent of Canadians surveyed said they felt comfortable using their mobile phone for financial transactions, compared with a global average of 34 per cent, suggests the professional services firm’s Consumer & Convergence IV report, released Wednesday…

Is your company among the 50 Best Employers in the Greater Toronto Area? This Special Section reveals who they are and why some stand out.

1. Booty Camp Fitness Inc.

2. PCL Constructors Inc.

3. EllisDon Corp.

4. Cisco Systems Canada Co.

5. Bennett Jones LLP

6. RL Solutions

7. WestJet Airlines

8. JTI-Macdonald Corp.

9. Gibraltar Solutions Inc.

10. Edward Jones

The Star’s Best 50 GTA Employers – thestar.com.

The personal blogosphere, while it still boasts million of online journals and participants, has largely stalled in recent years. Consumer use of social media has moved more toward social networking a

via Steady Gains in Blogging by Marketers – eMarketer.

The Star’s neighbourhood map, version 3.2

…By our count, there are more than 170 neighbourhoods in Toronto, some steeped in history, some of more recent vintage, many mutable over time.

Breaking through the noise to launch a new brand in today’s marketplace requires harnessing traditional marketing techniques as well as the unexpected. Reaching users online is relatively straightforward, but building emotional connections, staying relevant and delivering value is considerably more challenging. Hear from Kirsten Ward, Director of Digital Advertising, Microsoft as she discusses the challenges faced and innovation by Microsoft to build the Bing brand and steadily gain market share from Google and Yahoo.

Digital CMO Series: Bing – Building a New Brand in the Digital Age.

If your hair stylist gave you $10 every time you sent one of your friends her way, you might be more tempted to tell all of your buddies what a fabulous stylist she was — or you might even try to make new friends to refer.

This clever method of customer acquisition is a form of word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing known as a referral program. While such programs have been used for decades by not-for-profit organizations like PBS, similar customer referral programs have also become increasingly popular with companies in a wide range of industries, from financial services and automobiles to newspapers and hotels. Christophe Van den Bulte, a professor of marketing at Wharton, describes customer referral programs as an effective way to attract higher quality customers. “They are an old idea that’s getting more traction these days,” he notes, “and we now have solid evidence of their financial benefits.”

via ‘Turning Social Capital into Economic Capital’: Straight Talk about Word-of-mouth Marketing – Knowledge@Wharton.