Hassling the Hoff - CC Chapman Joins the Roundtable

We were pleased to welcome CC Chapman to the Media Bullseye hot seat this week.  C.C. Chapman is considered by many to be a new media maven and one of the pioneers of podcasting. His company, The Advance Guard, is focused on marketing through branded
entertainment, social media and emerging technology. He is also the host of two podcasts, Managing the Gray and Accident Hash.

Today on the Roundtable CC joined us to discuss his trip out to the New Media Expo, Facebook's latest attempt at creative and interactive marketing, possible political regulations on the Internet and yes, The Hoff.

Click here to download our 36 minute discussion

New Media Expo: CC fills us in on the background of the New Media Expo, held last week in Las Vegas. It was the first time the event had been held in Vegas as opposed to Ontario, CA, and CC is not sure that the new venue was an improvement. But he still enjoyed the experience, and gave us the highlights, including Gary Vaynerchuk's presentation. I also point out for anyone interested that there is a calendar of social media events for Fall 2008 up on Media Bullseye, a feature we will be updating regularly (and hopefully added a dedicated RSS feed to).

Facebook Engagement: After the disaster that was Facebook Beacon, I was surprised to see Facebook jumping back into the interactive marketing game. It seems they are taking a different (and better, in my opinion) approach this time, however. We discuss the particulars of "Engagement" ads, which seek to draw Facebook users into brand communities by offering them the chance to comment on ads, become a fan of brands, and see their friends' reactions to the ads in their Facebook news feed. CC is excited to try it out, Jen and I agree that it is less creepy than Beacon but still perhaps a bit intrusive.

The Fairness Doctrine Online?: First, click here for an explanation of the Fairness Doctrine. You'll need that since I achieved an epic fail in introducing this topic (thanks for that polisci degree, GWU!). We discuss the implications of federal regulations on the Internet, which no one on the Roundtable thinks is a feasible undertaking. But I don't think that will stop the government from considering it as the Internet becomes an ever more powerful force in communications and politics in the coming years.

Don't Hassle the Hoff: Yep, David Hasselhoff has a social network. Called "HoffSpace," it's a place for his fans to gather and connect away from the usual places like MySpace or Facebook. We discuss whether this was a smart business move for the Hoff (he used to be active on MySpace, now he can collect all that ad revenue and access the user information of his fans), and the implications of entertainment embracing social media as a new channel for fans to reach their favorite stars. I speculate that German social networkers are thrilled with this development (don't forget, "Germans love David Hasselhoff!").

Click here to download our 36 minute discussion