The Media & The Message: Marshall McLuhan was right.
by Joel Martin ~ October 10th, 2007. Filed under: Books, Diversity, Films & DVDs.Considered by many to be the first father and leading prophet of the electronic age, Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian
born in 1911 (Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, 1964.) The subject that would occupy most of McLuhan’s career was the task of understanding the effects of technology as it related to popular culture, and how this in turn affected human beings and their relations with one another in communities. McLuhan said many things that are still pertinent today. He has gained the status of a cult hero and “high priest of pop-culture”.
You can read about Mr. Muluhan, his work, and contributions on his website (though he died in 1980, his estate speaks on for him) and on a thousand places online. Click here for a substantive article I found by Todd A. Kappelman. Consider these prophetic sound bites and terms attributed to Mr. McLuhan, all of this done in the early 1960s at a time when television was still in its infancy, and the personal computer was almost twenty years into the future. The man was a “seer.”
- “The medium is the message”
- “Global villiage”
- “We become what we behold”
Viral marketing, a term coined by Harvard Business School professor, Jeffrey F. Rayport, is based on the premise that a “satisfied customer tells an average of three people about a product or service he/she likes, and eleven people about a product or service which he/she did not like.” Viral marketing is based on this natural human behaviour.
We see it in action with YouTube, political campaigns, marketing to specific audiences, the power of the blog….and yes, right here.
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