Katie Rooney
4287 5099
Discuss the phenomenon of digital media
convergence in relation to Advertising & New Media
The rise of
convergence culture and new media has derailed traditional advertising as it is
known and made way for a new wave of advertisers who are adapting and embracing
new methods of production and audience interaction into their marketing
strategies. Convergence cultures have led advertisers to have to find new ways
in which they are able to effectively reach their audience. Advertisers have
had to open communication channels between producers and consumers, with the
line between the two becoming increasingly blurred. In order to effectively
communicate with these new audiences, advertisers have to produce
advertisements that will reach their desired audience; this is possible through
personalization of marketing through websites such as Facebook and other
mediums. These points will be backed up with the real world case studies to
further show their existence in everyday life.
Traditionally
advertising has been mostly informational, appealing to reason and addressing
the idea that a product can fulfill human needs (Spurgoen, 2006) however in
recent times of cultural and technological change this informational approach
taken by advertisers has had to change. Advertisers now have to create
increasingly creative ways in which they are able to reach their desired
audience without being intrusive however still getting their point across. No
longer is an advertising campaign successful solely through television commercials
rather it has to have a multiplatform existence in which it can be viewed and
interacted with on many levels. An example of this is the Best Job in the World
Campaign, launched by Tourism Queensland (2009). This campaign was launched as
a series of job advertisements all over the world which encouraged people to
apply to be an ‘Island Caretaker’ at Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef. The
winner was to gain a six month contract to live and blog about life on the
Island. The following video shows the numerous platforms that the advertising
took part in.
The campaign has
clearly embraced new media and all that it has to offer. This is evident from
the YouTube application process that has been used as a substitute for a
traditional job application. This generated a phenomenal amount of media coverage
for Tourism Queensland. This case study is a really clear example of how
companies are embracing new media and the convergence of different media forms
in order to successfully advertise and gain worldwide coverage.
The increasing
demand and success of participatory culture has meant that advertisers have had
to find a way to increase the communication between producer and consumer. Advertising
is continuously moving away from a “show and tell” environment to that of
increasing engagement thus advertisers have to adapt to new methods of work to
embrace the new reality of interactive content (Sheenhan, 2009). Spurgoen
(2006) discusses branded content as a method in which advertisers are doing
just this. Branded content is a cross over of traditional advertising and
entertainment and aims to combine the two successfully to both promote and
entertain prospective and current consumers.
Branded content works successfully in
combination with new media. Consumers are able to locate and share the content
with their friends if they find it funny, entertaining or useful and are
therefore participating in the advertising for the company as they share and
further the message. One such example of this is of company Blendtec and their
viral campaign Will it Blend? Blendtec
launched a series of videos in 2007 to demonstrate the effectiveness of their
blenders in blending anything from marbles to the iPhone 4, the YouTube channel
still continues to be a success, with videos gaining millions of views. Below is an example of their most viewed
video:
Blendtec encourages consumer participation
by allowing them to suggest what should be blended next through their YouTube
Channel or through their website, http://www.willitblend.com/.
These videos were successful providing entertainment for YouTube audiences as
well showing the efficiency and durability of their blenders. Blendtec sales
have increased 700% (Briggs, 2009) since the launch of these first videos.
There has been an increasingly blurred line between the producer and the
consumer as it is the consumer telling Blendtec what they want to see in these
videos. This is successful in establishing a fun advertising environment that encourages
consumer participation.
Advertisers have seen the opportunity
online to be able to personalize their advertisements so they aim to only reach
willing recipients (Taylor and Neuborne, 2002), taking a target marketing
approach to a new level. This is an increasing trend in online advertising
evident through sites such as Facebook, which are able to look at a users
activities whilst both using the site and the sites they visit from the page
after to collect data on their interests and banner advertise specifically to
that. Below shows an image of contrasting Facebook advertisements. On the left
shows an 18 year old female and on the right a 19 year old male, both
advertisements reflect the ‘likes’ from their accounts and other information
that they have posted on Facebook. This is evident of how advertisers on
Facebook are making sure that their products are reaching real prospective
consumers.
Facebook is not the
only website using this personalization approach. Some companies are keeping
track of consumers spending patterns and product purchases and will send emails
of offers that are only relevant to them (Taylor and Neuborne, 2002). Pop up
adverts have even had this upgrade, whilst typically invasive and intrusive the
advertisers are able to look at past websites the user has visited so they only
receive advertisements that are relevant to them. In an era where consumers can
easily avoid traditional advertising, companies have to find new ways to reach
their consumers personally and effectively.
Advertisers are continuously striving to
reach audiences through new and unique ways, embracing new and convergent media
and all that it involves. Consumers are tired of traditional advertising so
advertisers must engage audiences in creative mediums, embracing multiple
platforms to reach the widest number of responders. Consumers have an increased
ability and desire to participate in a companies advertising campaigns, by
making the consumers feel involved with the company they are establishing a new
level of loyalty. Advertising is now
able to become more personalized and is able to take the target marketing
approach to a whole new level. Over all, the phenomenon of digital media
convergence and new media has had a large effect on the Advertising industry
and its practices and has revolutionized the industry as it was known.
References:
Blendtec (2012). Will it Blend? [Online]. Avaliable at: http://www.willitblend.com/ [Accessed 30
August 2012].
Blendtec (2012). Will it Blend? YouTube Site [Online]. Avaliable at: http://www.youtube.com/user/Blendtec
[Accessed 30 August 2012].
Briggs, C. (2009) BlendTec – Will it blend? Viral Video Case Study [Online].
Avaliable at: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/nursing/sonet/rlos/studyskills/harvard/index.html
[Accessed 30 August 2012].
Deuze, M. (2007). Convergence Culture in
the Creative Industries. International
Journal of Cultural Studies 10(2) pp. 243 – 263
Jenkins, H. (2006) Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: NY
University Press
Prospect MX (2012) 15 of the Best Viral Marketing Campaigns [Online]. Available at: http://www.prospectmx.com/15-of-the-best-viral-marketing-campaigns/
[Accessed 30 August 2012].
Sheehan, K. and Morrison, D. (2008) Beyond convergence: Confluence culture and the role of
the advertising agency in a changing world. First Monday 34(3-2). Available at: http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2239/2121
Spurgeon, Christina L. (2008) Advertising and New Media. New York:
Routledge
Taylor, C. and Neuborne, E. (2002) Getting
Personal. MediaWeek 12(40) pp.
101-105
Tourism Queensland. (2009) The Best Job in the World [Online].
Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCLDMGWZFFA&feature=player_embedded
[Accessed 30 August 2012].
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