NOISE
Impediment to the communication process before a message reaches the audience.
The doorbell that goes off right as you open the daily newspaper.
The guest speaker’s incredibly strong accent.
The sloppy wording of a two year old.
The attention span of YouTube-er, who decides to click “Skip Ad” button.
Media has an enemy, and it’s name is NOISE.
Intrigued by this new concept of noise, I decided to ask my unassuming friend to give her definition of the word… She answered as followed:
“Noise is sound vibrations, and everything you can hear through your ears. It’s the booms, bangs, crashes and that kind of stuff!”
A week ago I probably would have said something similar. Our lovely book, however, sheds some light on the truth. When referring to media, noise is:
“Impediment to communication before a message reaches a receiver.”
Noise is a media interruption; sometimes to the annoyance of the media, sometimes to the annoyance of it’s audience. Noise breaks down into 3 categories …
Channel noise interferes with the transmission of a message
Semantic noise interferes with deciphering the content of a message
Environmental noise interferes with receiving a message
CHANNEL NOISE
← My sister and I watched the movie Pollyanna for the first time in years a few months ago. As we watched the opening scene with our friends we both had the same question… “what movie is this? This can’t be Pollyanna….” Apparently the VHS that we used to watch as little girls was damaged and skipped over the opening scene. This magical moment was a perfect example of CHANNEL NOISE. The faulty VHS impeded our ability to watch the full movie. Channel noise can also occur when a newspaper becomes hard to read once wet, or when you drive too far from a radio tour to receive a station clearly (which is the worst thing in the entire world). A President can have the wisdom of 100 men, but with a faulty microphone, not a soul would hear his message. With technology improving on a daily basis, channel noise is becoming less and less of an issue. With the invention and improvements of wireless technology, distance issues (regarding internet, phone conversations, radio frequencies, etc…) have been almost extinguished. Broadcasts reach more and more people around the world. TV’s are improving, becoming cheaper, and are present in 99% of the homes in the United States. I can’t even remember the last time I saw static on a TV channel.
Even though newspapers still get wet and microphone batteries still die, I’d say that, more than other type of noise, Channel Noise has significantly improved (and will continue to improve) in our present time.
SEMANTIC NOISE
← We have all been told to speak up or stop mumbling when we were kids (some more recently than others). Why? Well our parents know that when we mumble and don’t articulate our words, our audience has to work harder to understand us, or simply can’t understand us all together.
In the realm of mass media. You do not want your audience to work hard to understand you. They will simply move on to the hundreds of other ______ (TV channels, motivational speeches etc..) calling their name. Companies spend big money on PR firms, ad writers, and even speech therapists so that, to put it simply, it is easy for you to understand what they want you to understand. No one will listen to a news station if the anchor’s accent makes it impossible to hear their words. No one will take a university ad seriously if they have misspellings throughout their message.
Eliminating semantic noise is top priority for successful company/program in the realm of mass media.
ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE
← For this generation, you can essentially sum up environmental noise in three words.
T H E
C E L L
P H O N E
When boring ads come on during our favorite program, we check our Instagram notifications. If the new principle’s speech is less than life changing, we’ll have no issues with our conscious to turn on our phone and check to see who just mentioned us in their tweet. You have probably even checked your phone while reading this insanely important little article (it’s okay, you’re forgiven… I've check my phone too many times to count while writing it). Of course, there are other types of environmental noise; the baby that decided to throw a fit just as we open up the newspaper, or even the fire alarm that goes off while you’re watching the presidential debate.
Environmental noise is the hardest for mass media to control, especially since we've all developed the attention span of two year…. is that my phone ringing?
SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES DO NOT IGNORE NOISE
Chipotle understands NOISE
The words are big, in a clear font, all uppercase lettering, and black on white. If you passed the first grade you can read their billboards.
You can also read their sign and understand exactly what they are selling in less than 3 seconds. Chipotle knows why people love twitter, because you don’t get bored within the time frame of 140 characters. Chipotle does not need to worry about you getting bored of their ad.
…. you can also get a mad craving for one of their burritos in less than half of second.
Ikea understands NOISE
Ikea takes the humor route to combat noise.
The clear design highlights the funky pieces of furniture. It’s easy to see and takes very little time to interpret.
Ikea is known for the lengthy assembly time required for most of their products, so they do an excellent job of “laughing at themselves” while offering a solution at the same time.
… and no words = no grammatical errors to worry about!
Chipotle and Ikea, and other successful companies take noise head on by being clear, concise, and consistent. They know their audience and they know their environment. I guess noise isn't the enemy, if you know it well enough.
