You know, we marketers can learn a lot from this movie classic. Besides being frightened by tornadoes and flying monkeys, marketers are ultimately apprehensive of what’s behind the wizard’s curtain. It is with great, yet cautious curiosity that they endeavor to unmask the mystery. Times they are a’changin’ and everywhere you look that’s apparent. We used to sit through commercials, commenting on the most creative ones—now we Tivo our shows and fast-forward through the ads. When I was growing up, I could rattle off several company slogans: Reach Out and Touch Someone, The First Part of Waking Up is Folgers in Your Cup, Ring Around the Collar, We Bring Good Things to Life, You Deserve a Break Today, Where’s the Beef?, We Do Chicken Right….you get the point. As I sit here today, I can think of maybe two or three I know off the top of my head.

Where we used to grab our morning coffee and open our newspapers, today we peruse our favorite online news source, visit a few Web sites, check our email and respond to text messages on our Blackberries.

My point is that traditional media no longer functions effectively by itself. I’m not saying it serves no purpose whatsoever; I’m simply pointing out that pushing messages out to the consumer is no longer the only show in town. Now, consumers want to get information where they want it, how they want it and when they want it – otherwise, it’s irrelevant.

Everyone’s trying to get to Emerald City. But today, the yellow brick road is more like a dirt trail leading to an off-road adventure.