MAS110 Essay 1
Paige West - 42846129
Advertising and New Media
The phenomenon of digital media convergence has
extensively changed the media communication industry and cultures of today. These
extensive changes have led to the formation of new media, whereby industries,
such as the advertising industry must adapt their strategies in order to ensure
they still reach consumers. The advertising industry has responded to
convergence with the introduction of new media advertising strategies such as,
branded content, search engine advertising and viral advertising. The advent of
digital media convergence has meant that if advertisers do not adapt to the
popularity of new media online, their ability to reach their audience will be
reduced.
Around one hundred years ago the media platforms that consumers most
commonly used were the radio, television and various print media. These media
platforms “made it easy for advertisers to reach a mass audience” (Hill &
Moran, 2011). The development of digital media convergence has changed the way
that advertising companies must market towards their audience. Digital media
convergence refers to the “process whereby new technologies are accommodated by
existing media and communication industries and cultures,” (Dwyer, 2010). It is
the process of adapting, merging and transitioning of technologies, industries
and cultures in the digital media sphere (Jenkins, 2006). This has led to the
growth of many technologies that exist today, such as the Internet, the mobile
phone and television recording systems. Society no longer scheduled their day
around their favourite television show. “The ways that people are using media
are fragmenting” (Dwyer, 2010) causing advertising revenues to slowly decline. Thus,
advertisers have begun to seek new ways, using new media to reach their
audience whom have television as one of their many entertainment options. “Advertising agencies have moved beyond bemoaning the
demise of traditional advertising messages and are taking steps to find ways to
increase audience engagement in messages, regardless of the venue” (Sheehan & Morrison, 2009). The most
commonly used platform for advertising is now the Internet (Sheehan &
Morrison, 2009) as online new media allows for “constant communication with
consumers” (Hill & Moran, 2011). Advertisers have responded to growth of
the Internet, which has resulted from digital media convergence, with the
emergence of many different online strategies to reach their target audience
successfully. Without the adoption of online marketing strategies the ability
for advertisers to reach their audience today will be negatively impacted.
The first new media advertising strategy
implemented is viral marketing. This strategy involves launching a campaign
with the hopes it will be passed on from consumer to consumer, causing it to
reach a viral status online. This complements consumer behaviour of today as
consumers “pay more attention to the recommendations of friends and family then
they do to marketing messages” (Hill & Moran, 2011). However, in order for
the campaign to succeed at a viral level that content must be clever and
creative. A new media campaign that succeeded at this level was the ‘Evian
Roller Baby Ad’. The campaign
launched two teaser videos online, using Twitter and YouTube, before the
official launch of the ad to create hype. The video was ‘retweeted’ within
seconds leading it to become the most viewed ad online with 61.4 million views
to date. Nielson research found that 95% of those who viewed the ad online had
not seen it on television (Unrulymedia, 2011). This statistic proves that new
media that has emerged from the process of digital media convergence, has the
ability to reach a greater audience then the use of traditional media
platforms. If advertisers did not adopt online strategies the ability to reach
their audience would reduce.
The Evian 'Roller Babies' Commercial
Similarly, the use of search engine marketing is
another new media advertising strategy utalised today. Once again this responds
to convergent media and the introduction of new media platforms that are
detracting from the traditional media platforms of the past. Search engine
advertising is the targeting of search terms on search engines, instead of
consumers (Spurgeon, 2008). When consumers search these terms, the object
that’s advertisers have been advertising on the search engine will appear. This
is a successful response to convergence as “advertising in search engines… is
the largest and one of the fastest growing segments of online advertising”
(Spurgeon, 2008). The ‘powerhouse’ of search engine advertising is, Google.
They sell short text advertising on topics that are commonly searched by
consumers. This advertising strategy has successfully responded to the growing
popularity of online advertising as the advertiser-funded television channel
has began to loose its audience (Dywer, 2010) from the effects of the process
of digital media convergence. If this online advertising strategy was not
implemented, the ability to reach their audience, using traditional media
platforms, would reduce.
Google, the 'powerhouse' of internet advertising
Branded content is
another advertising strategy using new media that responds to the pressures of
digital media convergence. It is the “strategic alliances between advertisers
and entertainment companies and often bypasses main media altogether”
(Spurgeon, 2008). The convergence of these company’s aims to appeal to
consumers in such a way that they are lead to seek out these branded images for
their own entertainment. New media tends to be pull-media (as consumers today
choose what they see) instead of the push-media of traditional media advertising
(Sheehan & Morrison, 2009). BMW established, BMW Films and created a series
of ads that were short films. The
films used Hollywood best producers, directors and actors and an estimated
$US15 million to create the short films. (Spurgeon, 2008). These short films
were then distributed on the internet, as consumers are spending more time
online then with any other traditional media form (Sheehan & Morrison,
2009). Their use of branded advertising was a success as it allowed BMW to
contact of wealthy, young, new media users that would have not been easily
reached if the films were released using traditional media forms (Spurgeon,
2008). Thus, the convergence of the advertising and entertainment industries to
create branded content is a profitable strategy. This is because it utilizes new
media existing online, which has emerged as a response to digital media
convergence.
The advent of digital media convergence has meant
that if advertisers do not adapt to the popularity of new media online, their
ability to reach their audience will be reduced. The growth of new media has
lead to a decline in the use of traditional media forms, thus the advertising
industry has struggled to reach their audience. In response to this growth of
new media, from digital media convergence, advertising agencies have built new
strategies allowing them to ensure they reach their audience. These include
branded content, search engine advertising and viral advertising. This has
allowed advertisers to continue to gain consumers interests using new and
creative ways that utilize new media forms instead of traditional media forms.
Reference List
Dwyer, T. (2010) Media Convergence, McGraw
Hill, Berksire, pp 1-23
Hill, Ronald P and Moran, Nora (2011) ‘Social
marketing meets interactive media’, International
Journal of Advertising, volume 30, issue 5, pp. 815-838
Sheehan, Kim and Morrison, Deborah (2009) ‘Beyond
convergence: Confluence culture and the role of the advertising agency in a
changing world’, First Monday
vol 14 no 3
Spurgeon, C. (2008) Advertising and New Media,
Oxon, Routledge, pp 24-45
Jenkins, Henry (2006) ‘Welcome to Convergence
Culture’ http://henryjenkins.org/2006/06/welcome_to_convergence_culture.html,
accessed August 27th 2012
Unrulymedia (2009) ‘Evian – Roller Babies’ http://www.unrulymedia.com/case-studies/evian-roller-babies.html,
accessed 27th August 2012
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