By Robert Wheatley

Another form of media signals its emergence

For some time we’ve looked at media in the general buckets of print, broadcast and on-line. Whether we’re working on the paid (ads) or earned (editorial content) part of the media, one thing holds true no matter which side you butter the outreach toast: pushing messages outward has been the call to action.

However, the Internet has helped us all look at media use differently. With over-choice and a daunting number if digital and mainstream media channels available, people are increasingly opting for special interest engagements: going where their passions are and editing out the rest.

This behavior tracks with another macro-trend – the death of mass markets and the rise of niche categories serving unique consumer interests and desires. Media is following this pattern.

From a human standpoint the narrowing of media consumption only makes sense as the clutter and clamor for attention becomes impossible for anyone to absorb in any rational manner. Bob Lutz the eminence grise of the auto industry, who recently announced his retirement, told AdAge in an interview: “Back in the good old days, you had ABC, CBS and NBC. If you took three spots on “The Dinah Shore Show,” you had a Chevrolet commercial at the beginning, one in the middle and one at the end, and you knew about 25 million Americans saw those three Chevy commercials. Today, with hundreds (or thousands) of channels, you don’t know where to go anymore.”

Pushing messages out isn’t going away any time soon. Media outreach strategies have adjusted and messaging is already re-defined along lines of relevance and meaning to its recipient — more so than broad-brush, one-size-fits-all approaches. The activity of securing awareness in paid vehicles or convincing editors and reporters of a story angle that includes a client’s brand, will remain a centerpiece of most brand communications strategies. But there’s another compelling channel now in the wings.

“Pull Media”

Brands have the ability today to create content, to become an aggregator and repository of useful information in the categories where they do business. The challenge for all of us in the communications field is developing content that is sufficiently meaningful and valuable, it becomes discoverable by its target audience through search engines and social media platforms.

One of our favorite experts in the digital space, Bob Greenberg of R/GA, one of the top and most strategic, inventive digital agencies around, in a recent BrandWeek article talks about a growing role for video (distributed on the Internet) that helps demonstrate the value and use of brands in an environment employing all of the immersive communications advantages of pictures, sound and music. Not stunts mind you or viral video anomalies that, while emanating pass around value, amount to nothing more than a temporary awareness generator. Rather we’re talking about content that can stand the test of true engagement, value and meaning to its user and thus has the opportunity to become sought-after.

So whatever forms of media outreach we work within today, one thing we believe is an unstoppable force — the need for brands to become content creators with a twist. Not just pushing messages at consumers, but also inviting them into a relationship by helping improve their lives and lifestyles with content they want, look for, keep and share.

Should brand communications become discoverable?