"But most important of all, the truth, that dangerous stuff,
became beautiful and more precious."     —John Steinbeck

If you and I are going to build a relationship, you should know where I’m coming from. We all have guiding principals, foundational truths. These are mine:

Before you can influence, you have to attract. To attract you have to offer something of genuine value to the recipient. Continued attraction is a measure of value-transfer. Value-transfer happens when your message gives the recipient something relevant, prompting them to ask:

Can I use this?
Does this seem genuine? Real?
Can I do it? Have it? Be it?

Yesses make deposits in the first bank of TRUST. Trust diminishes resistance. Influencing behavior has less to do with persuasion than overcoming an innate resistance to taking action. Action leads to conversion.

These truths are the foundation of MogerMedia’s creative messaging philosophy. I don’t need to work hard looking for examples of these principals at work; they pop up unprompted often enough. I focus instead on understanding application of these principles and bridging the gap between you and the consumer.

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Thoughts are fast moving things. Leaping about in the left and right sides of our brain, we create and discard a million possibilities in a moment. Those who can birth these fleeting ideas into tangible existence are considered creative (even though we all could, only an intrepid few DO).

The video iPod is a good example of creative thinking in application. A room full of TV execs sat down to discuss the pros and cons of the new device recently. Some thought it cool, some dismissed it like the movie studios dismissed the dawn of television. What will the role of this technology be?

Nina Tassler, President of CBS Entertainment nailed it,  “You need to find all these different ways to continue to bring viewers in.  It all has to feed back into our core business.”

Your core business. What is it? It’s not marketing–that’s MY business. Are you in retail? A service company? What is the thing you do well? What is it you want to be known for? That’s your core business and just as the video iPod may prove to be for television, your marketing should be for you: something that feeds business back to your core.

Any time you catch yourself spending time away from honing your core to meddle in your web site or newspaper ad or human resources, remember this: your core business needs to be nourished to grow and its best food is thought.

Take time to think.

An early observer of this sea change, former FCC Chairman Michael Powell described the shift as “Application Separation.” In the old days you needed a tower, a license, equipment, people, money, etc. Today all you need is Internet access.

Terry Heaton’s report summarizes Powell’s view: “one no longer needs to own the infrastructure in order to publish, distribute or broadcast content. This is turning the media world upside-down, and most of the traditional media response, I’m sorry, falls under the category of “they just don’t get it.”

Terry’s insights and advice are food for thought for broadcasters and marketers alike. Do you think the choice of channels is the only place where an increasingly sophisticated consumer is exerting their will?

Here’s how I see Terry’s action plan for broadcasters adapted for marketers…

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