executive
One of the key changes in the world of media today is something that hasn't changed at all. It's just that up until recently, we couldn't do anything about.
It's the concept of building up customer momentum.
We can all agree that the concept of building up momentum is as old as humanity itself. From learning a new skill, reading a book, playing a game, exercising, influencing other people, building a business, to creating sales... momentum has always been the one key element to success.
Everything in life is better when you mix it with momentum. The famous Sherlock Holmes books, for instance, were brilliant exactly because there were so many of them. It wasn't just a story. It was an adventure.
Momentum makes us feel involved, and it makes us feel special. It makes us feel that we have achieved something.
So, it's kind of surprising that it has taken us this long to discover the power of momentum in the world of media.
Think about it - most forms of media are more like a one-night stand than a result of momentum.
A monthly magazine is designed as a separate collection of stories and ads with no overlap or continuation of what that magazine published the month before. We call these 'editions'. For an interior design magazine, for instance, we have the kitchen edition, the garden edition, the bedroom edition, and so forth. Each edition is an island in itself.
There is no momentum.
We often see the same with brands. Most ads are designed for a single exposure in which you assume that people have never heard about you before, and have completely forgotten what it is that you do.
Again, no momentum.
Even most re-marketing ads, which are designed specifically to build momentum, are merely repeating the same old "you probably don't remember us, but here is our logo with a photo of a nice smiling model behind whatever it is that we are selling".
It is as useless as when a guy walks up to a girl saying, "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" You have to be extraordinarily good looking for that to ever work.
But the funny thing is that people actually know this. We know that this short-term 'let's start everything from scratch' interaction isn't very useful. But people have a hard time connecting the dots.
This Baekdal/Executive article can only accessed bysubscribing to Baekdal/Executive (which also gives you full access to our full archieve of executive reports)
Baekdal is a magazine for media professionals, focusing on media analysis, trends, patterns, strategy, journalistic focus, and newsroom optimization. Since 2010, it has helped publishers in more than 40 countries, including big and small publishers like Condé Nast, Bonnier, Schibsted, NRC, and others, as well as companies like Google and Microsoft.
Baekdal comes in three tiers:
Free weekly newsletters for media professionals, focusing on news, trends, and quick insights.
Weekly media insights and analysis for journalists, editors, and business managers, helping you focus and optimize your newsroom and audience engagement.
In-depth media reports for editors-in-chief, executives, and other decision makers, helping you understand the future of media, trends, patterns, monetization, data, and strategies.
Founder, media analyst, author, and publisher. Follow on Twitter
"Thomas Baekdal is one of Scandinavia's most sought-after experts in the digitization of media companies. He has made himself known for his analysis of how digitization has changed the way we consume media."
Swedish business magazine, Resumé
executive
free
executive
executive
executive
free