- 23 Jan 2012
The Kennedy/Kodak Debate
The death of Kodak became official this past week but was widely predicted as in this excellent LA Times article last month. I couldn't help but be reminded of John F.Kennedy
It’s not that there’s some conspiracy surrounding the demise of the 130 year old film company. There’s no shadow on the grassy knoll. Kodak pulled the trigger themselves by refusing to embrace the new technology of digital photography, that ironically, they helped invent. They kept selling film long after the world had moved on. Kodak`s last exposure made me think of another visual medium and how Kennedy was an "early adopter".
For the baby boom generation, the Kennedy/Nixon debate of 1960 was seen as a pivotal moment in the history of television, where the medium’s immense political power was realized.
Kennedy`s tanned and photogenic face was a stark visual contrast to Nixon who was flu-stricken, had five o`clock shadow and refused make up when it was offered. Radio listeners said overwhelmingly that Nixon had won the debate; but TV viewers saw it as the history books have recorded it - a clear Kennedy victory. And that`s the point. Not many people listened to it on radio. The “new” technology of television had reached a tipping point of adoption such that the medium`s power could be fully realized.
Kennedy knew to both adopt the medium and adapt to its unique properties. Nixon only knew how to adopt. The example today would be a company knowing to set up a Twitter account but only using it to Tweet five times a day about a sale or how great their product is.
2012 may equally be a landmark year for the mediums of the millennial generation. The mediums for communication and advertising started changing a few years ago, but they have now reached their tipping point. The speed of this adoption is astounding.
A few examples from a recent article in Fast Company:
- In 2006 there were 10 million Facebook users. Today there are over 800 million.
- In 2008 there 8,000 apps available. Today there are well over one million.
- The first smartphone, the Palm Pilot, took 18 months to sell one million units. The Iphone 4S took less than 24 hours to sell a million units.
It's no longer a debate about whether social media, smart phones and apps will be the platforms for advertising, communication, and entertainment. They have not just tipped, they have tipped these worlds on their respective heads.
The disruptive power of the millennial mediums and the corresponding demographic power of the rise of the largest generation the planet has ever seen is an opportunity – much like the opportunity that both Kennedy and Nixon saw in a televised debate in 1960.
The question is, whose example will you follow?
Look Matters is looking for Kennedy’s who want to join us on the adventure that advertising and communications will be over the next ten years. Let’s see where this goes...together.
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Twitter: @andrewrathwell
