The Medium is Still the Message

By Anna Hovind

Wikipedia: "The medium is the message" is a phrase coined by Marshall McLuhan meaning that the form of a medium embeds itself in the message, creating a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived.

Without a doubt, the medium for message delivery has evolved in ways Marshall McLuhan could never have imagined when his book, The Medium is the Message, was published in 1967.

Fast forward to 2014, and McLuhan’s message remains as relevant as ever, even if the medium for transmission now includes technology and services that never existed in the 1960’s: personal computers, tablets and smart phones capable of bombarding us with messages 24/7. 

To dig a little deeper into McLuhan’s thesis, the definition of a “medium” is more than just electronic devices like your smartphone or television. It extends to any type of visual that appears on a screen or a printed page.

All of this means that today’s Public Relations practitioner needs to be aware that less is more when it comes to product mentions, and even more importantly, product placement on satellite media tours.

Consider the message you are transmitting via the visuals on set

Here at Firstline Creative & Media, we do a great deal of work in the world of SMTs, and we coach our clients that the spoken word is only a portion of the message. The elements included in the set design can speak volumes.  At times, the message delivered by the medium – in this case, the products placed on the set - comes through much more loudly than anything the spokesperson may say.

News versus commercial

From a newsperson’s perspective, there should never, ever be any verbal or visual branding during an interview. To a newsroom, product placement on the set and product mentions delivered by a spokesperson are the stuff that you see and hear during a commercial break, not during a newscast. 

But with a mindful approach to the medium and its message, it is possible to deftly include products on the set, so long as you meet a few criteria:

• The product should not be the only element on the set.
• The product should be tastefully mixed in with several generic, non-commercial elements so that it does not stand out.
• The product placement should make sense in the setting and should not look out of place. 
• There should be very few products on the set, not an entire bookshelf filled with them.

Less is definitely more

Following these 4 simple steps can help your SMT achieve much better results and also offer your spokesperson a greater level of credibility with the outlet, and ultimately, the audience you are trying to reach. While your client may want the entire set to be emblazoned with his product, it will send the wrong message to newsrooms. If the product placement is screaming “commercial,” stations are most likely going to reject the segment entirely on the basis of the visuals.

So take it from the team that’s been there, done that, and seen the aftermath. The medium truly is the message. And if you forget, the results of your campaign will remind you.