Topics for 3/14/2010 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 Duane Forrester (Microsoft), Bill Green (MTLB) and Michael McSunas (Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel)

TOPICS

The Problem With Transformation: The 4A's billed their conference as "transformative," but by all accounts it was generally considered light on practical insights and advice on how to agencies can chart their own transformation. Bill, why is it so hard for the 4As to communicate actionable ideas for change? Do they just not have any idea what to do? Is this more an issue of typical agency territorialism -- we don't want to share our insights to our competitors? Should the 4As even be engaged in this debate -- isn't transformation something that has to come from the agencies themselves? What should the 4As be focused on?

Marketers Still Say Mañana To Hispanic Markets: Despite hispanic marketing spend tracking at a lower pullback than the general market in the US, and despite marketers touting its growing importance, very few US marketers are spending at a level equal to the opportunity. Duane, why is there continued resistance to fully embracing this segment? Is the resistance more financial and more ignorance? Recent data about online behavior shows that US spanish-speaking markets predominantly buy via English language sites, even when Spanish sites are present? Is that an argument against targeting hispanic markets? What do you think this data really reveals?

Live Webcasting is Hot: Livestreaming is not new. But suddenly everyone from the fashion industry to the New York Times are talking about live webcasts. Duane, I thought consumers preferred on-demand -- why the sudden interest in the Internet version of a live broadcast model? Is participation by a live audience part of appeal? What is the value in such small audiences? In the case of the fashion industry, they're making it a way for the masses to "attend" their exclusive runway events -- how does this help their brands? What about the NYT play -- do news consumers really need another broadcast news source?

Bank of America Ends Overdraft Fees on Debit Cards: Bank of America took an unusually aggressive step and announced they will no longer charge overdraft fees on Debit Card transactions. Michael, this is obviously a marketing play, but what other objectives do they have for this move? Will it enhance the perception of their brand for the long term or does it just highlight another reason to hate your bank? Will customer's be won over?

It's SXSW. Don't Be A Jerk: Our friend Ian Schafer at Deep Focus pointed out in Ad Age what all of us not attending SXSW already know: SXSW tweeting can get obnoxious. And he offered some advice on how not to be a Jerk. So now that SXSW is almost over, what's the verdict -- were the tweets and stories and blog posts a little less obnoxious this year?