Communications

One of the English Dictionary's definitions of the word 'Communication' is, n news; a message; (pl) the passing and exchange of information, ideas etc by means of speech, telecommunications, the media etc. In this case we'll be kind to the publishers, after all they are limited by space, but this is really just the simplest level of understanding 'communication' as a process. Fortunately, (unlike the publishers of the English Dictionary) we have the benefit of a little extra space to expand the subject.

We remember playing one game as children called 'Chinese Whispers', we're sure you've played it too, but if not here's how it goes. You gather a large group of people together in a line and quietly whisper a sentence to the first person (the receiver) who relays it to the second and so on, until everyone has heard the message at least once. At the end you check the outcome and compare it to the original. The most famous example of this game was: 'Send reinforcements, we're going to advance,' which became: 'Send three-and-four pence, we're going to a dance', not ideal if you were stuck in the trenches in WWI!

Thankfully none of our messages have ever been life threatening but this example, and our passion for effective marketing communications, teaches us that messages can become lost or distorted without careful consideration. Factors such as the source's attractiveness, power and credibility all have a bearing on a message's ability to be effective. This is the reason why some big spending B2C companies use celebrities to 'cut through' any distortion in the marketplace. It is also one of the reasons why organisations conduct market research, to find out precisely what an individual believes about an organisation and its products.