Topics for the 11/22/09 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 David Burn (AdPulp), Dan Goldgeier (AdPulp), Bill Green (Make The Logo Bigger) and Dirk Singer (Cow).

TOPICS

Socializing This Holiday Season: There seems to be a big push toward social engagement, just as the social networks are starting to rethink their money-making strategies. Is this a risk for brands like Starbucks and Coke to be initiating such strong social pushes in a down market or just smart moves? Shouldn't they be pushing mass market efforts to maintain dominance? What are the risks and the rewards? In particular, are the moves by Starbucks and Coke solid social efforts or are the critics right in calling them misguided promotional efforts? What about Facebook's move to start charging brands for running contests across its network -- is this just good timing to ride the wave or is this a solid business move on their part? Does even Facebook understand the value of social networks for marketing? Why is there a continued emphasis by the big social players to capitalize on ad units? Are they responding to agency ignorance or are they not forward thinking enough themselves? It is interesting that Adweek ran a story that showed agency's themselves are still lagging behind on their use of social media. Is this surprising?

Is Tech-Know-How The Key to Job Security: The latest round of layoffs were big ones. BBDO Detroit announced the closure of its office there. AOL is laying off 2,500. And some say the end of the recession still won't help agency hiring for a while. In the midst of this noise there was interesting statement made at the new Creativity & Technology exhibit in London's Saatchi Gallery. Yates Buckely proclaimed, "If you are a creative and you don't know about technology, you will be out of job soon." Thoughts about this? Is tech-know-how the key to job security? Don't the BBDO and AOL situations disprove this? Or can't we read too much into whole office closures? Is this statement more rhetoric about the future being digital or is there a kernel of ominous truth to it? What will be the key indicator of digital's dominance? Is it the fact that mobile internet use now surpasses voice? Is it online video? Is it where we get our news and information? Is it social network growth? All proclaim they are showing the way in digital -- what do we look for?

Oprah Changes Jobs: Oprah made waves at the end of the week by announcing the end of her show is set for September 2011. Is this really as big a deal as people make it? Oprah's show has been a major mover of what one source called "late adopters." She's the one who gets your grandmother to buy a Kindle. Will brands and PR folks be hurting without the vehicle her show represents? Will her audience simply follower her to cable? Will she still engage as much in this new venue and will advertisers still follow her? What does she need to do to succeed in this new venture?

Murdoch v. Google: The fallout from Rupert Murdoch's announcement he will start blocking Google from his online properties continued. And now comes the analysis. Is it reasonable to think that even Murdoch would block Google? Is this just a ploy? What is he really after here? Is this just a matter of justifying his plans to erect pay walls everywhere?

Use the Loofa: Droga5 offered a great example this week of what it takes to go viral. Their campaign involves motivating action, shows connection with their target, inspires social engagement and is just plain funny? {Bob will explain the spots in short} Now, not everyone likes it though. So let me ask why this program works and why it doesn't? What are it's strong and weak points? What can we learn from the effort.