I’ve heard a great many people from the technology and media industries talk about experimentation being central to online success. Eric Schmit, for one, suggests that experimentation is a central part of sound commercial strategy. Closer to the advertising business we’re now getting into the rhythm of developing multiple expressions of an idea, sending them out live and seeing which ones float people’s boats. A long-winded way of saying that “Ready, Fire, Aim” is an entirely appropriate development practice. For sure we all need to find ways to get to better creative places faster.
But that’s not to say there aren’t some important principles that have always applied to brilliant communications offline and on. Interactivity wasn’t invented by the web, all the best communicators have understood the need to provoke or elicit some kind of reaction from the audience - laughing, crying, leaning in, asking questions are all good.
And there are others. I like the look of this book pulled together by the founder of the FWA and a very clever friend of his. My copy’s in the post, will let you know what I think.
