Topics for the 9/13/09 Show

Here are the proposed topics for this week's episode of The BeanCast. Please feel free to send in 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 Bill Green (Make The Logo Bigger), Ben Kunz (Thought Gadgets), Greg Verdino (Crayon) and Åsk Wäppling (Adland).

TOPICS

Chaos Over Chaos: Jeff Goodby takes Bob Garfield to task this week in an Ad Age response to Chaos Scenario. First, what about Bob's theories -- is his "scenario" pure hyperbole or is there a kernel of truth? What about Goodby's points -- is there a drive for entertaining advertising that will never die? The argument (or at least the idea behind the argument) seemed to blossom to many other posts this week. What do you think about Andy Gould's supposition that clients want information more than than branding now and that "spectacle" is a thing of the past? (I thought it interesting that Gould's post was run in the Daily Ad Age email blast directly above the HALO ODST spot being chosen as the spot of the week.) Then there came Ana Andjelic's post on her blog I Love Marketing and later reprinted on AdAge.com, that takes to task both positions. What do we think about this idea that the truth lies somewhere between brand irrelevance and big brand advertising? What about her criticism that they are predicting the future by looking in the rear view mirror? Are both these arguments just applying our past expectations on a new medium?

Blending the Old With The New: Everyone is attempting to do their Twitter or Facebook segment these days. But MTV is taking it one step further by using top measuring tools and incorporating the results throughout an entire program. This year's MTV Video Music Awards web site featured a live tag clouds, dynamic celebrity images that grow or shrink based on comments, live commentary by iJustine. First, was this just a stunt or was this a legitimate blending of social technology into a live broadcast? Is it truly as cutting edge as the press release would have us believe? What did they do right? What more would they need to do to make this a compelling integration? Do we give them kudos for trying or make fun of them for jumping on the bandwagon?

Seth the PR-Representative-Posing-As-A-Blogger: This next story came to me a few hours before the show last week and I really should have made room for it. Santiago Lord, a listener, called my attention to an uproar over AT&T's social video efforts, featuring "Seth the Blogger Guy" who explains exactly why AT&T service is sucking so bad in the major metros. First, what about the choice of Seth? Was it wise to position the PR agency's blogger outreach person, (he works for Fleishman-Hillard) as as "blogger guy?" Isn't that misrepresenting right from the beginning? What about the message? Was it on target? Was it effective? Obviously the public reaction has been widely negative? Why is that? Is it more the fact that it comes to late or is there a fundamental problem with the message itself? What should their approach have been? We've talked before about the obsession with responding to social negativity. There was a piece this week on P&G picking and choosing when and if they respond...more often choosing not to respond. Was a video even needed?

P&G Takes E-Commerce Seriously: Speaking of P&G, there's word this week that they are seriously beefing up their e-commerce play. Is this hedging bets against increasing retailer pressure? Is it good for the advertising world for them to make an independent play like this? Is it something that consumers would willingly choose? Are the P&G brands strong enough to inspire loyalty outside the retail environment? Are the brands strong enough to make a person wait for a shipment of just-in-time type products?

The "Is 9/11 Off Limits" Poll: One last discussion of this. We talked a bit last week about the 9/11 ad from DDB/Brasil. Now this week Ad Age ran a poll about whether 9/11 is off limits completely in ads. What do you think? Really, does ANY disaster make a good vehicle for an advertisement? Are the images of that day something that only non-profits or a product doing a donation campaign could ever hope to use? Or is even that off limits.