It surprises me how many marketers don't understand the internet.
They continue crafting content and media strategies straight out of 2010.
Sure, they're on LinkedIn and new platforms, but they're missing the larger opportunity.
I rarely see any horse carriages.
From this, I infer we're good at seeing better ways and effortlessly adopting them.
But it was likely painful if you lived through the transition from horses to cars.
While it provided many new things (speed), it also introduced problems (death).
While I don't want this to be a history lesson, I find it crucial to learn from yesterday and to do better tomorrow.
When cars were first invented, few people called them automobiles or cars.
Most called them "horseless carriages." And with the name came people using them identically to how they used horse-drawn carriages.
Ignorant to their potential to reshape transportation infrastructure, city planning, and social habits.
This phenomenon has been coined the horseless carriage syndrome for that reason.
But I prefer the more "scientific" word, skeuomorphism, as it makes me look smarter.
Skeuomorphism occurs when new technologies mimic the functionalities and aesthetics of the old, often limiting their potential.
Early internet applications mirrored traditional media like newspapers and brochures instead of leveraging interactivity, real-time updates, or user-driven content, which are strengths of digital platforms.
Why does this happen?
To think differently requires updating your beliefs.