Most people just don’t get it. I constantly hear, “What’s the big deal over this Twitter thing? It’s just another way to send a text message.” But years from now, when we look back on the Twitter-wave that swept across the world, it will be recognized for what it is – the most important marketing revolution in our lifetime.

Let’s put this in context. In early times, we got our information from town criers, travelers, and laboriously hand-copied texts. After the invention of the printing press in 1440, printed news began appearing in flyers tacked to doors or bulletin boards, which eventually evolved into broadsheet newspapers. Seizing the opportunity to increase sales and reach more customers, businesses began advertising in newspapers. Still, advertisers were reaching only a small percentage of the populace. Not only were they limited by the local nature of printed materials, they had absolutely no control of whether or not the reader would actually read their ads. That changed radically when radio appeared in the 1920s. Suddenly, advertisers not only had a means to reach consumers all over the country, but they also had a captive audience forced to listen to their commercials.

Television burst onto the scene just a few years later in 1928 and was a viable technology by 1941, when the first television station was commercially licensed in New York. Before long, TV was the preferred advertising medium for large corporations. Despite the fact that TV reached the masses more effectively ever before, the medium had distinct disadvantages. In addition to high advertising prices, it was impossible to purchase ads directed at a specific “target market.” Because of its mass appeal, TV  has always been a “broad” buy, with marketers acknowledging that the bulk of their advertising dollars are wasted on a large percentage of viewers who are not potential customers for their product. But it was still the best advertising alternative.

Then along came the electronic information age and everything changed. A new generation, long put off by manipulated news, uninspired programming, and an Continue reading →

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