MAS110 Sem 2 2012 - Lab 14

Digital Media Convergence: Advertising and New Media

‘Digital media convergence is the process by which media forms, industries, cultures and practices of use have merged'. (Dwyer T, 2012) Thus it is the coming together of computing, communications and content.

This phenomenon has radically transformed the practices of advertising and new media. This is the result of the popularisation and evolution of the internet and the services that it provides. Owen (1999: 16) refers the internet as ‘the prophecy of convergence: television sets, telephones and computers – and the networks that bind them – are or will become the same. The internet will be all’. This notion of media convergence has impacted on the execution of traditional advertising. Before the spur of the digital revolution, advertising was delivered through analogue technology such as newspapers. Media convergence has revolutionised advertising towards participatory mediums such as the internet and mobile phones. Unlike traditional practices of advertising where it surged in a uni-directional nature from producers to consumers, participatory media has ‘enabled people to decide when, where, how they consume the content they desire’. (Deuze, 2006: 62).  Similarly, nowadays, consumers are able to produce their own content, for example, video blogs on the video sharing website YouTube. Correspondingly, Burgess and Green (2009) argue that YouTube is the first mass-popular platform for user-created media content. This defines the term ‘prosumer’ evidently referring to the blur between consumer and producer. Consequently Jenkins reinforces this phenomenon of digital media convergence by claiming that ‘digital technology is a response to analogue’s shortcomings’.

Advertisers have effectively appealed to their audience through the use of the new media environment. It is of importance that advertisers in an online context must grasp the attention of their audience by appealing to them and understanding their online behaviour. This is highlighted by Spurgeon (2008: 27), as he states that 'these advertisers creatively embed their messages in media flows and experiences that coveted consumers will actively seek out'. Advertisers have successfully followed their audiences through new media avenues to sell their products. They have utilised product placement advertising and the viral campaign to efficiently do so. This adaption in advertising with the cooperation with the new media has accounted for their propelling success as the way advertisers appeal to their audiences is redefined.

Viral Campaign

The viral campaign phenomenon has been a feat of an advertising technique. This is as an outcome of the evolution of advertising and the new media as advertisers deliver their campaigns on pre-existing social networks on the internet to promote brand awareness. The success of trailing the ads on social networks online before promoting them on television is measured by ‘the number of “hits”, comments and responses the video attracts’ (Deuze, 2006: 696).  In this new media environment, the viral campaign is an effective vital feature of advertising as it eliminates advertising costs which would otherwise be spent on limited old media promotion. This is valuable exposure and efficiency gained by companies (Khamis, 2012).

                                                    The Force: Volkswagen Commercial

In February 2011, Volkswagen introduced the video “The Force: Volkswagen Commercial” for Volkswagen’s 2012 Passsat which became an instant viral hit.  It features an appropriation of the Darth Vader character from Star Wars which results in intertextuality. The advertisement was a success through the use of its satirical humour and release of its promotion a year before the issue of the product. This infamous Star Wars ad attracted to this day over 54 million views from its release date and embraces the most views on YouTube in 2011. It also currently holds the highest number of shares. In a contemporary context, this is the epitome of the success of viral advertising video.

Product Placement

Product placement is another example of a successful advertising practice and evidence of the revolution of advertising. This placement of branded products integrated in movies, television shows and other forms of media, is a growing effective strategy and a clear example of the proliferation of the co-adaption of advertising and the new media.

Oreo is a big participator of product placement. In particular, in the 1990’s Oreo had appeared several times in the famous sitcom Friends. It played a big role in the plot of the pilot episode and from then on was featured several times throughout the series. However, Pottery Barn, an American-based classy home furnishing store, was the most successful product placement of the TV series. In season 6 episode 11, Rachel continuously shops at Pottery Barn for new furniture for the apartment she shares with Phoebe, who despises mass-produced products. Rachel disguises this by telling Phoebe the furnishings are antiques. Consequently, when the truth is revealed, Phoebe ironically coerces Rachel to purchase a Pottery Barn lamp. This product placement was a lasting success for Pottery Barn. In an interview in 2004, Patrick Connolly of Williams-Sonoma expressed that since the episode, ‘phones light up with catalogue requests every time (the episode) airs in syndication’. This prominent placement tactic of Pottery Barn in the television series has evidently been a proven advertising success.

                                Friends: The one with the apothecary table (S6E11)

        Similarly, another instance of the prosperous approach of prominent placement products is the largely-known Apple products. Apple is one of the largest users of product placement advertising as their products have been featured in countless movies, music videos and TV series. It was even claimed this year that 'Apple products were in more than 40 percent of top movies last year, an advantage as traditional advertising falls flat'. (Burrows and Fixmar, 2012).  One of their greatest successes was the iPad placement in the TV series Modern Family in 2010 and inevitably claimed to be the best product placement of the year. Just two days before Apple’s first iPad hit the stores, the Modern Family episode centred on the iPad. Throughout the duration of the show, viewers watched the family attempt their best to acquire the iPad. The iPad was shown, used and was mentioned in various contexts about its usefulness hence the audience achieves an affective response of desire.

                                                    Phil and his new toy in Modern Family

It is apparent that the co-adaption of advertising and the new media in this current convergent media milieu is the key to its success. The rise of new technological advances of the digital revolution has precipitated the implementation of new advertising techniques such as the Viral Campaign and Product Placement. Inevitably the media convergence phenomenon that ‘because of the capabilities of digital technologies, content and services previously offered through various media will be in the future conveyed to a single artifact, the internet’ (Boczkowski and Ferris, 2005: 35), advertisers now have the capability to flourish alongside with the advancements of technology.

 

Resources

Recommended readings:

Ø  Sheehan, Kim and Morrison, Deborah (2009) Beyond convergence: Confluence culture and the role of the advertising agency in a changing world in First Monday vol 14 no 3 –

http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2239/2121  (Accessed 29 August 2012 )

Unit readings:

Ø  Dwyer, T. (2010) Media Convergence. Berkshire: McGraw Hill. pp. 1-23.

Ø  Jenkins, H. (2006) Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press. pp. 1-24.

Ø  Spurgeon, C. (2008) Advertising and New Media. Oxon: Routledge. pp.24-45

Lecture Content:

Ø  Keith, S. (2012) Digital Convergence, MAS 110, Macquarie University, 8 August

Ø  Khamis, S. (2012) Advertising and New Media, MAS 110, Macquarie University, 22 August

Additional research:

Ø  Burrows,P. and Fixmer, A. (2012) Bloomberg Business Week Technology: Apple, the other cult in Hollywood.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-10/apple-the-other-cult-in-hollywood    (Retrieved  29 August)

Ø  Deuze, M. (2006) New Media and Society: Collaboration, participation and the media. London: Sage Productions.  (Date accessed 29 August )

Ø  Burgess, J. and Green, J. (2009) Youtube: Online Video and Participatory Culture (Retrieved 30 August)

Ø  iPad Modern Family – 3 October 2010 Accessed through YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJp4_bxHOgU&feature=related (Retrieved 30 August)

Ø  The Force: Volkswagen Commercial – 2 February 2011 Accessed through Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0 (Date accessed 30 August)

Ø  Image: Friends: The one with the apothecary table episode – Accessed through Google Images:

http://crookedshmooked.blogspot.com.au/2008/11/apothecary-tables-of-yore.html (Retrieved 31 August)