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Traditional Media vs. Digital Media |
Defined here as: print, television, radio and business events
Humans have been on this earth for about 200,000 years and I'm sure the first annual "cave and fire" convention and trade show held at "convention centre rock" was about 199,999 years ago (and is rumored to have been launched by Steve Nichols of Creative Show Productions Inc.). This tongue-and-cheek illustration is intended to demonstrate that traditional media is so much a part of our DNA that we forget how seamlessly it is integrated into our daily lives. Think about it...books, magazines and newspapers don't come with instruction manuals; or when was the last time you had to remember your password to listen to your favorite radio station? How many hours have you spent watching Looney Tunes, M*A*S*H or The Voice?
Sidebar: The Birth of Modern Publishing
Before Newton discovered gravity…before Galileo figure out the world was round and the sun didn't revolve around the earth...there was print media. First developed by the Egyptians some 5,000 years ago with the invention of Papyrus...the sharing of content in print was born. Fast-forward to 1439 and a young stallion named Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press & gave the world mass production of books, magazines and newspapers. This was the birth of today's modern publishing industry!
Before Newton discovered gravity…before Galileo figure out the world was round and the sun didn't revolve around the earth...there was print media. First developed by the Egyptians some 5,000 years ago with the invention of Papyrus...the sharing of content in print was born. Fast-forward to 1439 and a young stallion named Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press & gave the world mass production of books, magazines and newspapers. This was the birth of today's modern publishing industry!
Digital Media
Defined here as: online, e-newsletters, social media and blogs.
Some interesting facts:
- By 2020 40% of Canadians will be under 35 years old (where will you be in seven years?)
- It was announced last month that Google’s revenues are now more than the entire USA newspaper industry
- Apple is only 36 years old and has an estimated value of $626 billion...and its market cap is larger than Microsoft and Google combined
- Facebook at 8 years old has 1 billion users (that's only 2004)
- LinkedIn at 9 years old has 200 million users
- Twitter at 6 years old has 500 million users with over 340 million tweets/day (however most of us know these users are simply Trevor Lui in different bow ties @luisays)
The Winner?
Digital is still the new kid on the block but in many ways it has eclipsed and killed many facets of traditional media in less than two decades (remember Encyclopedias?). However, given the average age of humans in the world print is not even close to being dead. Face-to-face events are still the most effective form of human communication and interaction and, with a radio in every car in the world and most modern homes owning several televisions; these mediums continue to be hard-wired into our daily lives.
The consensus from the debate was that one is not better than the other; rather the two are becoming intensely integrated at an explosive rate. Whether you sit firmly on one side of the fence or you are a hybrid like me, the conclusion is the rapid merger of digital and traditional means your customer engagement strategy should also be integrated…or you will be the next KODAK.
Until next time,
@stevedempsey
