Marshall Mcluhan often criticized poor media placement based on the effects of the medium upon the content which was being presented. He best defined these terms by separating media into categories of “hot” and “cool.” In short:
Hot Media is media that is ready-made, in that it requires very little participation from the media consumer. Action movies are hot media, as little is left to the imagination, and it has a beginning, middle, and end.
By contrast, Cold Media, requires a certain level of participation, whether it be imagination, input, a vote. Forcing interaction between the medium and consumer, it wears away the consumers’ ability to remained detached.
Is the internet hot or cold?
Neither is the best answer, both is another possible one. While video, radio, and other inherently hot media are available, they often times can have a cool aspect such as video responses, polls, blogging, and more. It becomes paradoxically both. Facebook is detached enough that you are safe in the confines of your own home, that is completely cool in that all of its content is user generated.
The Takeaway: When creating anything online, you want it be initially hot enough to attract your audience, but cool it down quick enough that your audience response in the way you want, whether it be to buy now, read more, or tell a friend.
Hot Media, Cool Media, the Internet, and YOU!
The Medium is the Message, or Is It?
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.
