Revolution or evolution: State of the Media

I attended a state of the media Webinar hosted by Vocus today. The state of the media industry is anything but rosy for sure. The 3rd largest broadcast company files for Chapter 11 last month, major newspapers - and some 1070+ others - folded in 2009, and major magazines with a million readers - decide to publish no more! At the end of the Webinar - I felt like playing taps.

But, is this the demise of the traditional media industry or an evolution occurring in the media industry? Are newspapers and magazines being weeded out or is this the complete demise of an industry the way we knew it? And the big question, did traditional media fail to utilize new media in time to survive?

The Wall Street Journal and the NY Times are two good examples of print media that have overcome the new media blitz - and in fact - have become major players. You may say - yes but they've always been. But, so were pubs like the Chicago Tribune and Gourmet magazine? They were major players too - and look what happened to them.

My take - whether it's local media or national media - you can no longer rest on your laurels as having a built-in audience. Your media product has to become relevant to your audience and always - always available; on-line, on my phone app, podcast whenever the audience WANTS to consume. Rebecca Bredholt called it the Green Eggs and Ham syndrome. I want the content in on my phone or in my home, in my car or at the bar. I want my content Sam I am..

But just as important, the product needs to be relevant - and that means the brand - yes the brand of even the local radio station has to be relevant to the audience. So, you can put more wattage in my cottage - but if your brand means nothing to me...you lose me and your advertisers.

Some advise? Look at how you promote yourself OUTSIDE of your medium. Showing up at the local chamber meeting is nice, doing a radio remote at the local car dealer's ok. But go out and provide unique experiences that only you can provide that taps into your potential audiences interests.

Products like the Wall St. Journal are still valid because those organization's invested in the brand years ago, and continued to do so as the media "weeding" began. So, ask yourself Mr. Editor, Mr. GM - what experiences can you create for your audiences that will make you more valuable to your audiences?

Experiential marketing programs, sponsorships in locally meaningful activities? Just a thought.