Marshall Mccluhan maybe remember for his wonderful observations of how the media and society are inseparably intertwined. However, the vast changes in technology since his death in 1980 has astounding ramifications for those marketing in the digital age.
If the entity providing the message is the medium, they still may be tied to the message as long as the source is credible. The appearance of credibility is so easy to create online that it becomes increasingly difficult for media consumers to differentiate between credible sources and well-performed shams. However, if the medium is the internet, then the message is incoherent. There is no message on the internet.
But this is not completely dreadful news. In fact in means that the medium becomes so constant that the only thing left is the message, even if only in hot terms. However, the issue is that many older marketing managers see the internet as the ready-made fix-all and fail to recognize that not only can content not be developed, but that it must be done in standard marketing terms; segmentation, value-added, and placement.
The Takeaway:
Large-scale web presence requires quality content. The internet transcends McCluhan’s hot media/cold media labels, so pictures and videos can be followed with detailed descriptions of your product or services, in a multi-sensorial approach. Technology is great, but the more technology-savvy your target audience is, the more clearly focused your message must be. In short, online marketing is not a bandaid for a bad marketing plan.
