How a VT KnowledgeWorks Member Company Addresses Media Fragmentation

A version of this post originally appeared on Handshake 2.0.

When I was growing up in Blacksburg, Virginia in the 1970s, all a company had to do to reach the entire market of the town’s 10,000 residents was put an ad in the Blacksburg High School football program and a radio spot on WJJJ.  If we weren’t at the game, we were listening to it.

I first heard the term "media fragmentation" from Ken Ray of AT&T.  During his VT KnowledgeWorks Entrepreneurial Summit address - Optimizing Customer Acquisition in a World of Media Fragmentation (.pdf) - Ray presented this slide.

According to Ray, the market of potential customers and clients had 6 information channels from which to gain information about a company's product or service in 1966.  By 2006, that number had increased by 500% to 30 channels.

In a comScore product release, Dr. Magid Abraham, President and CEO of comScore, neatly defines the "increasingly complex digital media landscape" and its context:  "The past few years have seen the rise of global Internet markets, the emergence of new distribution platforms, and a substantial increase in media fragmentation and niche audiences."

In an "increasingly complex digital media landscape," what's a company to do to reach potential customers when, instead of being in a few places - at the game or listening to it - they're everywhere?

Be everywhere.

Be everywhere?

Here's how Handshake Media, Incorporated, a VT KnowledgeWorks member company, attempts to be "everywhere" and address media fragmentation by "shaking hands" online.

Comments

[Barry W]

Cool. Good theory. One wrench is that the HandShake 1.0 with the 10
people from the business conference will likely be a higher value
encounter as any face-to-face encounter would be.

Thanks for sharing.
Barry