The panel discussion "The Odd Couple: What happens with Social Media Agencies and Advertising Agencies hook up" just turned up the first subtle thread of controversy. On one side, you've got agency
representatives Cam Balzer from VivaKi (Publicis) and Brian Monahan from Universal McCann. On the other side you've got "providers" like Converseon, Buddy Media,and 360i. Maybe it's my years in the
ad agency business, but I sense a little land grabbing around the term Social Media Agency. While there's collaboration like VivaKi's recently announced consortium of vendors, will the big agencies
and holding companies really allow the term to be co-opted by these firms, and those like mine? One panelist made the point that all media is becoming social, which seems to demonstrate the threat
and opportunity to well healed media firms.
