the year the media died

By Pat Law • Jun 21st, 2009 • Category: The Digital Strategist

He from the digiterati world might find this funny, but he from the Mad Men era of martinis probably would not. The graphics leave much to be appreciated although the lyrics are insensitive, honest and hilarious. And if you are part of the industry, you’d realise the video is pretty deep too.

Having been from the old world of print and broadcast, and retiring into the new world of digital a couple of years ago, I do feel a little sentimental watching this video. It’s easy for the young digiterati kid to say “we don’t need traditional media at all” but mate, where do you think you learned English from? The Onion is hilarious no doubt, but hardly of any standards close to The Economist. By the way, you should check out The Economist’s More Intelligent Life blog if you haven’t. More Intelligent Life is possibly the best product conceived from the marriage of traditional and new media.

Will traditional media truly die? I don’t know but I hope not.

Pat Law is a Digital Strategist who, in her time in the Adland, has marketed a range of global brands including adidas, Cadbury Schweppes, Chrysler, Harley-Davidson, Hewlett-Packard, Johnnie Walker, L’Oréal, and Royal Salute. Pat is the Boss Lady of GOODSTUPH, a badass social influence studio, and is represented by FLY Entertainment.
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3 Responses »

  1. Hamie on June 21st, 2009 at 4:15 pm:

    and the days where TV ads have nothing to do with animation……..oh yes…….

  2. pee on June 21st, 2009 at 10:48 pm:

    while i admire very much the editorial standards of the economist, most of us will agree that editorial integrity doesn’t have to go to hell just because hundreds of thousands of others are empowered to publish their ideas and impart information as well. Digital is media as well. It is the traditional media peeps who refuse to see that. By blocking that reality, they doom themselves to obsolescence. If you think about it, TV and radio are nothing more than electrical transmissions – not more tangible than digital other than the fact that it’s controlled by the rich. It’s what you make of the medium that counts. Most of the beef has to do with the fact that ad and media agencies have trouble accepting the fact that the power has been taken from them to charge a lot of money just to generate and transmit ideas – without any judgement on the quality of those ideas.

    Power has been redeemed by the common man. It can only get better now that the transmission of popular ideas isn’t the just the territory of adman and women. But yes of course one gets nostalgic about the good old times when they’ve lived that privilege. These folks would do well to take a leaf from the folks who evolved to create moreintelligentlife.com (a great site – thanks for posting!)

    As for English learning, one can always turn to literature. It’s free if you go to the library. Or it can cost USD29.99 or more if you fancy buying a book from Borders and paying more for real estate (expensive rent for Borders to be located in central location) than actually paying the creator of that intellectual property a bigger cut of the retail rice. Or you can get it off the net via sources for ebooks at a reasonable price – skipping the hefty real estate share.

    I prefer to look on the bright side of the liberalization of media. RIP dissemination of ideas via traditional top-down controlled media.

    Cheers.

  3. Hamie on June 21st, 2009 at 11:36 pm:

    i feel that for any industry and tools of an era, there’d be abuse and treasures. looking back to the “good old days” is a human instinct and unavoidable, though moving forward to “evolutions” and/or “revolutions” is essential with the changing times and market forces.

    i don’t think the creator is exactly upholding the traditional media per se, else he won’t be posting it over Youtube, but a mourning of the passing of an era. and maybe, a little dig at how the media bigwigs have been viewing the new media.

    i eschew The Economist but it doesn’t mean it won’t serve it’s purposes, positive or not. without a bad, the good ones won’t stand out. human need comparisons, trials and tribulations to discern differences, and then what is right for them.

    in my experience so far in life, “power to the common man” may not necessarily = good. and for this context, only time will tell. =)

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