Despite the recession, many consumers would rather pay for media and entertainment content to avoid having to watch ads. And, more people are ok with watching content on computers and mobile devices. Check out the Ad Week article called “Viewers Will Pay to Go Adless”.

So, what does this mean for us as creatives and nonprofits? It means we are in the middle of a BIG transition. We are in the process of redefining what marketing and communications actual mean. Today… tomorrow, marketing, design, advertising is becoming more about engaging your chosen audiences with intriguing services and stories that spread—that are actually worth talking about. Wow, that’s different!

We can have all the social networking platforms in the world but do we actually have something interesting to say? We can even turn our thoughts into Tweets now according to this article in Wired Magazine. We need to offer something worth talking about to our audiences, to our funders, to our friends.

We need a strong concept, a strong message more than a strong medium—although (for all of you McLuhan fans) Mr. Marshall McLuhan would most likely say that social networking is driving the need to reshape the way we market moving forward.

Shared interests need to be transformed into passionate groups of individuals who will actually do something says Seth Godin. We need to engage real people in something that has purpose, that will make their lives better or easier—that will make the world a better place for all of us.

We need something that “sticks” as the Heath Brothers would say. Our ideas need to be have simplicity and be unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and tell a GREAT story.

Onward EPIC! The challenge is before us. Our hope is that EPIC creative work will “stick” in all the best ways possible. And, to know we are coming up with ideas that will help organizations that are full of meaning and purpose, that are changing lives, makes it all worthwhile.