Jack
Brooks
42862655
MAS110-
Assessment One- Essay
The phenomenon of
digital media convergence within Advertising as a result of new media and the
latest technologies have greatly benefitted the industry. As various companies
produce campaigns to market a brand’s product it is clear the way in which
these viral mediums aid the traditional advertising strategies. Through study
of Virgin’s Fair Go Bro! campaign and the Gruen Planet’s dissection of the
industry, the benefits of social media and the Internet as a tool for the
industry are clear. Yet, new media’s such as social media and the power the
consumer has within today’s advertising highlights some of the detriments
digital media convergence can have. Ultimately, these detriments are outweighed
by the benefits digital media convergence has had on the industry due to the
new media inserted into advertising.
This phenomenon is
extremely clear through the convergence of new media’s in advertising.
Advertising companies no longer use single advertisements to market their
product, but use a “… viral campaign… in the hope that
consumers would ‘actively propel them through social networks’” (Spurgeon,
2008: 40). Khamis further reiterates the effectiveness of these viral campaigns;
in the way advertisers can reach larger publicity through social media websites
and their ability to cut costs spent in promotional advertising (2012). Gruen Planet’s 29th August
2012 episode discussed the successfulness of Virgin’s viral campaign Fair Go Bro! starring Brad Pitt’s brother
Doug. Anderson stated that Pitt “…flew in last week for three day media blitz;
he did interviews with four TV shows, thirteen radio shows, five magazines,
four newspapers and fifteen websites. According to media monitors he had 191
mentions on TV shows” the panel goes on to talk about the success the ad had in
garnering such attention from the mass media.
 |
The campaign is a useful case
study as it highlights the success an advertisement with the aid of social
media can have in marketing a brand, by reaching audience in a cost free way.
By producing cost free marketing Virgin is able to gain mass awareness, further
shown through Channel 7 and 10’s coverage of the Fair Go Bro! campaign (Gruen
Planet, 2012). The interest shown by audiences on new forms of media gave
both news teams reason to report but moreover a validated reason for Virgin to
gain free exposure on prime time television. Ultimately the campaign highlights
how the convergences of new forms of media are benefitting advertising as it garners
more attention through social networking and public interest.
Virgin Mobile's Fair Go Bro! campaign
The benefits of digital media convergence within advertising are further seen through the way in which Advertisers are able to frequently reach the consumer. Advertisers are no longer restricted in the way they market a product, but able to attract a ever-moving audience through the latest media forms (Khamis, 2012). Through the Internet and the way social media is planted throughout traditional forms of media, producers are able to keep a viral relationship with their audiences. Breaking down the limitations of conventional media, by giving the consumer a direct relationship with the advertisement at any place or any time through social media and ease of access to the Internet (Spurgeon, 2012). Jenkins suggests how digital media convergence is a great success for the advertising industry and the consumer as it allows audiences to become apart of the campaign on a personal level (2006: 3-4). By constantly being able to reach the consumer through new media the Advertising industry has been further benefitted due to this phenomenon.
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| The Gruen Panel: Wil Anderson, Todd Sampson and Russell Howcroft |
The
Gruen Panel further went to discuss the way in which advertising uses the new
media form of Facebook pages and how at the end of advertisements or at the
bottom posters it has the ‘like’ symbol. The panel discusses how the
convergence of advertisements and social media can benefit the industry but
also be a detriment. As the consumer has the ability to ‘like’ a product on Facebook, Todd Sampson from the Gruen Planet panel suggests that”…pressing
the ‘like’ button is a very good analytical tool… danger of ‘like’, is it
pushes us all towards the middle.
Because it forces us to do what’s popular instead of what’s different”
(2012). Sampson is referring to the success the ‘like’ button has in promoting
a product, giving reference to the Nike
page that has 10, 495, 161 (Gruen Planet,
2012), yet the vulnerability it has in taking out the individuality of the
consumer. Although social media and the Internet are able to benefit the
industry by increasing awareness for a campaign they do not necessarily equate
to sales. Russell Howard calls this the ‘Facebook fairy’, faulting the belief
that “…we’re gonna put our campaign on Facebook. Everyone’s gonna like it and
then its gonna sprinkle sales across the country” (Gruen Planet, 2012). Therefore, the digital media convergence of
social media and advertising do act as a benefit in terms of increasing a brand’s
awareness but are detrimental to the individualism and sales of a product.
Eli Pariser’s 2011 lecture- Beware of online ‘filter bubbles’ ’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s
The growing technologies of the
Internet have greatly benefitted advertisers, as they are able to gain a better
understanding of the consumer to find where best to market their product. Eli
Pariser gave a lecture in 2009 about the way in which search engines such as
Google and Yahoo and social media websites Facebook and YouTube have the
ability to monitor an individuals search options to then produce results that
are personalized for that individual. “…The Internet search engine is, perhaps,
the single most important development for informational advertising” (Spurgeon,
2010:18) highlights the significance the search engine has for advertisers in
giving them the ability to know where their target audience is and tactically
position their advertisements.
Yet,
some forms of new media disadvantage the advertising industry by giving the
individual enough power to avoid advertisements. With the convergence of new technology
the distinction between the creator and consumer have been blurred causing what
Sheehan and Morrison refer to as the ‘prosumer’ (2009). As a result, the way
audiences now consume media has become synonymous with the way in which
producers create media (Deuze, 2006: 696) giving audiences of today more power
over the advertising industry than ever before. Meachen reiterates
the increased power the consumer has in the way the industry recognizes
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”(2007). Deuze and Meachen articulate the way the
phenomenon of digital media convergence has ultimately given television audiences
the freedom to watch a program without advertising when they want to. The
ability individuals have in fast-forwarding a TV advertisement is extremely
harmful to the industry as it means individuals do not take the
opportunity to watch the ads. The industry is further disadvantaged by Internet
users ability to state their opinion about the product, via ‘posting’ or
‘commenting’, however damaging it is to the brand. The shift in power damages the
advertising industry as audiences move into a ‘prosumer’ role that gives
ultimate viewing power to the individual.
Ultimately digital media
convergence has benefitted the advertising industry greatly due to the new
technology available to the latest forms of media. Although these technologies
have given consumers the ability to avoid advertising the benefits truly shine
through. The use of the Internet, in particular social media, clearly
illustrates the need for digital media convergence in the advertising industry.
References
Deuze, M 2006, ‘Collaboration, Participation and the Media: New media
and society’ [online] 8(4) pp.691-698. Available at: http://www29.griffith.edu.au/imersd/draper/music2/collaboration_participation_media.pdf
[accessed 29th August 2012}
Dwyer, T 2010, Media Convergence, Berkshire:
McGraw Hill. pp. 1-23.
Gruen Planet, 2012, television program, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sydney,
29th July
Jenkins, H 2006, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media
Collide, New York: New York University Press. pp. 1-24.
Khamis, S 2012, Advertising and
New Media, MAS110 lecture, Macquarie University, 22nd August
2012
Kligora C, 2011, Modern
Advertising Methods, image, Online Marketing Denver, 30th August
2012, http://www.onlinemarketingdenver.net/forms-advertising-2/
Paris, E 2011, Ideas worth
spreading, video lecture, TED, viewed 13th August 2012, http://video.ted.com/talk/podcast/2011/None/EliPariser_2011.mph
Spurgeon, C 2008, Advertising and
New Media, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 24-45
Sheehan, K. and Morrison, D 2009,
‘beyond convergence: Confluence culture and the role of the advertising agency
in a changing world’ [online]. Available at:
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2239/2121
[Accessed 25th March 2012].
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