Archive for August 12th, 2006

The Pew Research Center just released new research on July 30, 2006, "Maturing Internet News Audience -- Broader than Deep." There was alot of fascinating information about Americans' news habits, not all encouraging. In 1993, 58% reported reading a newspaper vs. 40% today. Broadcast is the preferred source for news. Print far outnumbers online news reading with only 6% of Americans reading a newspaper online. The researchers state that the Internet serves mostly as a supplement than a primary source of news. The web allows users to quickly grab the latest news in bits and bytes. For many, getting their news online is a matter of convenience rather than a source for digging into the details.

Another interesting insight is that people are spending more time reading business and financial news in newspapers -- up from 44% in 1985 to 60% in 2006. Perhaps not so surprising considering that many Americans have their nest eggs tied up in the stock market. Men outnumber women as regular readers of business magazines (71% to 29%, respectively). Why am I surprised?

As a blogger, it is sobering to learn that only 4% of Americans regularly read news-related online blogs although the percentage increases to 9% among those 18 to 24. The younger set is turning into a headline society. Apparently younger people "bump" into the news as they are searching for something else. A pure accidental play.

The reputation of print newspapers has taken a beating over the past couple of years with the Jayson Blair episode, Judith Miller fiasco, USA Today scandal, etc...to name just a few credibility-busters. Although the print newspaper with the most credibility is the Wall Street Journal, only 26% believe all or most of what is printed in it today compared to 41% in 1998. The New York Times is considered almost as believable as the Wall Street Journal (20% vs. 26%) although the venerable paper has a sizeable number of critics. Eighteen percent of Americans report that they believe almost nothing they read in the New York Times today. Pretty ghastly news.

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Some advertising can resonate profoundly. When I first saw Dow's new advertising in an issue of BusinessWeek, I just stopped. All I could think about was who could I share this excitement with. I have a bunch of reputation cronies who delight in big believable game-changing thought leadership platforms. They would care how I felt. I made sure to reach out to them. The campaign had apparently already launched on broadcast which is something I do little of. However, the next day while on the treadmill, I saw the campaign sans words but felt the same sense of good sentiment and captivity.

At first I focused on the photography which drew me in. Then I smiled knowingly at Dow's concept of the human element, the missing element in the Periodic Table of Elements. After reading what I could about the new campaign, I found Dow's chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris' speech on their web site (Dow's 2025 Sustainability Goals, May 2006). Below I quote from a section of his speech that ties together the human element with Dow's plans to engage in the major societal, political and economic issues of the day:

"For still others, we have to invent the roadmap itself. And we will. And we will make it happen by keeping faith with The Human Element. It goes without saying that The Human Element is not, like carbon or nitrogen or iron, an element to be shaped to our will . . .

It is rather the element that shapes each of us who is a member of the human family, defines us, and will weigh whether, during our time as stewards of the bounty around us, we did more than create value, we were true to our values...we did more than build our net worth, we were worthy."

Oftentimes we forget that we are part of one large human family. This campaign was a good reminder that we have work to do. Kudos to Dow for this thoughtful campaign.