CONTAGIOUS / ISSUE 30 OUT, APP TO FOLLOW!

We've got a super issue winging its way around the world to our subscribers. Patagonia is a brand whose credentials have impressed us for a while, and when it launched its attention grabbing print ads urging people not to buy its products, we decided the time had come to investigate further. North American editor Nick Parish delves into the company's history, ethos and strategy in our case study.

Our other case study this issue looks into how State Farm is bringing a human touch to financial services with its helping hand approach, from its Next Door Cafe offering friendly financial advice, to apps to make everyday challenges like driving and moving house that bit easier.

We will very shortly be releasing our own APP, made specifically for iPad and Android tablets and for desktop computers/laptops, which will provide a great viewing and browsing experience of Contagious' video content. The app is free to download and subscribers just need their username and password to access it. It will be avaliable in the next week - we will email subscribers as soon as the versions are ready with links to download from the various app stores as well as our website. The app, which replaces the DVD, will showcase all the video case studies complete with full details about featured work, including results and interviews with the creatives behind top campaigns. Users will also be able to build playlists and keep up to date with content in between the quarterly magazine issues. Please do try it out and let us know what you think.

In the meantime, all Contagious video content is now uploaded to the website, fully tagged and searchable. Available here now.

Our raunchy cover this issue is thanks to Lynx (Axe) who worked with Aspen Comics through Razorfish, New York, to launch a graphic novel around the brand's first female fragrance, Axe Anarchy. The difference? Twitter and Facebook fans were integrated into the story itself, both as characters and through their suggestions for the plot. And alongside impressive numbers of readers and viewers, the fragrance itself has become the best-selling Axe variant across all formats in the US.

The band OK Go have a formidable reputation for creating content. We caught up with lead singer Damian Kulash to get their take on collaboration, the music industry and live experiences. Meanwhile, Anthony Rose, the technologist behind the iPlayer, shares how he sees the two screen trend developing, and how his latest venture, Zeebox, fits in.

Contagious has long advocated learning from outside your own industry, but have you considered the idea that your brand is now a software company? Coder, developer and Contagious writer John Ridpath looks at what we can learn from Hack Culture.

This issue also includes a fascinating piece on Citizen Marketers in China, where Jay Mark Caplan shares his thoughts on China's social ecommerce revolution; Market research agency BrainJuicer looks at predicting earned media success through the Super Bowl. Regular contributor Martin Lindstrom considers the potential of your car as a media space, while retail trends experts GDR look at multichannel retail.

All this plus our Small But Perfectly Formed feature looking at companies that have developed platforms and systems to enable social businesses, Upstarts looking at new talents, top new work, Wildfire and a sector focus on supermarkets. Enjoy!

Read our extracts here.