Friday, March 30, 2012

Digital Media Convergence: Advertising


Digital Media Convergence; Advertising

By Jack Huskinson 42857155
Digital Media Convergence is the blending of multiple media platforms into one platform and the cooperation between media industries for purposes of delivering a dynamic experience. This concept of convergence plays a major role in society as we progress toward a greater technological world, both applying positives and negatives to what we see today and what we imagine to be in the future. In the case of Digital Media Convergence technology, society and culture must be considered. Advertising in Digital Media conveys this theory through the constant shift of production values and ideals and the way in which it is distributed to localised and the wider audiences. The growth of advertising has had no specific stance in the case of a positive or negative impact as it has greatly impacted society in both ways. (Jenkins, 2006:2)


Advertising over the years has shifted through various mediums in order to target a wider audience and portray their intended message. The traditional medium of TV, Newspaper and Radio over time has shifted with the change of technology. Advertising is now vastly seen on Internet sites, Videos and are now distributed through phones. This convergence of Advertising in Digital Media is now allowing for wider audiences as promoters are now able to target vast amounts of people depending on the medium they use in their everyday lifestyles, now able to target a more conservative audience while at the same time promoting to a contemporary target market. 
"Search engines have transformed into new, globally significant and, increasingly, locally relevant, advertising-funded media services and institutions" (Spurgeon, 2008: 25)
Christina Spurgeon has greatly identified the shift of Advertising to a new media base, being internet. Internet sites are now vastly funded by the advertisements that are displayed on them. Advertisements are now able to be directly linked to specific searches made by the consumer, directly relating to their topic and what they intended to find. Youtube has also become a vast medium for advertising enabling marketing agencies to display their advertisements on various videos. A dance/house artist Swedish House Mafia is a large example of this new medium for advertising as they display Absolute Vodka in their Music Video "Greyhound" at 3:29.




Youtube thus conveys the shift of advertising to a new platform in order to put forth their message. Evidently with the convergence of advertising into the Internet the advertising industry has lost creativity as they blatantly display Absolute Vodka, giving no introduction or luring of the audience. These persuasive techniques that were required, seek to influence the decisions of the target market in their purchases by engaging with their basic emotions and wants. Interactive Advertising is one of the most effective techniques as it engages with majority of the senses of the audience allowing them to fully interact with the item they are purchasing, granting vast amounts of information on a level that seems appealing and alluring as seen in the Nissan Leaf advertisement. (Spurgeon, 2008)

The Nissan Leaf iAd juxtaposed to the Absolute Vodka advertisement seemingly displays the vast difference in types of advertising as the Vodka is directly targeting a specific music genre as to gain access to the advertisement they must enjoy the music and search or watch the Music Video via TV or Internet. The nissan Leaf iAd targets all iPhone users as they are able to access this through various applications, being presented to them constantly. This convergence of Advertising into new technology has allowed for numerous opportunities for advertising companies, yet at the same time has changed society as we are now constantly tempted by advertising as it is all around us and unable to be avoided and at times becomes a hassle, as an example when a youtube video acquires a large amount of views it then becomes the host for advertising. The advertisement comes up at the beginning of the video ranging from 8 seconds - 2 minutes depending on the advertisement. Yet some are able to be skipped others must be completely watched. This is seen by many as a hassle as they are constantly having to load extra data through the advertisement then skip it after a few seconds. Recently over the past months this advertising in videos has been seen within the video as it will automatically pause halfway through, then display the advertisement. This is a distinct example of the Digital Media Convergence in our present time and how it has changed the user interactive interface of the web, constantly engaging them with alluring images or videos with the intent to draw the attention of consumers on a mass scale. 
KONY2012 Banner (Thanks to Colin Harvey)
Digital Media Convergence has brought upon a new era of consumer thinking in which advertising agencies are facing a shifting environment. Consumers have become less focused on brands shifting to the recommendations of friends and family rather than the marketing messages; this has rendered traditional advertising a failure. Due to these circumstances 'Viral' advertising has proven to be a successful strategy in grasping the focus of businesses as it is a consumer driven form of expressing their marketing. A recent example of this would be 'KONY2012' which had spread like wildfire. It had reached over 100 million views within six days. The video had been a 30-minute documentary on Joseph Kony, a Ugandan rebel leader. It became the most viral video in history due to the constant spread by the consumer. This video had been repeatedly shared through various social networking sites as it played on the emotions of the consumer, directly asking them to play their part and share the video, and to donate or buy products that would help to stop Joseph Kony. This concept of viral videos has become the new advertising landscape as it enables a message to rapidly spread to the consumer with a different intent. It is not that the marketing companies are trying to sell you something, yet you watch, look or listen because your friend suggested it to you, changing the feel of advertisements as you interact with them. (Sheehan and Morrison, 2009) 
Thus it is evident that there is a constant shift within the advertising landscape due to digital media convergence both positively and negatively. The new converging culture enables advertising companies to rapidly spread their marketing whereas the consumers are constantly confronted and interrupted by these advertisements. Furthermore, the internet as we know today is dominated and funded purely by advertising and our convergence culture is continuing to drive this concept.

References;

  • Spurgeon, C 2008, Advertising and New Media. Oxon Routledge. 
  • Jenkins, H 2006 ,Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press.






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