How to Look Ahead at Electronic Media While Staying a Little Behind

 From the very first moment that radio waves were transmitted for public use, our destiny as a progressive society in the United States was sealed.  We will inevitably become a mostly paperless society.  You see it more and more every day…your creditors nudging you to pay electronically, internet shopping sites abound, e-mail for free, new forms of storage that hold huge volumes of data available to everyone.  And this is just the beginning. As someone intent on staying up with trends and the best ways to present your business, you must pay attention and even try to think ahead as to what might be in front of you.  Consider a few possibilities…

 

  • Paper used for newspapers, catalogs, and all that junk mail will eventually cease to exist.
  • Paper money is being seen as a disease spreader and a burden on the national budget to produce so it will be phased out.
  • You will pay for everything electronically via your lifetime PIN number assigned at birth and non-transferable.
  • Your salary will come to your personal account automatically with any liabilities you owe (parking tickets, legal judgments, etc.) already deducted.
  • Entertainment will be infinitely selectable on your home communications system that enables you to see any movie ever made whenever you wish just by choosing it from a menu.
  • Advertisers will be able to sponsor just about anything on holographic high-definition, super-surround sound audio, multimedia effects television.
  • Businesses will be forced to implement advertising strategies that make them shine above all the others as they compete for viewer’s limited attentions and will bid against their competition for air time.
  • Internet spam will no longer exist as e-mail accounts will be locked and allow only pre-qualified mailers in.
  • You will never reach your actual customer via the international free telephone system unless you follow restrictive rules and know the special secret technique.
  • Via personal shopping records (credit cards, bank cards, store cards) advertising will be selected that is especially suited for a potential buyer.

 Get the picture?  And the scary part is that all of the above and more could be reality within five to seven years.  Will that impact how you do business?  You bet it will. Here’s a news flash for you…I am working with a client who has developed a reliable, cost-effective internet security program that enables you to monitor your business via camera and microphones anywhere you can find an internet connection.  So, you can be sipping little umbrella drinks in Hawaii and watch what is happening at your business on your laptop.  It’ll even display transactions to you that are being made on the cash register whenever they happen.  The system gives you complete control over security and operation on your business location.  He also has a version that you can install for your home that will give you the same capability.  This is another example of what is careening down the tracks at all of us.   So, let’s take a few steps back and look at where we have come and what we have as electronic media options. Only a few decades ago, state-of-the-art advertising tactics were ads in magazines and trade journals, direct mail to consumers, and radio and TV spots.  That fairly well covered most of the mainstream options to get your word out.  If you wanted some additional options for publicity, you needed to hire an advertising agency to get you special mentions on newscasts or talk shows, or a special write-up in a periodical.  And for many businesses, it was considered mandatory to attend tradeshows which required some sort of 10 x 10 booth display and a couple of staff members willing to stand on their feet all day to speak to attendees and pass out brochures. 

In those dim times, it was unusual to send potential clients a VHS tape of your product and about the only efficient and quick way to transmit printed material was via black and white (and thermal imaged) FAX. 

 So what we had was… PUBLIC ADVERTISING:  Commercial TV spots, commercial radio spots, print ads, direct mail.VIDEO/AUDIO:  Expensive television/audio production for over-the airwave broadcast, VHS tapes, limited use promotional soft record distribution.ELECTRONICALLY TRANSMITTED INFO:  FAXVOICE COMMUNICATION:  Landline telephones, limited-use analog wireless phones. Where are we today.  Keep in mind that this can change as you read this: PUBLIC ADVERTISING:  Commercial TV spots, commercial radio spots, print ads, direct mail, satellite and cable advertising on specialized channels, internet sites, a variety of advertising and shopping options on the internet, paid infomercials, QVC/HSN shopping networks, automated dialers to call client lists and interact.VIDEO/AUDIO:  Cost-affordable television and radio production, Interactive CD-ROMs, high resolution DVD video discs, audio CDs, MP3, upcoming high-definition market penetration, eventual universal 3-D.ELECTRONICALLY TRANSMITTED INFO:  FAX, e-mail, photo-capable digital cellular phones, text messaging, high speed connections affording video/audio/high bit-rate transmissions and large file size usage.VOICE COMMUNICATION:  Landline telephones, cellular phones, internet based long distance, voicemail systems, on-hold message delivery. Look at the size of the lists above.  The second list is TWICE as big as the first.  This means you have TWICE as many choices to make in today’s electronically rich environment.  Of course with TWICE the choices to make, you also have TWICE the chance to make mistakes and they are much easier to make today because every one of the choices comes with sub-options and subtle nuances.   Some of these nuances might be:·         How to implement your on-hold messaging system·         Considering if it is necessary to have landline telephones·         What format of disc is best used for public advertising and is it more effective than the internet.  ·         What is the best way to get an effective  web site up in a cost-effective manner These few items give enough challenges for the experts let alone those who are busy with other facets of the company. 

You must study what is being done by others…

 

If you choose to wage the war yourself, you must become aware of what is available and how it is used by others.  There are three important concepts to remember:

 

  1. The choices of electronic media available today are transitory.  They will continue to evolve and fall in and out of favor with the public. 
  2. What you choose to partake of as a business strategy will reflect on the caliber of your business.
  3. More choices of electronic media do not mean more market penetration.  It is more difficult to reach and create an impact on a consumer today then it was forty years ago.  There is simply much more jabbing at the individual and they are becoming more selective about what to let in.

 

An example of how the choice of a strategy will reflect on your business is the use of unsolicited internet e-mail or spam.  Whatever you might perceive as a benefit of its use, the result of using this tactic is almost certain death to a reputable company.  Even supposed governmental regulations affecting how spam is used, do not offset this low-level form of advertising. 

 In short, don’t compromise on your core business and personal principles just to try and get to the head of the line in advertising.  Class is timeless and you can always rely on taking the high road to get you to a better place than trying low-level tactics.   It is much easier to devise shocking or suggestive advertising than it is to devise meaningful, classy messages.  I have sat in on dozens of meetings where all types of shams and what-ifs have been played out and indeed some of them would have worked at least in the short term.  However, over the long haul, tacky is always tacky and will be criticized and remembered by your clients. TIP:  Don’t get overly enamored with technology.  Most of the “gotta have” advancements you see advertised every day mean very little.  Cutting edge technology is usually the most expensive, least reliable, and will give you very little return in productivity.  Plan to stay a little behind current technology – you will still appear to be on top of it and suffer a lot less.  Rocks below the surface that can sink your ship. In conclusion, look at the complex situation of handling your electronic media questions like legal matters.  The basic concept seems simple on the surface but there are many levels of subtleties below the surface that must be considered.  While most of the questions will not involve legal terms like liability, slander, or lawsuits, they will concern topics such as effectiveness, profitability, and corporate image.  And in many respects, these topics can be even more critical than legal ones. Remember that electronic media changes daily.  Hitching your wagon to a format or technology today may not be valid tomorrow and may even hurt you efforts if it is perceived that your choice makes you seem “old-fashioned” or out of touch.  This can work for you if you are Grandma’s Old Fashioned Cookies” but not if you are 21st Century Telecommunications. If I can assist you in any fashion, please contact me.   Eugene VasconiCommunication Arts(888) 742-0074 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it