Digital Media Convergence: The Advertising and New Media Revolution

Digital Media Convergence:
The Advertising and New Media Revolution

By Patria Manalili
42862086

Source: K. Hilzinger, Sydney Morning Herald

Digital media convergence is a defining trend of the modern media environment, with its pulling power instigating widespread social and cultural change. Recognised as “the process by which media forms, industries, cultures and practices have merged” (Tulloch, 2012), media convergence has revolutionised advertising and new media, encouraging individuals to seek out new information and interaction among collaborative, participatory mediums such as the Internet (Jenkins 2006: 3). In this way, convergence redefines traditional advertising execution to attract the nomadic audiences of the new media context (Khamis, 2012).

Digital media convergence provides a solution to passive 'traditional media’ constraints (Spurgeon, 2010), allowing producers, consumers and advertisers to participate in the media environment at any place and time. This participatory culture contrasts with past notions of “passive media spectatorship” (Jenkins, 2006), in which access to analogue media was scarce. Only those with specific skills and authority could participate in the production of media content, with information in traditional media flowing in a uni-directional nature: from producers to consumers.

The online community.
Source: PRLOG.com

Nowadays, digital media convergence has created new spaces which enable people to decide where, when and how they consume the content they desire (Deuze, 2006: 692). Dwyer (2010: 18) articulates this revolution, recognising the growing popularity of online advertising to fulfil the limitations of traditional packaging strategies. In effect, advertisers have followed their audiences online, utilising the new media environment to transmit their products electronically, and thus “resting on the realisation of the fragmented mainstream audience” (Sheehan and Morrison, 2009).

The viral campaign phenomenon is evidence of this advertising revolution, as advertisers launch their campaigns on the Internet in the hope that consumers would “actively propel them through social networks” (Spurgeon, 2008: 40). Companies are able to obtain valuable exposure and gain possible economic benefit by eliminating advertising costs which would otherwise be spent on limited old media promotion (Khamis, 2012). The success of these viral campaigns are measured on the back of interactive response unique to new media, with the intensity of online collaboration exemplified through the number of "hits", comments and responses a video attracts. As a result, the act of consuming media has become synonymous with the act of producing media (Deuze, 2006: 696). The convergent "prosumer" has challenged traditional media's distinction between producer and consumer, allowing individuals to engage in discussion and provide feedback for advertisers like never before (Sheehan and Morrison, 2009).

The term "power at your fingertips" embodies
the interactivity of new media.
Source: Samsung Electronics Co

In response to intensifying online activity, Samsung utilised video sharing website YouTube to unveil its new Samsung Galaxy SII model, mirroring advertising's online revolution by generating widespread attention towards its French campaign. "Unleash Your Fingers" (Samsung, 2011) as it was dubbed, reflects the Samsung Galaxy SII’s ability to deliver "power at your fingertips" (Samsung, 2012), toying with the Finger Tutting phenomenon and digital graphics to creatively express this idea.

Having generated almost seven million views, 6000 comments and countless video responses (YouTube, 2012) since its launch in June 2011, Samsung’s campaign epitomises the idea of social media distribution success and the speaking power of viral advertising when performed effectively, proving successful for both advertisers and the company. This underlines media convergence’s influential role in revolutionising advertising and new media through the thrilling combination of business strategy, audiovisual formats, digital graphics and social media distribution.

The combining power of new media's audio-visual formats and product placement has revolutionised advertising strategies, with many advertisers are now creatively embedding their messages in media flows. This reflects the advertising industry’s acknowledgement of the shift “from an age dominated by mass communication to a future increasingly driven by one on one communication and entertainment channels where power is now with the end user.” (Meachen, 2007) Hence, branded content emerges - the aim to fuse advertising messages and entertainment in a seamless, transparent fashion (Sheehan and Morrison, 2009). As a result, advertisers can now explore new consumer touchpoints and promotional alliances in a way which promotes consumers to share content with others, “aiming to contextualise brand images attractively, (and) thus converging advertising and art” (Spurgeon, 2008: 40).

This is evident in The Guardian’s “Three Little Pigs” advertisement, which develops a compelling modern storyline surrounding the fairytale while communicating the objectives of the newspaper.

Advertisers creatively depict The Guardian’s shift from old to new media formats in the video, highlighting the interactivity of new media through snippets of social media discussion, while stressing this concept of “news at your fingertips” (The Guardian, 2012). Generating wide-spread attention since its launch in February 2012, this campaign emphasises advertisers' ability to “engage with their consumers more deeply”, capitalising convergent new media to facilitate brand stories (Spurgeon, 2008: 40).

Screen Shot of Facebook advertisements

Contrastingly, advertisers are utilising convergence's explosion of user controlled content to capitalise on search advertising, which has, as Dwyer claims, “profound changes in the nature and organisation of contemporary mediated communication” (2010: 5). Convergence enables advertisers to utilise social media and search engines to build and maintain profitable media cultures (Dwyer, 2010: 18), accommodating the increasing versatility of human actions. This is achieved by using the pulling power of Google, Yahoo!, Facebook and other online powerhouses to strategically position ads in response to each user's active search for information. In this way, search advertising facilitates opportunities for economic success by attracting millions of possible users, whilst benefiting them in uniting vast amounts of information with one click.

Search Culture at its finest.
Source: Charppath

Never before have users been bombarded with the mass and frequency of online advertising. Spurgeon (2008: 25) emphasises this, declaring, “the Internet search engine is, perhaps, the single most important development for informational advertising.” A development of search search culture has arisen in response to this, revolutionising the ways people search for employment, housing, transport and even love (Spurgeon, 2008: 26) and highlighting the power of new media formats in instigating social and cultural change.

Digital media convergence has revolutionised advertising and media, facilitating their continual co-adaption. By redefining how advertisers reach out to their audiences and prosumers respond through engaging in social interaction, convergence has accounted for the creation of collaborative spaces, resulting in profound social and cultural changes in advertising which must be continued to propel its success in the future.

Resource List

Unit Readings:

Dwyer, T. (2010). Media Convergence. Berkshire: McGraw Hill. pp. 1-23.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press. pp. 1-24.
Spurgeon, C. (2008) Advertising and New Media. Oxon: Routledge. pp.24-45.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Digital Media Convergence: The Advertising and New Media Revolution

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