December 18, 2006

"there is no demand for messages"

From Doc Searls:

The bulk of advertising -- all $160 billion of it (which buys a lot of art) -- is a conversation between advertisers, media and agents for both. That conversation has enormous flywheels that were forged in the Age of Industry, and carry assumptions that are totally obsolete in a new age when the human beings we've been calling "consumers" are no longer dumb targets in a position only to absorb messages and displace cash.

Remember this essay's title? The main reason I got out of advertising and PR was this epiphany:

THERE IS NO DEMAND FOR MESSAGES

I concur with Doc. That being said, though there may not be a demand for messages per se, there's always going to be a demand for people who are better at selling your product [or idea] than you are.

And none of this is going to go away, no matter how evolved "The Intention Economy" becomes.

Posted by hugh macleod at December 18, 2006 7:33 AM | TrackBack
Comments

No demand for messages? Shouldn't that read 'No demand for irrelevant messages'? I love being messaged about something - if it solves a need I have.

Posted by: Tim Benjamin at December 18, 2006 11:47 AM

Ain't that the truth. Great essay too. Very relevant and insightful.

Posted by: Paul Fabretti at December 18, 2006 1:36 PM

Ahhh, but there is a demand. The demand for messaging comes from the people who write the movies, the television shows, the music, the books... they are all asking for the message to be put out. The message? "Buy my stuff!".

The demand is coming from the suppliers and the people who benefit from the sale.

There's a huge demand for advertising. Many industries, including the web, depend on it.

The demand is just not coming from the consumer.

:)

Posted by: Doug Karr at December 18, 2006 8:28 PM

Hugh,

With all respect, you and Doc are missing the point. There is huge demand for the right messages.

Case in point: people in the UK definitely wanted to hear Thresher's message about 40% off everything for a limited time.

The hard part is actually figuring out what the right message is.

More at http://blog.joeandrieu.com/2006/12/19/demand-for-clarity/

-joe

Posted by: Joe Andrieu at December 19, 2006 12:14 PM

Is it that there's no demand for messages, or that Doc isn't demanding messages that he doesn't want to hear?

Big difference, and the latter shouldn't be projected as being the same as the former.

Posted by: Mack Collier at December 20, 2006 5:41 PM