Nothing New Under The Sun

A couple of years ago I worked for a manager who said, "The best ideas are all ready out there. Look for them, steal them, rework them and make them your own."

To which I partially agree. Which means I partially disagree too.

Lately I have been reading two books, one by Harvey Mackay, another by Seth Godin. Harvey is old school and his principles are often universal. Seth writes about change, and in the book I'm currently reading, he talks about how mass media is dying.

Since I work in a mass media field, I am interested in his thinking and I understand where he is coming from.

The truth is that there are changes in the way consumers act and react to media, advertising, marketing and technology.

The changes are due to the changes in technology. So the challenge is how to take the unchangeable and apply them to what changes.

Remember that it is human beings, with thoughts and emotions that will determine your success and the success of your product, service, promotion or business.

It doesn't matter if you use traditional media such as radio, newspaper, magazines, or television, you must remember that you want to reach the emotions of the person you want to have buy your product or service.

Same thing with the new media, such as the internet, social media, mobile web, and whatever is coming next. You have to reach the emotions of the person you want to have buy your product or service.

This means they have to feel good about giving you the order, their money, their commitment.

And there are lot's of old ideas that worked in the early days of mass media that still work today, only modified by technology.

Here's a couple of examples:

Newspapers would put out a special edition if there was a significant breaking news story. Today we expect updates 24/7 from the news websites.

Request lines used to be the lifeline between a radio station and the station listeners. Now we also have email, text messaging, and webcams at the stations I work for.

These two examples work because they keep the human being and emotions in the equation.

It is just as thrilling to have the disc jockey play your song, or mention your name on the radio because you texted as it was to call on the phone.

What ideas have you forgot about in your marketing that you can update, re-work, freshen up, and make work again?