What is it with humankind and the fact we find it impossible to adapt to new media? Given the ineptitude on display across all industries, you’d have thought the introduction of a new form of media had never happened before. History, however, tells us a very different story and it’s actually quite funny to learn of all the clumsy attempts made by well-intentioned people to demonstrate the wonderful potential of an exciting new form of media to the baying public.

For example, amid the clamour and cheers surrounding the unveiling of the astonishing new format ‘radio’, and the boundless scope this revolutionary media could bring to the world, the brains behind the first broadcast did nothing other than read aloud from a newspaper. The subsequent broadcast featured someone reading a passage from the bible. Good God indeed!

Of course, there are other brilliant stories. Keen to demonstrate the limitless scope of the new-fangled television over the outdated wireless radio, the boffins behind one of the earliest ever TV broadcasts, simply played some music and then featured a radio play, read aloud by the exactly the same performers they used on the radio.

“Digital offers agile story-telling, enhanced discovery and regularly updated product information in the palm of your hand”

CircleSquare Executive Creative Director Philip Handley

Finally, we have just witnessed the launch of the first ‘virtual’ retail store, aimed at triumphantly consigning physical retail to history. Sadly the wizards behind this radical idea merely managed to create a poorly executed, childish-looking, computer generated version of a physical store with none of the charm, practicality or experience of the original.

Spoiler alert; despite the calamitous beginnings to all these stories, there always seems to be a happy ending. You would have thought these hilarious mishaps would continue ad infinitum but instead humankind wises up much faster than you’d think and before too long the potential is realised to spectacular effect.

It’s fair to surmise that any new media format is nearly always the brainchild of the ‘old guard’ who have been challenged to think beyond their boundaries because they have reached the limits of their existing formats. It’s just ironic that these ‘visionary’ people never seem to have the vision to exploit what they have created. Think of Tim Berners-Lee who famously gave us the game-changing World Wide Web but has he actually done anything game-changing with it? Instead it’s the entrepreneurs, the hustlers, the people who see things differently; in order to start a revolution, you need revolutionaries.

Travel retail was created in the image of domestic retail with its shelves piled high with products, merchants eagerly demonstrating their latest product lines and queues of shoppers snaking towards the cashier desks, waiting patiently to complete their transactions. It is obvious to anyone with their eyes open that travel retail is yet to undergo its revolution.

Digital, with all its vast potential, is crudely bolted onto the existing retail platform like an unsightly appendage, enhancing nothing and ultimately getting in the way of the genuine, human experiences which separate us, moreover, elevate us from online sales.