Topics for 1/24/10 Show

Here are the proposed topics for this week's episode of The BeanCast, and as usual we'd love to hear your thoughts and questions.

You have two ways to get in touch: 1) Send an "@" reply or DM on Twitter to @thebeancast, or 2) send an email to beancast@gmail.com

Please keep your comments succinct. Wordy comments need to be interpreted and I may not capture the essence of what you are asking. That's why I encourage the Tweet option to help keep the question or thought targeted.

This week's panel will be Saul Colt (The Smartest Man in The World and Thoora), Esteban Contreras (SocialNerdia and Samsung), Hal Goodtree (Goodtree & Company) and John Wall (Marketing Over Coffee).

TOPICS

This Politician Brought to You By...: We've always known that politicians were in the pockets of big contributors. But the recent US Supreme Court Ruling striking down part of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill, now will allow unlimited corporate and union contributions right up to election day. Which lead blogger and friend of the show, Bill Green, to ask how long until a company cross that line and becomes a campaign sponsor. Hal, is it only a matter of time before we see logos on political campaigns? Would the politicians even accept such blatant sponsorship? Politics and ethics aside, could this be a powerful ad vehicle or is it too strewn with potential pitfalls?

Print's Savior: By this time next week we will finally know what exactly Apple has up their sleeves. This is the week of the big announcement that everyone assumes will be the unveiling of the Apple Tablet device. Now no one knows for sure what it will look like or what the strategy for the thing might be, but certainly we're seeing a lot of people saying that Apple is positioning itself to capitalize on the dire straits of the print industry. John, what could the iSlate, or whatever it's going to be called, do for publishers that existing ebook, mobile and computing devices can't do? Is the fact that it will probably handle multimedia important to gathering advertising, as well as subscriber revenue? How is this situation of publishers similar to that of the music industry when the iPod was released? Some forecasts are showing this to be a bad year for eReaders and good year for TV. Did Apple get the timing wrong? We've got to also pay homage to the extraordinary level of buzz that Apple has generated. What does this say about their social machine that they deny they even have, Esteban? Silly question but are the other eContent device makers worried? Anyone want to make a call as to whether this device will be successful at saving the publishers?

Damned Either Way: We've been paying mention for the last few weeks about Chrysler being the only US Automaker to have a Super Bowl spot, but it seems they've drawn the ire of many by the decision. Is it right for a company that took $7 billion dollars of US taxpayer money to buy Super Bowl air time? How can a company recover without marketing? Is this outcry more about the excess of the Super Bowl than it is about spending money on advertising, or is this really an anti-advertising sentiment being voiced?

Diets Taboo in Spain: There's been a big ruckus in Spain over a recent ruling that bans some diet and beauty ads from running on TV before 10pm. The new law is designed to protect young viewers from unhealthy attitudes about weight and appearance, but in effect makes diet ads more taboo than alcohol ads. Saul, is it a good thing to protect young viewers from unhealthy messages or does it just get to be a slippery slope? I thought Europe was culturally more progressive. Why this sudden interest throughout the EU concerning beauty ads, retouching issues and the like?

The Serial Agency Review: Ad Age had an interesting piece about fast-fooder Chipotle going into review again, looking at the penchant for companies to change agencies on a regular basis. Hal, why is changing agencies so problematic? Isn't it a company's prerogative to change shops if the ads are drawing sales, John? Obviously CMO tenures are only on average about 18-28 months and that can be big driver. But why should a CMO consider sticking with his or her predecessor's choice? What are the long-term risks to a brand from changing shops too frequently? What do frequent changes say about a brand's management of it's brand if anything? Can a brand navigate the changes with strong internal brand leadership?