| Monday, July 7, 2008 |
| By Paper or By TV? |
Media Determinism
Marshall McLuhan argues that the medium in which a message is transmitted, is more important than the message itself.
Well, he argues that the medium has the power to change the way we live and experience the world. Could that be true?
He says that the media is an extension of our senses, bodies and minds. I do see quite a few truths in what he's saying. How many of you can relate to probably National Geographic or Animal planet on tv? After seeing a cheetah chase down a zebra and kill it, think. Do you think you would be able to see something like that in real life? Imagine if there was no TV, or internet for that matter. Would you ever see sights like that? Our bodies and minds are "transported" into different countries, with different people, to experience things never at all possible without say, television. Senses wise, think cooking progammes. Somehow or rather, you feel hungry. The food doesn't even exist! Okay, so maybe it does. But it could be continents away!
Compare this: Imagine advertising for a fashion item, say, perfume. Now, we put this ad into a fashion magazine, full colour, full page. Compare that to the same ad, full colour, printed on paper and given to people at the MRT. Yes, both may be print. But one method, namely the one in the magazine, would have better results.
I had the assumption that the more technologically advanced the media medium, the better results you were going to get. Apparently I was wrong. Now, consider the opposite: A housing agent pays for a 30 second slot on TV to advertise for a newly opening condo's launch. Take that same money and print 40,000 brochures which are inserted into mailboxes all around. Which one would have better results? I would have to say brochures. I realised that it was not how advanced the medium was that made this statement true. I realised that it was the selection of the optimal medium that would make this statement true. Using the right medium, to relay the right message to the right people = the right results. Isn't that what advertising is all about?
Sometimes, without the media medium of television, we would not have the chance to experience many sights and sounds of the world. Even then, televesion reports so much important news that changes our lives. Without the media, we would not even known the disaster of 9/11 that rocked the world. The way we live today, the precautions and the alertness of our society would not have been triggered at all.
Media determinism. The power of the right medium. Important? You decide. |
posted by The Als @ 6:37 PM  |
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