Discuss the phenomenon of digital media convergence
in relation to Advertising & New Media
Media convergence is the process whereby new technologies are accommodated by existing media and communication industries and cultures (Dwyer, T 2010 pg.4). A convergence is basically seen in every person's cell phone, glance down at your palm and there sits a device that can click a photograph, edit and modify images, and watch videos/read news on the internet. Like most areas of marketing, advertising is changing rapidly. For instance, while many different media outlets are available for communicating with customers, the ability to distinguish between outlets is becoming more difficult due to the convergence of different media types. During the early ages people would read the newspaper and listen to the radio in order for them to get some news on what is happening in the country or around the world. Now, due to advanced technology we can now access all these information regarding news, sports, entertainment, lifestyle, etc, on our televisions, smartphones, iPads, and computers with the use of the Internet. Media convergence is something that impacts us all down to our every day life and such has become they way of life that society adapts and changes accordingly.
As everyone is using the internet for a certain purpose, for example, watching videos on YouTube, viewing mail on Hotmail or Yahoo, and read articles just as a past time, advertisers are seeking this opportunity to promote their products onto these sites because everyone is using these forms of social media; therefore, they can attract customers. (Vise 2005: 3, Media convergence, pg.12) states that "Google has become the powerhouse in advertising largely by selling short text advertising on highly targeted topics people are searching for, or reading about on the internet". YouTube is a prime example for advertising because on every video you click to watch, an advert would come on before playing the actual video.
Advertising for Coca Cola, always an important and exciting part of it's business, really came into it's own in the 1970's and reflected a brand connection with fun......The international appeal of Coca Cola was embodied by a 1971 commercial " I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke".
Television was initially an experimental medium for Coca Cola since it was a hard struggle for them to develop a strategy to reach their customers at that time when few cities had television stations. The first Coca Cola advert was aired in twenty seconds in the form of identification slides. They generally featured a piece of advertising art with the station call letters, accompanied by a voice over. Coca Cola has developed many strategies as to how they would put their adverts out there for the public. Through out the years Coca Cola changed their slogan names to make it more exciting and attention grabbing , for example, 1982 "Coke It is" had an emphasis on the products qualities of taste and refreshment, 1976 "Coke Adds Life"emphasized refreshment and tried to show Coke as the perfect accompaniment to food, fun, and leisure (Coca-Cola slogans through the years).
"Coca Cola's marketing strategy has made increasing use of branded entertainment....Microsoft, has been attributed to localization approaches to delivering Coca Cola's centrally devised brand message (Berner and Kiley 2005, pg. 53). Their brand have had strong associations with sports during the 1990's, with ongoing support of the Olympic Games, Fifa World Cup, Rugby World Cup and National Basketball Association. All sorts of tactics are being used in order to reach out to their customers. Starting off from commercial ads on television, radios, billboards and posters to attract people as they drive by to social media whereby you can 'Like' their page on Facebook and when you click on a video on YouTube their add might pop up first. Coca Cola had been used in mass media as it featured in countless films and TV programmes such as One, Two, Three, The Coca-Cola Kid and The Gods Must Be Crazy. Over the years, the brand has used many celebrity endorsement to advertise their brand/product. For example, when we think of Bill Cosby, we think of a friendly family man. This is the image that Coca Cola has traditionally tried to associate with their products. In the commercial below, Bill Cosby tells all of the reasons why he like Coke. He ads humor to the commercial by using words such as "delicioso" as well as his enthusiastic tone.
This is a South African Brrrrrr Coke commercial. During the first seconds of this clip you see a middle aged man taking a sip of coke and return making him and everyone else 'brrrrr'. It mainly focuses on youngsters drinking Coke while doing extravagant activities like skating, watching a football match or just hanging out. It is the feeling you get once you have tasted the coke like being energetic, joyful, happy, enthusiastic but all in all it is the sense of bringing fun back within friends and family. This form of advertisement immediately catch a views attention since they want to also be part of the fun, linking this beverage as non- alcoholic everyone is bound to enjoy. "Many large national and transnational advertisers are dissatisfied with the uncertain performance of 'old' media. They are looking for new ways to reach increasingly distracted, distrustful and disinterested consumer" (Spurgeon.C. 2008, pg 46 Section 27). Coca Cola has clearly reached it's goal as viewers understand the message behind this advert.
"News forms of communication are only partially determined by their technology and are shaped from social and cultural conditions, and from the various manners in which cultural expression, and intentions are conveyed" (P.D Marshall, 2004 pg.1). It is important to develop a sense on sensitivity and sensibility to media transformations. It does not mean that traditional media has been taken over by 'new' media. Publishers are still using traditional convergence, like printing newspapers. Large proportions of newspapers are being distributed and read by millions of people in every country everyday. "More than 54 million newspapers are sold daily, where 48% of adults read a newspaper on an average weekday, 54% of adults read a newspaper on an average Sunday and 67% of adults read a daily newspaper in the past five days (Voyager Media, 2010). However, new media has taken over. People can now surf through the net and get all the information they want, like watching BBC , reading articles, having discussions, etc. and that for free which can be posted/changed in an instant, unlike the newspaper. The best way a business can stay competitive in a ocean full of emerging media is that they should maintain a healthy balance of both new, online tactics as well as traditional media platforms.
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References:
Dwyer. T, 2010, Media Convergence, pg. 4 section 2, pg. 12 section 18.
The Coca Cola Company 2011, Heritage Timeline, A World of Customers, Viewed 30 August 2012, <http://heritage.coca-cola.com/>
Coca-Cola Slogans Through The Years, Viewed 30 August 2012, <http://www.angelfire.com/oh/cocacolaantiques/slogans.html>
Spurgeon.C. 2008 Advertising and New Media, Oxon Routledge, pg. 53 section 41, pg 46 section 27.
P.David Marshall, 2004, New Media Cultures, Introduction: 'new media' and cultural studies, Oxford University Press, Pg 1.
Voyager Media, 2010, Frequently asked questions, Why advertise in Newspapers? <http://www.voyagernewspapers.com/frequently-asked-questions.html>
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