What if Homer had a Twitter account?

Today's marketing channel fragmentation can be overwhelming. The difference in brand communication via television commercials and Facebook posts is a stretch for anyone in marketing and brand management. And not only brands are struggling with it, also agencies are trying to answer the all important question: how do I respond to the broadening demand from the client side? What is the glue that holds everything together? So the question is; what if Homer would have had a Twitter account?


The most successful brands tell the most interesting stories. Story-telling is in fact older than written communication. Anyone familiar with Homer and the Odysee probably knows that this famous Greek myth was first passed on by story tellers before it finally got written down.


While it took centuries to go from oral to written. It would take a few more centuries to go from handwritten manuscripts to printing. Basically the 3 first marketing tactics took thousands of years to develop. 


Then we got newspapers, telephone, radio and television. The impact of these channels on both advertising and branding were tremendous but somehow manageable.


Then the internet emerged and branding, marketing and sales have changed almost overnight. 


So here are some thoughts on the recent changes imposed on us by everything digital:

• What would Homer tweet if twitter would have existed in his time?
• Imagine Hannibal and his forces having access to email.
• Would Napoleon have conquered Russia if he would have had a mobile phone?
• Would Shakespeare's Romea & Juliette have ended differently if SMS would have existed at the time? 

Of course these questions are rhetorical. But as a thought start they might get you to realize how profound digital is changing our lives in just two decades... 


What doesn't change is that with regards to the rhetorical questions above leadership made the difference. We know about Homer, Socrates, Napoleon and others because they were somehow bigger than life. They became the equivalent of what we could call a brand today and through that they entered written history.


Today anyone can keep track of himself in writing, video or audio recording but the leadership part has not changed. 


If you look at brands as leaders then anything digital might mean facilitation of brand story leadership but it doesn't necessary mean that all brands succeed over time in the same way as the Napoleon's of yore. Telling a leading story is still that makes the differences between a great and a 'yet another' brand.


Brand story-telling needs to be leading. With this in mind the digital channels need to be evaluated regarding their potential tactical and strategic story-telling contribution. The questions to ask are:

• What defines my brand leadership, regardless of channel?
• Where can digital sustain, support or amplify this story?
• Looking at the digital story scenario today, what will be our story tomorrow both a digital only and a digital combined with 'classic' branding scenario?

Although these questions are pretty obvious the actual answers might reveal much more, specifically if you think about what Homer, Napoleon or even Shakespeare would have done if they would have had Twitter.