Online Essay 43055389

Digital Media Convergence and Advertising

Introduction

Modern media has had an exponential leap forward in technology in recent years. This leap has created new ways for consumers to enjoy content through many different platforms. This is digital media convergence where

“flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences” (Jenkins, 2006, pp 2).

But this constant state of change has placed a lot of concerns about how advertisement companies should adapt to the constant change where the old advertisement practices are becoming more obsolete. People are now able to access media content from around the clock and are becoming more engaged with the media towards topics of interests to themselves rather than pay attention to advertisements that have no relevance to them

“desires of consumers to have the media they want where they want it, when they want it, and in the format they want”

(Jenkins, 2006, pp 2). As so, advertising agencies needed to become more innovative, more multi-platform to capture the audience who are transitioning from a spectator culture to a participatory one within the growing new media.

Henry Jenkins and his take on Media convergence

Branded Entertainment

Ask yourselves this, how often do you find yourself watching television and actually paying attention to an advertisement, or if you could, would you skip the advertisements entirely with the introduction of new technology such as TiVo that allows you to record television shows on demand? Chances are low that you actually do pay attention to advertisements.

‘Branded entertainment’ has become a big thing particularly in the late 1900s. As consumers gradually ignored advertisements and sales started to drop (Creamer, 2007), advertisers saw that brand name goods would sell better if it was included within the media (Such media include ‘Ready Steady Cook’ which is funded by the I&G Supermarket chain and ‘The Grill’ which was funded by SONY Playstation) and were more likely to be seen then the old ‘in-between show breaks’ on television.

Try Reese's pieces! It's outta this world!

An early example of such inclusion within media was the critically acclaimed movie ‘E.T’ directed by Steven Spielberg who teamed up with Hershey executive Jack Dowd for promoting the Reese’s Pieces Candy bar which allowed sales of the confectionary to sky rocket and help allow Hershey’s to have its place cemented as a global company due to digital media convergence. This innovative way of approaching advertising is what’s needed if the advertising industry is to thrive in the evolving world.

The Internet and Mobile media

The introduction of the internet was a particularly big step towards reinventing the way advertisements work. As stated by Spurgeon (2008, pp24) the

“internet search engine is, perhaps the single most important development for informational advertising since the time of the first paid newspaper advertisement”

with this, advertising agencies could now place specific ads that were more consumer-centric, that allowed people to see advertisements that were based completely of what they’ve done on the internet (Turow, 2006).

Social networks and Search engines, particularly Facebook and Google, are a prime example of advertisement in new media, especially with its ability to go multiplatform on mobile phones, computers and tablets. What better way than to display advertisements about things that the consumer is actually interested in and have actually searched for.

Wanna see what a Google tablet is about? Why not buy one!

This form of advertisement had many advantages, one being that it was cost effective but it was the fact that the advertisement was targeting and engaging individuals that were interested with it in the first place. With the ability to store search queries on local based servers, this allowed advertisers to link there advertisements to key words, bringing their content towards like-minded consumers rather than advertisements that targeted the wider audience.

There is a drawback with placing these forms of advertisements though. Much like the recent mobile phone market (Sinclair, 2009), there is a growing issue about the use of such advertising methods in conjunction with consumer privacy. As Sinclair (2009) has raised a concern that this form of advertisement may form a barrier of distrust between advertiser and consumer which may lead to advertising to become less effective.

Discussion about the use of the discovered tracking device in iPhones as well as the implications

An example of this may occur with the concept of location sensitive advertisement, where consumers with smart phones will be targeted via GPS, giving local stores your location to send ‘one-to-one’ advertisements to your phone. The constant surveillance of wherever you are is a constant issue especially with the discovered tracking device embedded within the iPhone which caused a lot of controversy. A fine line must be drawn within the grey area if this is to continuously occur within newer forms of media as the current take of advertisements within these two (mobile phones and the internet) converging platforms are still mired in uncertainty.

What of it?

Advertising within the new media is by far no easy feat. It is a volatile mixture that constantly changes. What may be seen as effective now may be seen as obsolete in a couple years’ time such as the use of branded entertainment. The constant need to innovate the way they advertise while defining the ‘sweet spot’ between intimacy and invasion of privacy with digital media convergence, still a growing issue which may hopefully be solved somewhere in the near future.

Privacy is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Reference

Creamer, Matthew (2007), ‘Old-World Media Start to Feel the Pain’, Advertising Age, http://adage.com/article/news/world-media-start-feel-pain/120490/, viewed 26th August 2012

Dwyer, Tim (2010), Media Convergence, McGraw Hill, pp 1-23

Huessener, Ki Mae (2011), ‘Apple responds to iPhone controversy’, ABC News, http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/apple-responds-iphone-tracking-controversy/story?id=13468295#.UEA7_aMTfIU, viewed 28th of August 2012

Jenkins, Henry (2006), Convergence Culture: Where Old Media and New Media Collide, New York University Press

Sinclair, John and Wilken, Rowan (2009), 'Waiting for the kiss of life: mobile media and advertising', Convergence: The journal of research into new media, vol 15 no 4 pp 427 – 445, http://con.sagepub.com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/content/15/4/427.full.pdf+html, viewed 26th of August 2012

Spurgeon, Christina (2008), Advertising and New Media, Routledge, pp 24-45

Turow, Joseph (2006), Niche Envy: Marketing Discrimination in the Digital Age, MIT Press

History, The Hershey Company, http://www.thehersheycompany.com/about-hershey/our-story/hersheys-history.aspx, viewed 26th of August 2012

Friday, August 31, 2012