Turning Trials into Triumph in the New Media Landscape
"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them." - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
During Day 1 of the Media Insights & Engagement conference, Ryan Holiday, media strategist and author of The Obstacle is the Way and Growth Hacker Marketing, encouraged attendees to embrace Marcus Aurelius' philosophy of Stoicism to turn adversity into an advantage.
According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "the aim of Stoicism was not merely to gain a rational understanding of the world but to allow that rational understanding to inform the way in which one lived."
The three disciplines of this philosophy are:
- Perception: what we tell ourselves an obstacle means
- Action: seeing the obstacle as an opportunity, then taking advantage of that opportunity
- Will: what you bring to overcome the obstacle
Today, many of the conference presenters explained how they are applying this philosophy to navigate the new media landscape.
During his presentation, "Revolution or Reinvention? Some Straight Talking on TV's Transformation," David Boyle, BBC Worldwide, said "that things are changing, but it's a slow revolution, not chaotic disruption." He explained how it's not a "doom and gloom" situation, but one from which we can learn to adapt to the new ways of learning about our customers.
This philosophy can also be seen In Chanon Cook and Kathleen McLean's presentation, "Keepin' it Together: Maintaining the Connection between Content and Brand Today." They explained how Comedy Central is overcoming the challenge of meeting customers on their own terms for viewing content, while successfully maintaining the critical connection between brand, content and viewer.
In "Measurement Science: Unlocking Data's Potential," Pat Pellegrini, Ph.D., Simmons Research, explored how Simmons is taking on the challenge of minimizing sample burden, maximizing passive data collection, and modeling and calibrating across data.
Stay turned for more conference updates and insights on ways to triumph in the new media landscape!
Peggy L. Bieniek, ABC is an Accredited Business Communicator specializing in corporate communication best practices.
Connect with Peggy on LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, and on her website at www.starrybluebrilliance.com.