Get To The Grapes

I just finished the book “Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business” by Neil Postman, and let me tell you, it’s not a light read.  A quick read yes, a light read no. It’s thought provoking and profound.  Although I don’t agree fully with all of the author’s philosophies, he does make you think about our culture from a different perspective.  In the age of social media (Twitter and Facebook) and a culture based around imagery, sound bites and ‘drama,’ this book will get you thinking about epistemology; more importantly, media as epistemology.  It’s a great read and one I’d recommend to everyone – especially marketers.  As we are early adopters of technology and new media, we owe it to ourselves and others to utilize them in a smart, thoughtful and intelligent way.

So between blog posts and tweets, pick up a book – preferably this one.  Still not sure if you want to dive in?  If nothing else, read the ‘foreward’ that follows. It’s powerful and succinct, and it alone will make you think.

FOREWARD: Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman

–We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn’t, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares.

But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell’s dark vision, there was another — slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.  Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism.  Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.  As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.” In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.

This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.–

As a consumer of “infotainment” and a professional in the communications field, I have a great appreciation of our media, yet I do continue to question how a nation who gets its news and knowledge in sound bites will affect our culture.

The PRSA presentation on August 20th was packed with timely information about not only what is changing within the marketing landscape, but why it’s changing and what we as marketers can do (and must do) to capitalize on it. 

Five key take aways from the presentation are: 

1. Engage in social media: Of all the great shifts in communication, social media is one of the biggest and most significant. Marketers need to learn it, create a strategy and engage to compete in today’s marketplace.

2. Market  your brand (not your product or service): Even in today’s challenging economy, we remain a brand-driven society. Companies need to understand the essence of their brand and market it accordingly.

3. Know your audience: It amazes me how many companies wonder why their marketing isn’t working when they have no real idea of who it is they are actually ‘marketing’ to. Know your audience and you’ll have a much better chance at reaching them.

4. Challenge your comfort zone (as well as your clients’, boss, boards, etc.): Now is not the time to be complacent. With so much changing within the marketing landscape, marketers have got to change with it. More than likely, this means that it will push you out of your comfort zone. And my philosophy is if you’re uncomfortable, it means you’re moving outside the ubiquitous box. Trust me, that’s a good thing!

5. Write your own rules: Gone are the days of following all the rules.  The fact of the matter is that given social media and other changes within the marketing landscape, there aren’t necessarily rules for you to follow.  And that’s a great thing for marketers. Finally, we can be more daring and more creative than ever before!

Still thirsty? Check out Merlot Marketing’s delicious page for articles and case studies you can learn from…For information specific to the PRSA presentation, click on the following link: http://delicious.com/merlotmarketing/PRSA 

Capturing the essence of the presentation was this quote:

 “It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.”

Alan Cohen

Author: chicken soup for the soul

Don’t miss this month’s PRSA luncheon.  I’ll be talking about how the marketing landscape is changing and what marketers can do to capitlize on it.

That is what design is all about.

How does one communicate a feeling, a thought, an idea to a wide range of people who have different experiences, different understanding, different points of view purely through a visual representation? And what happens when that idea becomes more and more complex? Take wine for example, it is complex, it has all manner of classification and variety, each with a surprising number of subtle nuances. How would one explain wine, a topic of much interest here at Merlot, to a relative novice?

This is how.

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According to Mediabistro, Time Inc. today announced that the September/October issue of Southern Accents will be its last.   The magazine has been in publication for more than 30 years.  Our clients have graced many Southern Accent pages over the years, so it’s sad to see it go. However, in this economy it’s survival of the fittest.  There were too many shelter titles and the best ones are rising to the top.  Other shelter magazines already buried include: Country Home, Cottage Living, O at Home, Home Companion, Home Magazine, Blueprint, House & Garden andHouse Beautiful SIPs… Who’s next?  If you need to get your Southern Accents fix, the website will supposedly stay in operation: http://www.southernaccents.com/

Employers experience much trepidation when it comes to social media, so they ban and block it from their employees. On the other hand, employees are simply better versed and more comfortable in the ‘Twitterverse,’ so they sometimes tweet and blog their way into trouble. So, what are employees and employers to do? Read on to find out. Here is a link to a great article featured this weekend in the Sacramento Bee.