As we have seen throughout history, the rise of a new medium creates opportunities and challenges.
It’s easy to see why radio was a hit versus static newspapers when you think about the user’s experience with the different mediums. The human experience of storytelling is timeless and the radio programs of the era focused on the same elements told around campfires since the dawn of time – humor, drama, and education. The one advantage of reading a newspaper is the bit of control of what you would like to read. Albeit the content has been curated and edited by others.
With the arrival of television, the storytelling experience improved exponentially and suddenly closely related that of real-life. Nonverbal communication like facial expressions and body language suddenly leaped out of a plywood box into the living room. Following World War II, the country with its new found prosperity and manufacturing capacity eagerly latched on to building and consuming the new technology.
However, there was no way to tell in real-time if a user would remember the message and take action at the time of purchase. This led to the jaded marketing phrase, “spray and pray”.
There had to be a better way. Enter the web.