Staying Relevant

Posted by: Sid Williams

There are many products, people, and companies that have a knack for staying relevant. These people don’t rest on what worked in the past — they focus on what works now. Apple is a great example of a company continually staying relevant — constantly innovating, creating, and keeping up with trends. Here’s a case where a very well-known TV show used a few modern techniques to stay relevant:

Sesame Street was (and still is) a children’s TV show that had just about faded off into the memory of our youth (with the exception of Elmo). However, they were not satisfied with becoming a distant memory. Instead, Sesame Street embraced the fine art of viral video creation and have started to create some very sticky videos.

Everyone and their dog has parodied something Apple has done, not the least of which are the iPod Commercials. But all the same, it’s Sesame Street!

Okay, so the iPod parody might have been pretty easy to see coming, but their take on Mad Men is just brilliant! Also, a reference that you wouldn’t really see coming from a children’s show.

Of course, if you’re going to latch on to someone else’s success, it might as well be Lady Gaga. She is, for better or worse, pretty much the queen (or is it king?) of the celebrity social media scene right now.

What’s the point?

Well, in a world where the regular TV is dying out and OnDemand or Hulu are the standard, Sesame Street, a show that has to keep up with the evolution of child behavior, has really taken a huge step in the right direction. This is what will keep them relevant for kids today as much as they were for kids 10 or even 20 years ago. As well it keeps us aware of them, a generation who already have kids or are soon going to.

The big question is: what do you or your company do to stay relevant? And what shows, products or even people do you recognize as reinventing themselves perfectly? How can you avoid falling into obscurity amidst the fast pace of this digital age?