I was watching a debate here in Massachusetts a few weeks ago and something hit me. Each of the candidates looked right into the camera and addressed me directly. They were talking to me.

But what if I wasn’t watching?

It’s one of those Tree-Falls-In-The-Forest scenarios. If a political candidate is targeting his talking points at me on T.V., but I’m not watching, what’s the point?

It happens all the time. Look at almost any T.V. show that isn’t a drama or comedy. Any news program will talk to you directly. Every night Brian Williams let’s me know that he’ll see me at the same time tomorrow.

Of course, this makes sense, since they’re only talking to the people who are watching and listening.

The process of packaging a message and aiming it directly at someone sure feels a lot like advertising, doesn’t it?

When you think about it, advertising is really an exercise in faith. You come up with a great campaign that you feel is perfect. It contains exactly the message you want potential clients to see. You then place the ad.

And that’s exactly where your control ends.

Once the ad is placed, you’re just hoping that people are reading it. Sure, you know the readership and circulation figures, but who knows if the people you want are actually looking at your ad, making an association, and keeping your firm in memory?

The answer is: You don’t. And we know that. But we chug along and make our ads and marketing pieces hoping for the ideal situtation to come true. We don’t try to find a way to make more people see the message. Instead, we try to make the message perfect for that one person who is going to read it.

Isn’t that, well, counterproductive?

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