Assignment 1: Claudia Werner

Digital Media Convergence - Advertising and New Media

Convergence may be defined as “the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences” (Jenkins 2006). Digital media convergence essentially refers to the converging of the Internet, entertainment, information technologies, communication, media and in recent times advertising. When discussing the convergence of advertising and the Internet, the circulation of the content depends heavily on the consumers participation instead of on technology. Rather than primarily consisting of the technological merging of media content and devices, media convergence is more and more beginning to represent a cultural shift, where consumers are constantly being encouraged to make connections amongst scattered media content. “The internet search engine is, perhaps, the single most important development for informational advertising since the time of the first paid newspaper advertisements or the telephone directory” (Spurgeon 2008 pp. 25). The phenomenon of digital media convergence has meant that advertising and new media can be brought to the surface through the clutter of today’s society.

As technology continues to advance the public will only get harder to reach, in saying this, as long as the content presented to us is clever and engaging it will always cut through the clutter. We are aware that there is growing hunger for video entertainment amongst Australian users. With rapid improvements in smart phone technology and market penetration deepening the video market, this hunger will only grow larger. There seems to be a growing trend in advertisers using the Internet as a platform to introduce a certain product/service to the online audience as a ‘testing ground’ in determining whether it is of high enough interest to release to the greater public through the TV or radio. By following this online method of marketing, marketers rely on the public to circulate and ultimately promote their content, particularly via social media sites such as facebook and MySpace, often resulting in large financial savings for the company. Brands such as Cadbury and Old Spice have adopted this methodology by uploading advertisements onto YouTube for audiences to comment, rate, re-circulate, re-create and publicise all around the world.  

Advertisers must also recognise confluence culture, considering new technologies that allow consumers to be participants in the creation and sharing of content (Morrison 2009). When merging Deuze’s (2006) idea of digital culture and Jenkin’s (2006) formation of a convergence culture we are left with the notion of a confluence culture. Both Deuze and Jenkins highlight the importance of the active consumer when it comes to the publicising of content. Deuze (2006) argues that there are three underlying principles of digital culture: participation, remediation and bricolage. It is these components that suggest new paths and templates for advertisers to engage consumers on a more personal level.

The success of the fusing of advertorial content and the internet may be best exemplified through the ‘The man your man could smell like’ ad created by the Old Spice brand in early 2010, and since then becoming the template for global, viral media success. Rather than releasing this ad straight into the living rooms of the consumers, Old Spice uploaded a series of advertisements onto YouTube, triggering a viral circulation of the videos through social networking sites and word of mouth. The population surrounding the advertisements lead to further discussion or promotion in newspapers and magazines, followed by the creation of many parody’s mocking the content of the campaigns.  Furthermore, the convergence of advertising and the internet, with particular focus on video broadcasting, has meant that users of the internet from all over the world become the producer in a part of this cultural shift as stated earlier. “Much has been made of the interactivity of convergent media the extent to which it places user in a command position remix rework and recontextualise media culture” (Khamis 2012).  

Mark Deuze states in the International Journal of Cultural Studies that the new media ecology that is continuously emerging allows us as the audience to practice a certain degree of control over what we watch, what gets filtered out and what gets kept in our memory. The development of new media ecology has given us more control over the media content we are exposed to than ever before, the computer mouse, will, at the click of a button play, pause or stop video advertisements that are viewed online. Especially in terms of advertising and new media, the Internet is currently and will continue to play a vital role in the evolution of traditional advertising strategies to a new, user-controlled form of product promotion and circulation.  

Reference List

Deuze, M 2007, ‘Convergence culture in the creative industries’, International Journal of Cultural Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 246 – 249.

Jenkins, H 2006, ‘Introduction: “Worship at the Altar of Convergence” – A New Paradigm for Understanding Media Change’, Convergence Culture: where old and new media collide, pp. 17 – 28.

Morrison, DK & Sheehan, KB 2009, ‘Beyond convergence: Confluence culture and the role of the advertising agency in a changing world’, First Monday, vol. 14, no. 3.

Sinclair, J & Wilken, R 2009, ‘’Waiting for the Kiss of Life’ : Mobile Media and Advertising’, Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 427 – 445.

Spurgeon, C 2008, ‘From the ‘Long Tail’ to ‘Madison and Vine’: Trends in advertising and new media’, Advertising and New Media, pp. 24 – 45.