Media Convergence: Advertising and New Media

Media Convergence: Advertising and New Media

   The phenomenon of digital media convergence has bloomed over the past years in the field of Advertising and New media, mainly through the increasing expectation of the public to have the same information readily available over multiple platforms. Media convergence can be described as the “process whereby new technologies are accommodated by existing media and communication industries and cultures”(Dwyer.T, 2010), referencing the combining of separate media and information technology systems. This essay will seek to explore the multiple facets of media convergence, using examples from advertising and new media as case studies to outline this occurrence.

   To survive in the new millennium market, advertisements have to be individualized, differentiated and flexible, and match the expectations of the conceptualized consumer. The Television set, being the centerpiece in many modern families, was therefore targeted as the main medium of advertising. The most prominent advertising within this medium is event advertising. Event advertising is companies to attaching their products to major events such as the Olympics or the Super-Bowl in USA, which attract the most number of viewers over television. However, with the rise of the Internet “across western democracies, newspaper circulation, TV audiences, and advertising revenues [through those mediums] are in a slow decline”(quoted in Dwyer.T, 2010), thus partially explaining the urgency of traditional media’s expansion into online and mobile media.

   Initially, Internet advertising was ‘uninspired’ marketing. These included coupons such as ‘buy one get one free’ or ‘$2 off a cheeseburger if you like our Facebook page’. In the last decade however, more and more companies have begun to utilize the Internet as a testing ground for new advertisements, hoping that their video will go ‘viral’. They have realized the benefits of running a viral video campaign in the new era where more is focused on the consumer, i.e. consumer sovereignty, or consumer is king. This form of advertising is much cheaper to create, as there is no need to purchase multiple ad spaces, and also complements the mode of today’s consumer, where audiences have fragmented. This campaign idea also allows for companies to more easily ‘cut through the clutter’. One such example of a viral video campaign can be found below.

(OldSpice, 2010)

   Another way to cut through the clutter is the use of short films to advertise a product – known as Madison and Vine. One such example is by BMW called BMW: the Hire. This was a series of short films released onto YouTube, directed by famous Hollywood directors and all featuring different BMW’s cars. This series allowed audiences to experience films created by their favorite directors while also allowing BMW to generate brand image. As a result of this campaign, BMW saw a great increase in subscriptions to their website and a general rise in revenue. Below is one short out of the series.

(BMW, 2007)

   Mobile media, especially cell phones, are seen almost everywhere and form an “intrinsic part of the    daily lives and habits of billions of people world wide” (Wilken, 2009). However, even though mobile phone ownership has grown exponentially over the last decade, an explosion of advertising on mobile phones has not occurred. It has thus been referred to as the “mass medium waiting for the kiss of life (quoted in Wilken, 2009). This hesitant adoption of mobile advertising can be explained by the need for ‘behavioral targeting’ (quoted in Wilken, 2009), more specifically the tailoring of advertising strategies and messages for a targeted individual user. This faces the massive number of logistical challenges involved in such a process, involving “large-scale data analysis and matching requirements” (Wilken, 2009).  This then involves the mass-production of ads with countless variations, variations that are made from analysis of consumer data, which requires a large budget to fund.

   Between the rise of Internet and mobile marketing, media convergence has played a large role in the move away from traditional advertising mediums such as the television. Media convergence has changed existing media and communication industries and cultures to accommodate new technologies, resulting in the individualization of ads and media, reaching consumers who are increasingly distracted, distrustful and disinterested. It can therefore be concluded that media convergence has allowed he advertising and media industry new ways to capture the audience’s attention and to gain brand loyalty.

Bibliography

• BMW. (2007, Jan 16). The Hire - Star. Retrieved Aug 30, 2012, from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK87YLmagt4
• Dwyer.T. (2010). Media Convergence. Berkshire: McGraw Hill.
• OldSpice. (2010, Feb 4). Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. Retrieved Aug 30, 2012, from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE
• Wilken, R. a. (2009). Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. London, Los Angeles, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington D.C.: Sage Publications.