Emma Jewell - MAS110 Essay (Advertising and New Media)

 

ADVERTISING AND NEW MEDIA - LOST IN THE CLUTTER?

 

Social Media Icons, 2010

 

Gone are the days where the landline was our main form of contact and ‘snail mail’ was a reliable formula in sending and receiving information. In the new age of media convergence consumers have the ability “to obtain multiple services on a single platform or device or obtain any given service on multiple platforms” (Dwyer, 2010). The audience for the traditional mediums such as television and newspapers are no longer “passive media [spectatorships]” (Jenkins, 2006) , with the ability to interact with the media itself now unlimited, advertisers have felt the impact of this as there is no longer an assumption you will be reaching all audiences. With interest dwindling due to the multi-media platforms that are now available, in an industry that has seen exponential growth in the last decade, advertisers have had to get creative in targeting their audiences through interactive and immersive advertising. With instant gratification and the ease of obtaining information and services that are interconnected and ultimately cross over, is the message being lost somewhere in the multiple translations?

 

Creative Media, 2011

 

With an ever changing media landscape, the way society interacts with the media is also changing. Before the evolution of media convergence the evening news and the radio were the main sources of updated information. With no ability to interact with the information presented, advertising was a one way street. “As internet connectivity and digital capabilities continue to expand across global populations, increasing numbers of online users are expressing their thoughts, desires, interests, and creativity online” (Sheehan & Morrison, 2009). Now, due to the convergence of different media platforms, society can instantly comment or interact with other people who share the same or different views on a multitude of issues.

 

Comment Box, 2012

 

 

The way society chooses to use this connectivity to advertising and the media, is both a positive and a negative within itself. The positive of such connectedness is that it does not “just involve commercially produced materials and services travelling along well-regulated and predictable circuits” (Dwyer, 2010). Society has a choice in what it interacts with and views. Advertisers have a relationship with their consumers as feedback can now be instantaneous. Negatively though, what also occurs is that “our lives, relationships, memories, fantasies, desires also flow across media channels” (Dwyer, 2010). Everything is accessible to not only society but also the advertisers targeting them. With so much targeted information being constantly thrown at the consumer, we learn to tune out. The interconnectivity and digital capabilities of the digital media now mean unfortunately, some issues get lost in the translation and clutter of the media sphere.

 

Public Relations, 2008

 

 

Pussy Riot, a punk rock band who filmed a music video clip in Russia’s main cathedral, sought to spread a message of defiance against President Vladimir Putin’s historical third election. The feminist band believed in peaceful protest and through free speech, advertising the problems that Russia is facing. When “Russian police said they had found a message in support of the jailed members of the Pussy Riot protest band written in blood over the stabbed bodies of an elderly woman and her daughter” (Herald Sun, 2012), the message had clearly been lost.

 

Free Pussy Riot, 2012 

 

With new media forms developing through media convergence, advertising agencies have needed to get creative in gaining a captive audience. Unlike previously, the audience wasn’t captive in the sense that they all remained in the one room while watching the news. Now with a wealth of online interaction literally, at society’s finger tips, interactive advertising and immersive advertising has become more integral to engaging consumers. “Media consumption is predominantly investigated by focusing on the way audiences receive and give meaning to media content” (Jenkins cited in Deuze, 2007), it is by understanding these meanings that advertisers and new media can effectively communicate with consumers to promote a product, service or message.

 

Neopets have effectively incorporated immersive advertising into their advertising content online. Instead of having pop-up banner ads, the immersive advertisements fit into the sites content seemlessly in interactive forms. Players of Neopets earn ‘Neopoints’ by playing adverisment-games and completing online marketing surveys (Neopets, 1999), all targeted to the demographic playing.

 

Neopets, 2012

 

With the world travelling at such a fast pace that society itself now does not compete to stay in front, and accepts what we are given, in the technological sphere, media convergence has added another layer to the already complicated and overstimulated world of new m edia. With interactive and immersive advertising, the consumer is constantly feed information in which, most of the time, gets lost in the clutter.

 



             

Did You Know?, 2012

Reader:

Dwyer, T. (2010) “Media Convergence”, McGraw Hill, Berkshire. pp1-23
Jenkins, Henry (2006), “Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide”, New York: New York University Press, pp. 1-24
Recommended:

Sheehan, K and Morrison, D (2009), “Beyond Convergence: Confluence Culture and the role of Advertising Agency in a Changing World”, [Online] URL: http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2239/2121  [Accessed 29th August 2012]
Additional research:

Jenkins Cited in Deuze, M, 2007. “Convergence Culture in the Creative Industries”. International Journal of Cultural Studies,. Volume 10 (2), pp243-245. [Online] URL: http://web.ebscohost.com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/ehost/detail?sid=c9cf1605-aaad-47bf-8b26-2701878de819%40sessionmgr14&vid=4&hid=7 [Accessed 29 August 2012].

Neopets, (1999). “Neopets - About Us.” [ONLINE] URhttp://www.neopets.com/aboutus.phtml. [Accessed 29 August 12].

The Herald Sun, . 2012. “Pro-Pussy Riot message scrawled in blood at murder scene”. [ONLINE] URL: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/pro-pussy-riot-message-scrawled-in-blood-at-murder-scene/story-fnd134gw-1226462045148. [Accessed 28 August 12].

Photographs and Videos:

Digitalk, (2011), "Social Network Analysis" [ONLINE]. URL: http://padmanegara.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/social-network-analysis-pandu.jpg  [Accessed 29 August 12].


Mitch Kapler, (2011), "Media + Creativity" [ONLINE]. URL: http://media-creativity.com/?p=2325 [Accessed 29 August 12].

Neopets, (2012), "Advertisments" [ONLINE]. URL: http://www.neopets.com/index.phtml  [Accessed 29 August 12].

Pierce Mattie, (2008), "Public Relations" [ONLINE]. URL: http://www.piercemattiepublicrelations.com/social_media_pr/ [Accessed 29 August 12].

Spangler, (2012), "Social Media Icons" [ONLINE]. URL: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/who-is-steve-spangler/ellen-degeneres [Accessed 28 August 12].

Herald Sun, (2012), "Pussy Riot - written in blood" [ONLINE]. URL: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/pro-pussy-riot-message-scrawled-in-blood-at-murder-scene/story-fnd134gw-1226462045148  [Accessed 28 August 12].

Karl Fisch. (2012). "Did You Know 3.0 (Officially updated for 2012)". [Online Video]. 28 February. URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=YmwwrGV_aiE&NR=1.    [Accessed: 29 August 2012].