Fast Takes 52: Social Detractors

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When Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP scoffed at social media as a money making opportunity for agencies, The BeanCast responded with a charged discussion in episode 96.

Largely this clip of Edward Boches, Steve Garfield, Helen Klein Ross and Rob Schwartz comes to the defense of social as an effective platform for marketers. But as I listened to this in hindsight, I can can now understand Sir Martin point a little better. He wasn't actually saying social was ineffective. His argument was that there was very little money for agencies to make there. And he's probably right — to an extent.

Certainly agencies should not ignore the medium, nor avoid offering consultation to their clients on the subject. But we need to stop thinking of it as a "profit vertical" and start treating it as part of the larger media spectrum. It has unique aspects in terms of it's use for sure, but then what media doesn't? Further, we need to be guiding clients into self participation, which again, reduces any anticipated profitability. So perhaps Sir Martin is at least partially right.

All in all, this short piece of the episode 96 was pretty thought-provoking for me. I hope it does the same for you.