As a marketer, I guess the trouble with broadcast media is that it isn’t quite as broad as it used to be. 3000 channels rather than 300 or 30 (heh… or 3 as I seem to recall from my early childhood). 200+ satellite radio stations (or whatever number they’re up to now), all commercial free.
To me, one of the interesting things about broadcast is what is positioned as the anti-broadcast. I recall the days when Xerox trumpeted the virtues of one-to-one marketing… everything was going to be infinitely personalized to you. Only you. Exclusively yours. etc. Well, that works pretty well I suppose when you’re printing utility bills or investment updates – but when something is for your eyes only, it is completely void of community.
I think that part of the reason social media works is that it is narrow enough to deliver information / entertainment / etc. that is rather uniquely suited to a specific area of interest, while being just broad enough to foster community.
With all of the other differences that social media brings versus traditional broadcast (transparency, 2-way conversations, etc.), perhaps social media is the perfect anti-broadcast.
What do you think?
Previously posted on carmanpirie.com
