Medium: The interface through which messages are conveyed between people.

Message: A verbal, written, or recorded communication.

Some people think these are two separate things.

They’re not.

As Marshall McLuhan famously said: The medium is the message.

It doesn’t what is being said, it only matters who is saying. Or where you’re seeing it.

The medium creates credibility.

For example, Steve Jobs saying, “Daily routines are the fuel for innovative thinking,” is far more credible than Tannie Poekie saying the same think.

Seeing an advert in the Sunday Times is far more credible than seeing the same advert in Die Noordwester.

Seeing a TV advert during Carte Blanche is far more credible than absorbing the same information from a leaflet handed out at the robot.

The medium is the message.

When you’re trying to convince someone of something, forget about the message.

Pay attention to the medium.