Online Experience for Offline Media

One of the most striking characteristics of the media landscape today is its connectedness. Newspapers, magazines, radio, broadcast and cable television – even movie studios and record labels – all use interactive channels to stay connected with their audiences.

Every major broadcast player now has an online presence and every one of them tries to drive their offline audiences to it. It’s not just about traffic. Although there’s often a cost per thousand, or CPM, component that still represents a fairly minor return when compared to airtime. It’s really about relationship marketing – continuing the conversation with the audience and strengthening the connection. These media outlets have essentially become brands that use multiple online and offline channels to reach their markets. Effectively, they’ve moved toward a brand model – something that’s based on customer solutions rather than specific types of content platforms.

The more that print or broadcast media use both online and offline channels, the more they elevate their brand over their native media platform. Courageous media outlets there are reaching for iPhone apps and mobile video. The best adapters are providing an interactive online user experience that connects with the offline customer experience and enriching the overall experience of the brand. For their sake, we can only hope they haven’t waited too long.