How you deliver a message is just as important as the message itself. Just ask Doug Hughes, a 61 year-old retired postman from Florida. Hughes’s mission was to deliver letters to all 532 members of congress regarding the Supreme Court’s Citizen’s United decision about campaign financing.
A rural letter carrier in Florida since 2003, Hughes didn’t trust his former comrades to deliver the mail. Instead, he took it upon himself to pilot a one-seater gyrocopter and landed on the West Lawn of the Capitol Building.
Hughes found himself in a world of hurt he could have avoided by heeding Marshall’s McLuhan’s insight: “The medium is the message.” He confused the medium, the gyrocopter, for the message. The ensuing media coverage sucked the air out of anything Hughes had to say. All of it was about the breach of White House security, the flight that even NORAD couldn’t detect, and endless hand wringing by security consultants.
So heads up, fellow marketers. We make this mistake every day. We lavish attention on “the message,” but we delegate or ignore the delivery medium.
Media is like a package that wraps up your precious communication or product. The result determines how you interact and feel about the content. Subtract the packaging and gold foil from Godiva, for example, and it would taste like chocolate byproduct. The type of envelope you choose for a direct mail effort might be more important than the brochure inside.
Similarly, if you’re using the same video on TV as pre-roll on YouTube, you might as well put a down payment on a gyrocopter.
I admire Hughes. He lost his son to suicide, which undoubtedly clouded his judgment. But I still have a soft spot for creative forms of protest that aren’t violent or destructive. For all the trouble, though, I do wish Hughes’ message had been delivered.
“The Medium is the Message.” Tattoo it on your chest.
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