Marshall McLuhan was right: Our PR tools (medium) decide message effectiveness.

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Friends, I’m passionate about sharing knowledge with you, and your feedback is a constant source of encouragement. I firmly believe that "Everything I do or say is PR," a philosophy that drives me to continuously create and share valuable content. I am happy to share my 245^th Blog Post: Marshall McLuhan was right: Our PR tools (medium) decide message effectiveness.

Friends, “The medium is the message" is a famous phrase coined by Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan in his 1964 book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. It proposes that the form of a medium embeds itself in the message, creating a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived. The phrase still rewires how we think about communication: “The medium is the message.”

McLuhan wasn’t talking about headlines or copy. He meant that the form, the technology, platform, or channel we choose shapes how people think, feel, and organize around what we say. The medium embeds itself in the message. It creates a symbiotic relationship where the tool itself influences how the message is perceived.

Friends, McLuhan argued we spend too much time obsessing over what is said and not enough on how it’s delivered. Every medium is an “extension of man.” The book extends the eye. The wheel extends the foot. Clothing extends the skin. And each extension introduces a new scale, pace, and pattern into human life.

Think about it. Television delivers fast-paced, visual, emotional content. Because of that, it encourages a passive, global-village mindset, no matter what program is actually on. Print demands linear reading, which historically fostered sequential, detached thinking. The internet does the opposite. Thanks to WEB 2.0,  it promotes non-linear consumption, multitasking, and instant searching. It changes how our brains process information.

Even a text versus a phone call proves his point. Send the same words by SMS – WhatsApp and it feels casual, low-stakes. Say them on a call and it feels urgent, personal, immediate. The content didn’t change. The medium did.

McLuhan loved a famous typo from his book’s first print run: “The Medium is the Massage.” He kept it because technology doesn’t just deliver messages; it massages our senses and daily lives.

Why This Changes PR Completely?

Friends, Public Relations is an art. And like any art, we need the right tools. Without them, PR can’t happen. With the wrong ones, our message gets distorted before anyone reads line one.

The goals of PR are clear: attract attention, win belief, achieve understanding, earn goodwill, build image. But how we you achieve that depends entirely on the tool we choose.

A school principal motivating student before exams doesn’t issue a press release. He gives a speech. An appeal to vote isn’t buried in a corporate brochure. It runs on radio, TV, or newspaper where urgency and reach matter. The medium decides effectiveness before our content gets a chance.

Every PR Tool Carries Its Own Psychology:

Each PR tool massages our message into a different shape. We are not just picking a channel; we are picking the emotional and cognitive bias that comes with it.

Print media tools like press releases, case studies, and editorials still carry the weight of authority. They feel credible because print is linear and detached. That makes them powerful for B2B trust and investor communication. But a press release won’t create urgency for Gen Z. Letters to the Editor cost nothing and carry high credibility, yet we give up all control. The medium itself signals “public discourse,” not “brand voice.” Advertorials let us control the message for less than an ad, but the format whispers “paid” to the reader, even if the content is strong.

Broadcast media is McLuhan’s global village at work. TV and radio are emotional, immediate, and passive. A 30-second TV spot about our sustainability pledge feels completely different from a 3,000-word whitepaper with the same data. The medium adds heat. Audio news releases borrow the credibility of “news,” even when they’re branded. But we are renting attention, not owning it.

Digital and social tools - WEB 2.0 changed the game by adding participation. A website works for passport services because the medium matches the intent: people come to search, not to be entertained. Social platforms each add their own filter. LinkedIn makes any message feel professional. An Instagram Reel makes it feel entertaining. YouTube adds depth. X adds speed and debate. The platform is the first layer of framing, before our words matter. E-mail and direct mailers feel personal and direct, but the medium itself screams “marketing” unless we deliver instant value.

Live and experiential tools create the highest trust because they extend physical presence. Speaking engagements, open houses, and exhibitions say “we have nothing to hide.” We cannot fake the smell of a factory or the handshake at a trade show. Special events use time, place, drama, and showmanship to create memory. A roadshow hits differently than a webinar because our body is in the room. Trade shows are about belonging; the medium says we are a real player in the industry before we even pitch.

Hybrid tools force a trade between control and credibility. Corporate brochures, newsletters, and corporate ads give us total control, but the audience knows we made it. Interviews and features give up control, yet gain third-party credibility. The medium is “earned,” so people lean in. Sponsorships borrow credibility from the event itself.

For Example - One Message, Four Different Realities:

Take one simple line: “Our company is committed to sustainability.”

Run it as a print advertorial and it reads like a corporate claim. Put the CEO on a TV panel and it feels authentic because it’s live and unscripted. Drop it into an Instagram Reel and the audience thinks “cool, but show me receipts.” Host a factory open house where people can see the solar panels and touch the recycled materials, and the message becomes “I saw it myself.”

Same sentence. Four different realities. The medium massaged it each time.

The PR Tool Audit: 3 Questions McLuhan Would Ask:

Before you choose a channel, ask yourself three things.

First, what sense does this medium extend?

TV extends sight and sound, so it drives emotion. A whitepaper extends logic, so it drives depth. A podcast extends intimacy, so it drives trust. Match the sense to the outcome you want.

Second, what pace does this medium enforce?

X demands speed and reaction. A book demands reflection. A hoarding demands a 3-second hit. If our message needs nuance, don’t trap it in a format built for speed.

Third, what bias does this medium have?

Media relations give us credibility but no control. Corporate ads give us control but less trust. Social gives us participation but fragments attention. Employee communication builds culture but stays internal. So we need to choose our trade-off on purpose.

Strategy Isn’t “What to Say.” It’s “Where to Say It.”

Today, content is cheap. AI can write the press release. The real PR skill is picking the tool that makes the message land. McLuhan wasn’t warning us about bad copy. He was warning us about bad context. Every PR tool kneads our message before the audience gets it. It sets the tone, the pace, and the level of trust.

Friends, to conclude, McLuhan’s “the medium is the message” isn’t theory for PR, it’s daily reality. Every tool we choose pre-shapes our message before the audience sees it. Print extends detached logic and authority, which is why press releases and editorials build trust with investors. Broadcast extends emotion and scale, making TV and radio powerful for human stories yet risky for nuance. Digital extends participation and speed, so LinkedIn adds professionalism, Reels add entertainment, and X demands reaction. Live tools like open houses and trade shows extend physical presence, creating the highest trust because they can’t be faked. Each medium massages content into a new form; the same words feel casual in a text, urgent on a call, credible in an interview, and commercial in an advertorial.

This is why PR goals like attracting attention, winning belief, achieving understanding, earning goodwill, building image all depend on tool selection first. The medium sets the pace, sensory bias, and credibility trade-off. Earned media gives us trust but no control. Owned media gives us control but less third-party validation. Social media gives us dialogue but fragments focus. Pick the wrong tool and even perfect content misfires. Pick the right one and average content works, because the medium sets the tone, frames intent, and triggers the right mindset.

Friends, PR strategy can’t start with “what do we say?” It must start with McLuhan’s audit: What sense does this medium extend, what pace does it enforce, and what bias does it carry? So don’t start the next PR campaign with the headline. Start with McLuhan. Ask what medium this message needs to live in to be believed.

Pick the medium first. The message will follow and only then will it be heard the way you meant it.

Thank you for reading the blog.

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