In his recent blog post “Why do we care about football”, Seth Godin noted “how the sport turned into a cultural touchstone”. He illustrated his point with  the equation; ” Tribes -> TV -> Money  -> Mass -> TV -> Tribes”. The article is a great reminder of how the golden age of television and the NFL evolved together from the mid – late 60’s to today.

What was compelling for me, was his assertion that other than the Super Bowl game itself, the “mass TV”  component of the equation is all but basically over.

I’d have to say I agree and we’ve seen it with the splintering of cable vs traditional broadcast networks. Even the ads for the Super Bowl that everyone used to have to wait for, were available on-line days, if not weeks in advance of the game, building their own culture.  As someone involved in marketing and the whole customer experience, it’s apparent to me daily that there is definitely a shift in consumption. Instead of one to many, the relationship is much more intimate.  Godin noted:

The new media giants of our age (Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.) don’t point everyone to one bit of content, don’t trade in mass. Instead, they splinter, connecting many to many, not many to one.  The cultural touchstones we’re building today are mostly not mass, mostly not for everyone. Instead, the process is Tribes -> Connections/communities -> Diverse impact… So instead we build our lives around cultural pockets, not cultural mass.

It was the last line that really struck home and what I try to focus on with each client I work  with. Each is a unique business, with their own set of values, needs and yes, issues. Working with them to identify their abilities, to create value for their clients, to separate them from the pack and help build meaningful relationships with their customers, vendors, staff and the community at large is my focus. The fun for me has been in exploring the various tools available; be it social media and traditional marketing platforms, customer relationship management systems, workflow management systems, measurement systems or crafting the strategies/tactics to help them meet and even better – exceed their organizational goals.

In the Diverse Message blog, we’ll be seeking to cover all of these various themes and will be turning to qualified professionals in many areas to bring the best possible information to you. I imagine that on occasion we will come across some divergent positions, as the new tools for business continue to evolve but that just expands our discussion and understanding.

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