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Switch off our analogue TVs and switch over to digital tele we’re told. Have you got your hands on a DAB radio yet? And is your mobile phone G’d to the max?

It’s the middle of 2010 and you can’t move for digital this and an App for that. But what is digital media? And how can it help SMEs do business? Well let’ start with a bit of Wiki:

Digital media (as opposed to analog media) are usually electronic media that work on digital codes. In this case digital refers to the discrete states of “0″ and “1″ for representing arbitrary data. Digital media (“Formats for presenting information” according to Wiktionary:media) like audio, text, pictures, photos, videos, games and other digital content can be created, referred to and distributed via digital information processing machines, including mobiles, laptops, mp3 players, iPADs and more. Florida’s digital media industry association, Digital Media Alliance Florida, defines digital media as “the creative convergence of digital arts, science, technology and business for human expression, communication, social interaction and education”.

Right, well, moving away from the technical 1s and 0s of it all and focusing on that final definition… digital media as “the creative convergence of digital arts, science, technology and business for human expression, communication, social interaction and education”. Here at Little Orchard, along with many other marketing agencies, we’d refer to that interaction and expression as “Content”. The marketing message. The brand dialogue. The words and pictures. The fact that you’re all singing all photo taking, movie-making, downloadable, ringtonable, does everything-but-make-a-phone-call smart phone is digital, or your photo stills camera thinks it can do HD ready video now, is all irrelevant. Being digital is all about the content not the shiny box.

So with that in mind, isn’t digital just the new word for new media. Nearly. I think it is an evolution. Because the world is now digital does mean it is easier to do the clever app for social media and business networking, true. But we were already using digital information from the day the first computer was born.

For instance, one type of digital media is text; this in fact represented the very first explosion of this type of content out there on the internet. When the internet first got big, there was an explosion of content on the web, especially with all the text editors and word processing options out there today. Larger companies started to put data on computers instead of storing it in cabinets, and the internet definitely allowed a great way to share, transfer, and store content as well.

It’s this share, transfer and store element of information that makes the big difference. The equipment just makes it easier for you, the individual, to manage your content, your world. And because we can all share, transfer and store information, that information about you and your content – your world – is there for anyone to see. Open-source information/content. Think Facebook, now with half a billion users (there’s only 6.6 billion people on the planet!) Facebook gives anyone with a computer (and some electricity) the ability to see those peoples’ lives. Or why not Google yourself? And then of course there are your hotmails.

Digital media manipulates this open source sharing facility. The software is there for the writing. Want to know what the rainfall is in Outer Mongolia? Check out a local webcam app. Want to know if the guy you bought your CCTV camera from is actually at the address he claims? Check out the online Companies House records or the electoral roll apps. Want to know if that girl you like is talking about you to her friend? Follow her Tweets. And if Social Media is a glorified name for word of mouth and gossiping behind the bike sheds then it doesn’t take a Flash developer with C++ skills to know that Digital Media can reach those people, your audience, your potential customers, just as easily. Question is, what gossip are you wanting to share… or willing to share?

Digital Media then is not as mysterious as your Head of Digital will lead you to think. It is just good old fashioned, hard working marketing, PR and sales delivered in different sized (dare I say byte-sized) packages. All you have to do is create that marketing, PR and sales message. It’s OK. Run a search; you’ll probably find an app for that too.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 at 3:23 pm and is filed under digital media, digital video, marketing content, social media, Video production in Manchester, You Tube. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.