A new era for advertising by Paola Dominguez

A new era for advertising.

The advertising industry is facing new challenges due to the new platforms available to reach people’s attention.The new flexible, unpredictable and dynamic methods have made their entrance in the market system leaving behind the old traditional strict and passive ways to advertise. On the one hand, we will see some of the advantages of the new forms of advertising ,and on the other, we will focus on how it has damaged the contact with the consumers.

The e-journal “AdvertisingAge” features an article that debates the tendency that has force old media to move to new media.

   To understand better the current position of advertising it is important to delineate the differences between the old school and the new one. In the old (ads in magazines, journals, television) the consumers are forced to follow a scheme of how the products are presented, furthermore, the public can not decide what content to view. In counterpart, the possibility to choose and skip products seems to be a comfortable and practical attribute of the new ways of advertising(ads in the internet). In addition, consumers see an ad and if they like it they can instantly purchase the product, whereas in traditional advertising the effect is not as quick. The interactivity creates a stronger link between the consumer and the product in the sense that time or space are no longer meaningful disruptions. 

   At the same time it creates a link between consumer and consumer. Sheehan and Morrison (2009) point about the consumers’ perception of advertising: 

Consumers’ increasing reliance on word of mouth and peer reviews for all manner of goods and services (from books and movies to cars, vacation spots and elected officials) has led to the lack of credibility of advertising among consumers.

MyReviewsNow is an online website with consumers reviews in all kind of products,from cars to electronics.

   Forums,blogs,websites became a powerful source of knowledge that determines what to buy. Jenkins (2006) describes the consumer’s interactions as “None of us can know everything; each of us know something; and we can put the pieces together...”.Therefore, some advertisers turn to viral marketing because as the name reveals it, it allows the message to be spread easily. Social networks and the consumers’ participation are vital for the success of this strategy. One example is the “Subservient Chicken” campaign made by Burger King in 2004 (Wired; 2005). It first started as a television commercial and consequently went on the internet and became a print ad. The striking characteristic of this campaign was the success of the web page which slogan was “Get chicken just the way you like it”. This website relied on an interactive game that consisted in operating a young man dressed in a chicken costume. Burger King’s objective to make everyone participate and  talk about its new product was a successful attempt.

Subservient Chicken Campaign goes viral, from tv shows to headlines, everyone talks about it.

   However, the insertion of advertising in social networks can be very risky and trick the consumer as seen with the Wal-Mart blog scandal (Businessweek; 2006). The multi-national company paid the Public Relation firm Edelman to create a fake blog called “Wal-Marting Across America”. It was written by a couple who traveled around the US pretending to inteview Wal-Mart workers. This blog gave a favorable point of view of how the company treated its employees. When the truth was revealed the real issue became evident as Angelo (2007) points out:

There's a thin line between paid and "natural" search engine results, political advocacy groups writing Wikipedia entries, or bloggers who are constant targets for advertisers that want to blend their message with the content. 

   

   In other words the anonymity or usurpation that social media allows makes it easy for advantageous companies to build fake public image and play with the public trust. 

  Nevertheless, efforts to regulate the industry have been made. A great example is WOMMA which stands for Word of Mouth Marketing Association(2004). It is a non profit organization which gives support and guidance for companies who want to better manage their publicity techniques in blogs, forums, and other platforms .They define a code: the “Honesty of Relation, of Opinion and of Identity”,following these statutes their mission is  to prevent fake actions on the internet. 

WOMMA gives us a glimpse of the dynamic of the Word of Mouth Marketing.

   The outcome for Wal-Mart was negative and it had a high impact on the company’s image. Transparent and ethical behavior should be preponderant in any blog, forum or internet site. Companies are able to advertise their products or services through these media only if they are clear about their identity and their motifs. If the practices in new advertising keep underestimating the consumer, the tendency to be skeptical about its seriousness and reliability  will remain in the collective perception.

References

Angelo, F. ( 2007) Transparency under attack. Communication World, 24/2, p.3.

Bussinessweek. (2006) Bloombergbussinessweek [online]. Available at :http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-10-17/wal-mart-vs-dot-the-blogospherebusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice/[ Accessed 13 august 2012].

Jenkins, H. (2006) Convergence Culture: Where old and new media collide. New York: NY university press, p.19.

Sheenan, Kim  and Morrison, Deborah. (2009) Beyond convergence: Confluence culture and the role of the advertising agency in a changing world. First Monday, [online]. 14/3, 1. Available at: http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2239/2121 [Accessed 12 August 2012].

Wired. (2012) Marketers Feverish over virals Ads [online]. Available at: http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2005/03/66960/ [Accessed 13 August 12].

Word Of Mouth Marketing Association. (2004) About WOMMA. [online] Available at: http://womma.org/about/[Accessed 14 August 12].

Images sources

Advertising Age http://www.repmanblog.com/repman/2006/05/index.html[Accessed 13 August 2012].

Wal-Mart sucks http://www.progressive-charlestown.com/2011/10/quick-takes.html [Accessed 25 August 2012].

Video sources

My Reviews now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4M_yYTF3pk [Accessed 16 August 2012].

Subservient Chicken http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzoOlnzCsRY&feature=related [Accessed 16 August].

WOMMA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz22PfPxoXI [Accessed 13 August 2012].