In the days of computers going to TVs (think TiVo, DVRs) and TVs going to computers (think Hulu, Fancast), we’re seeing another phenomenon on the rise: people using their computers while watching TV.

A recent study and article posted on Ad Age not only confirmed what I’ve found myself doing more and more over the past few years but revealed that a whopping two thirds of Americans use a computer at the same time they watch TV. Not only that, but about one third of consumers reported using a computer—correspondingly, being online—50% or more of the time they watch TV.

Similar to what we discovered in the online segmentation research Trone recently conducted, these online behaviors and usage are not drawn by age. It’s not only your younger generations who are Facebook-chatting each other as So You Think You Can Dance plays in the background. Even older demographics are on their computers 36% of the time their TVs are on.

There are other various interesting bits around this recent study. For example, women are more prone to multitask with the computer and TV than men. In the table below, you can also see a breakdown of top actions performed online while watching TV. Notably, only 13% of consumers report visiting online content that’s related to what they are watching on TV.

This presents brand marketers some new opportunities and challenges when it comes to reaching and engaging consumers. The computer-and-TV multitasking behavior is just one of the many rising examples of consumers living between online and offline worlds on a day-to-day basis. As media technology advances and integrates at accelerated rates, we must not only aim to incorporate cross-platform campaigns, but unmass our messages through the growing streams of media vying for consumers’ attention.

I’m writing this on a cross country flight.  While I don’t exactly relish the “pleasures” of commercial air travel these days, when I fly coast to coast I’m always struck by the vastness of our nation.  What’s interesting is how making this trip during the day versus at night impacts my thinking.

During the day I look out the window and I’m struck by the vastness of the space, and but how much open space we have to enjoy in the country.  From 35,000 feet, during the day the landscape is dominated by natural features – mountains and lakes and plains and canyons.  But at night, the real opportunity we marketers have becomes apparent.  At night I’m always dazzled by the seemingly never-ending string of lights below.  I realize that each light is a home or a business – in essence each light is somebody’s customer.  The possibility presented by all these lights is nearly limitless.

So why is it, amid the vastness of the opportunity that is the American consumer, that marketers still feel compelled to shout their messages, as loudly possible, to as many people as possible?  With consumers taking control of their media consumption like never before these marketers just get lost in the din.  And it doesn’t have to be that way. 

Just look at the lights.  There’s so much opportunity.  But to win requires focus.  Pick your fights carefully.  You can’t beat everyone.  And if you try to mean too much to too many you’ll end up meaning nothing to everyone.   Segment your market. Pick your fight, and unmass your message.  It’s a big country.  To compete and win you need to make it as small as you can.

Once upon a time, not so very long ago before messages were unmassed, people relied on a few sources for news and information. And for the most part the volume and intensity were manageable. No longer, and more’s the pity.

“Too much information” has become cliche. And it’s not just the amount, it’s the intensity. It’s infomania. To be heard you have to communicate in less-than-sound-bites or rely on hyperbole or scarewords. Or worse: just interrupt. That has to be one of the most ill-mannered habits of all times, but the times seem to demand it. One of my co-workers got some novelty gum a few years back. At the time I thought it was merely funny, but lately I’ve wished I could offer a few people a “nice, refreshing stick of Shut The $!@* Up.“

It’s a complicated world, made more complex because we’re compelled to absorb, process and understand the flood of information in which we’re awash. There’s just too much content and too little context.  Quantity passes for quality. Repetition masquerades as relevance. Pat answers are delivered as insight or worse, as gospel. Just like the church revivals of my youth but on steroids–the preachin’ never ends and we all feel unworthy, if not damned.

We need an “amen.” We need quiet time, from time to time. We need more face-to-face interaction and less Facebook friending, Twitter tweeting or my new personal e-communication favorite: conversating. Huh?

Isn’t it possible that an occasional escape from infomania might just make us more productive, more creative and better people?

And thanks for not interrupting!

“Unmass the Message” applies not only to marketing communications, but also to education, as well. In fact, you could substitute the words “student-centered learning” for “Unmass the Message.”

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard and a number of other universities are trying this not-so-novel approach in the classrooms of their hardest classes. Take Introductory Physics, for example. As noted by the New York Times in January, MIT has reduced their Introductory Physics class from 300 to about 80.  The university has noticed the failure rate dropping and increased attendance.

Could you say that, in this instance, education is learning from industry? I think so. Marketers have long understood that you simply cannot say the same thing to everyone and expect everyone to understand exactly the same way. Innate physical and physiological differences make such a goal completely impossible, no matter how well crafted the message.

Imagine, then, that some in the marketing world still haven’t learned this lesson themselves.  “We’ve got to do it fast, so we can’t spend the time figuring out who exactly we’re talking to. Let’s just get it done.”

Whoa. Really?

Such work may win design awards, but not having focused work wastes money and time. If you’re a client, it’s your money and time. The old saw is true: taking the time to do anything right in the first place prevents you from having to do it again. In this industry, it also means less stress, more revenue and happier clients.

In working with fairly small clients (as measured by the rest of this agency), I find that even just a little bit of thought can help distill exactly who you need to speak to. Knowledge of the client, discussions with clients, internal discussions and familiarity with industry benchmarks make this a simple process. While this process doesn’t replace the value from a more in-depth process to determine your target audience, it certainly does help ensure you’re not wasting your time or money.

Think that unfocused messages don’t happen that often? Here’s a quick test:  What do you remember from the Super Bowl, nary two months ago? You do have first-hand experience with being bombarded with media messages that don’t speak to you. You may have even realized that you were supposed to be engaged by an advertisement or message when you weren’t. It’s not that unusual.

Think about it: when you were in school, you knew when you weren’t understanding something you were supposed to, but you got the benefit of asking questions. “What’s the limit of f(x)? How am I supposed to find that number?” As a consumer, however, you often don’t get the opportunity to ask questions. “Why doesn’t GoDaddy say anything about what they do in their commercials?”

So, take a page from MIT’s book (which I say came from Trone’s book): be student-centered.  Be people-centered. Be consumer-centered: your consumer, not every consumer. Unmass the Message.