No, that's not our Tom and Dave having artistic differences (they're quite chummy, thankyou), it's a scene from the new TNT series Trust Me, set in a fictional modern-day ad agency. Given the success of Mad Men (agency drama set in the early '60s), we had to know a contemporary glamourisation of the advertising life wasn't far behind.

TNT is the network that brought us ER and X-Files - make of that what you will. More encouraging, perhaps, is that the show was created by two former ad agency inmates. So why does the show rate a mention on Beyond?

'One of the things we wanted to hit on with the show is how the business is changing and how some people are more successful at changing with those times than others.' - Hunt Baldwin, Trust Me creator, in this rather entertaining interview

Would be interesting to see how the show wrestles with that...this video sneak peek only highlights some of the typical frustrations that have been present in agencies for time out of mind:

Just got back from talking at the IAB's (Internet Advertising Bureau) first B2B Forum feeling surprised.

Pleasantly surprised at the number of attendees. We were aiming for 40, and more than 60 attended with about an equal mix between clients and agencies.

Also, pleasantly surprised at the level of engagement. Three main areas were covered -  Attract, Convert and Retain - and throughout, the hunger to learn was very evident.

OK, this is not strictly a B2B post, it's more an observation about people but I would argue it is still relevant.

Listening to Radio 5 this week there was a phone-in and the subject was "Are the UK's High Streets dying"? And, given the recent demise of such favorites as Woolies, Zavvi, Whittards etc, I wasn't surprised to hear that everyone that rang in, without exception, said that it was. But they didn't just blame the "Credit Crunch", they said it was the fault of the Supermarket giants and online shopping. To a man they called for the banning of both so that our High Streets could return as the true centres of our communities.

"But to talk to people and secretly be trying to sell them something--isn't that, I don't know, unethical? Surely you agree that it's completely out of order."

"He didn't ask us to buy anything. He gave us free drinks."

"I know, but the point was to get us to buy something later on. That particular brand. We generate buzz. We recommend it to our friends, it becomes hip, blah-blah-blah."

"He should have given me image approval. Look at my chin! I'm going to have words next time I see him."

From the short story 'Raj, Bohemian', by Hari Kunzru. It's not often you get social commentary, marketing issues, and literary value blending quite so well in one piece.

Kunzru puts us right into the head of someone who suddenly realises all his social interactions, even the most intimate, have been infiltrated by WOM. And before long, he just can't take it anymore.

I can't help but sympathise with the narrator, whose name we never learn (let me know if you find a reference to it). All that 'power' I have to customise and choose and sell products and services can sometimes just make me feel like a tool.
 

'But there must come a time when you're allowed to stop being a consumer. There has to be some respite from all that choosing, a time, well, just to be.'

What implications these musings have for B2B is unclear. If we B2B folk participate in or draw others into a WOM campaign, everyone's well aware of the business implications/context.

Or are they? Is it possible for us to overstep a personal boundary in the midst of all the networking and social media interfacing, or is everyone fair game as a potential WOM conscript?

Anyway, Hari Kunzru is a major British writer you may quite enjoy, and you can read the whole story for free on The New Yorker website. I think the ending is...realistic.

PS: Big Phony is a singer-songwriter who can be found here.