Message before medium: deciding what to say first

Why channels come first — and why that causes problems

Channel decisions feel concrete. Budgets can be split, platforms compared, schedules drafted. Messages feel more abstract and harder to agree on, so conversations naturally drift toward media. The risk is that a campaign is assembled from channel plans that each carry slightly different ideas, and the audience never encounters a single, coherent thought.

What a core message is

A core message is the idea the campaign exists to communicate, expressed simply enough that it can be adapted to any format. It is not a tagline, although a tagline may express it. It is the sentence every piece of creative work should be traceable back to.

Testing a core message is straightforward: can it be explained in a sentence to someone outside the organisation, and would they understand why it matters to them?

Letting the message shape the media

Once the message is clear, channel decisions become easier and more grounded. Some messages need space and explanation; others work best as quick, repeated reminders. Some rely on visual demonstration; others on precise wording at the moment someone is searching. The message helps determine which channels can carry it well.

• Messages that require explanation often suit formats with more room — landing pages, longer video, detailed search ads.
• Messages that rely on recognition suit repeated, consistent exposure across placements.
• Messages tied to an immediate need may be best placed where people are actively looking.

Adapting without diluting

A single message will be expressed differently in a six-second video, a search ad and a landing page. That is expected. What matters is that each adaptation clearly carries the same core idea. Reviewing all campaign materials side by side before launch is a simple way to check that nothing has drifted.

Deciding what to say first does not slow a campaign down. It removes the repeated debates that happen when each channel is planned separately — and it gives the audience a clearer reason to pay attention.