How the World Has Changed

"I never cease to be amazed how much the world has changed in
just two and a half centuries."

Angelus
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Two, Passion


The whole media scene has changed, is changing still.



Every step you take on Kensington High Street involves being handed another free newspaper.

There's lots of innovation which is exciting. Lots of new things to learn which makes life a challenge. Everywhere you look, the old ways of doing things no longer apply and that's great.

But but but...

We'll never get away from the desire for compelling stories.






What's brought this on? I picked 'The Moonstone' by Wilkie Collins off the bookshelf last night. My dad gave it to me a hundred years ago, along with a complete set of the Sherlock Holmes stories. He was a big fan of secondhand books and I guess I missed this one because it was so battered and discoloured. Big mistake - judging a book by it's cover. A rip roaring start, fantastic characters and funny! What a delight.

Ad Age publishes lots of articles about how media is changing, including this:

There's a growing trend developing among media planners that's called "sector strategy swap." This is where a brand in one sector adopts the guise of another sector to open up a whole new avenue of media communication.

Or this:

To catch this season's must-see TV, TVs appear to be optional. Indeed, every major network -- and one not so major -- are experimenting with the web as both a marketing tool and an alternative distribution channel. Ad supported or ad free, streamed on sibling websites or on partner portals, the networks are throwing every imaginable mix against the wall to see what sticks.

And:

Despite all the media chatter about Howard Dean's digital legacy and the rise of blogs and websites as the new powers of political marketing, local and national broadcast TV will continue to receive the overwhelming bulk of all ad spending during the upcoming primaries and presidential race.

Bloggers are citizen journalists. Blogs have exposed biased news sources to good effect. They've also exposed candidate's lies (seared Christmas memories anyone?) and the source of funding for political groups that pretend to be independent.

The entire media environment is in flux and there is no outstanding method of evaluating media impact or spend.

If media planners recommend advertising in "antique" media, they're being wise and conservative.

But trust me on 'The Moonstone'.