• by Christopher M. Schroeder , October 26, 2006

There is a temptation in revolutionary times to throw out everything that came before. I've known such would-be Jacobins in the online media world. Everything and everyone that came before at best "didn't get it," and at worst wanted to use their weight, mass, legal prowess, and cash to co-opt or squash innovation.

There is a temptation in revolutionary times to throw out everything that came before. I've known such would-be Jacobins in the online media world. Everything and everyone that came before at best "didn't get it," and at worst wanted to use their weight, mass, legal prowess, and cash to co-opt or squash innovation.

The revolutionaries usually have some facts on their side. And their adversaries often make their cases for them. The single most honest answer I ever received from an old-guard TV executive fighting the onslaught of change in the media world was, "I'm sure all this stuff is going to happen, I only hope it happens after I retire."

Sometimes executives try to use lessons of the past in hopes of being constructive in the new world. I remember newspaper executives pushing very hard to put print display ads online - literally duplicating the exact same static, black-and-white newspaper advertising in Web form. And why not? Display ads had been tried and true for a century in print, and the cost of  "upselling" (i.e., giving ads away for free to protect print sales) an ad format already in existence was good for both publishers and marketers alike.

But for the reader, not so much.  Print ads online didn't work - they looked horrible and weren't attuned to the visual power and interactivity of the new medium.

I suspect that some day soon, a smart TV or agency or marketing exec is going to wake up and say, "You know, maybe putting 30-second spots made for TV in front of mostly short-form online videos may not be such a hot idea." Or maybe some revolutionary will figure out the next generation of online video ad product.

That new worlds require new thinking and innovation is a truism. At the same time, new worlds don't rise overnight. Most of us are slow to adapt to change, and most successful revolutions have mastered an "evolutionary" aspect. And the savviest revolutionaries know better than to discard powerful old ideas that still work.

To illustrate, here are three vignettes from my summer with my young kids (Jack, 10; Julia, 8; and Ben, 5).

I went to tuck little Ben in the other night and said, "Have a good night's sleep, Benny." He responded in singsong: "Have a good night sleep on usssssssssss.... Mattress discounters!"

I was driving in the car with Julia after soccer practice, and noted how pleased I was by the falling gasoline prices. "But Dad," she noted, "did you know that you can save 15 percent or more by switching to Geico?"

I watched Jack and his buddies negotiate which game they were going to play outdoors. One kid kept listing all the things he didn't want to do, and when his buddies pushed his negative attitude he said: "Cuz all...I...wantttt...is...bubblegum!" And they all joined in:  "Bazooka, zooka bubblegum! Some gum!"

My kids are rarely in front of a TV or radio, and as a parent I wasn't especially thrilled to hear all this. But as an interactive publishing and marketing maven, I was fascinated. I paused and realized: Since the first "Rinso White" singing ads on the radio in the 1920s, jingles work. Memorable, fun, rhythmic, musical taglines just stick.

My parents can't remember my name on some days, but mention Pepsi Cola and they'll tell you, "12 full ounces, that's a lot; twice as much for a nickel too - Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you!" (radio ad, circa 1938). My wife and I sing "plop, plop, fizz, fizz" whenever we've indulged too much at a dinner party (such an effective ditty that Alka-Seltzer recently brought it back).

What does this have to do with the Internet? The Internet is all about the viral - pass-along and cyber word-of-mouth. A great, catchy phrase can therefore carry exponentially in cyberspace. Hell, I can't hear "This Land is Your Land" anymore without remembering the JibJab spoof from the last presidential campaign.

My kids won't buy beds or car insurance any time soon, so I suppose more clever minds than mine are figuring out how to get not only fun viral interactive marketing messages to targeted audiences, but also ones people will be whistling a week later.

Or 60 years later.

Christopher M. Schroeder is CEO and president of The Health Central Network, a ChoiceMedia company. (schroeder@choicemedia.com, thehealthcentralnetwork.com)