Topics for 1/31/10 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.

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This week's panel will be Edward Boches (Mullen), Sally Hogshead (Author, Consultant), Len Kendall (GolinHarris) and Abbey Klaassen (Ad Age).

TOPICS

iPandemonium: Clearly the biggest story of the week had to be the launch if the iPad. Apple's long-rumored tablet is finally a reality. Now before we get into the device itself and all the Beavis and Butthead jokes over the name, Abbey, how would you rate the launch event? How'd Apple do? What could they have done better? What about the name? Why such a huge backlash about calling it a pad? Could Apple have better anticipated and/or managed this negative feedback, or was it inevitable that people would be searching for the negatives? How about the iBooks offering — is this the iTunes for books or is it just another book service? What about ad opportunities? Out industry loves Flash and flash is simply not supported on the device now. Will that affect it's viability as an revenue generator for publishers and content producers?

The Little "i": If you wanted to bury a story, I couldn't think of a better day to break your news than that of the iPad launch and the State of the Union. So, Edward, can we assume that the consortium of trade groups behind the little "i" don't really want consumers to be informed about anything? For those of you who don't know about it (and heck, that may be all of you) most of the major trade organizations for advertising and marketing banded together this past Wednesday to launch the little "i" symbol that indicates ethics and transparency on how an online advertiser will be using your data when you click thru. Len, can you explain a little bit of the problems that digital marketers are facing in terms of proposed regulation? Is the little "i" enough to thwart regulators? Will consumers get it?

Should Account Planning Die Out: The Ad Contrarian is probably only second to George Parker in terms of knowing how to stir up the pot. Bob Hoffman proposed on his blog this week that account planning must die. His main beef being that planning has become a hodge podge of uncodified processes that deny the truly insightful and smart people in the agency from doing their jobs. Sally, what's at the heart of this argument? Is there really so little meat to what most planning is saying? How do you all feel about his statement that the strategy should always fall to the smartest person in the agency, whether that person is a planner or not? What does planning need most: to go away as he charges, simply evolve to something better or be purged of posers?

TBWA Chairman Takes A Stand: We've talked on the show before about the ongoing war between agencies and procurement, but this week TBWA chairman Jean Marie Dru went out on a limb in Ad Age with a number of strongly worded opinions of his own. Edward, what's the essence of his argument? Is it fair to say that procurement isn't the problem as much as week brand managers and CMOs? He paints a rather rosy picture of agencies that are more efficient than ever. Are agencies really not to blame at all for the procurement mess? Doesn't agency excess bear any responsibility in this predicament? Probably more interesting that the article itself were the comments. Why didn't Mr. Dru get more support? Could part of this also be just the law of supply and demand at work? Are there just too many agencies commoditizing the whole market and driving prices down?

GM Takes The Low Road: Last story. And this one I'm still shaking my head over. GM has seized the opportunity launch a switch campaign to capitalize on the massive Toyota recalls. Is this a good or bad idea for the automaker? Doesn't GM have more recalls under it's belt than Toyota? Aren't they running the risk of being called out on their own past failures?