MAS110 Sem 2 2012

Digital Media Convergence:

Revolutionizing Advertising and New Media

In the phenomenon of digital media convergence, old and new media are colliding. Rather than traditional media such as print, radio and television becoming obsolete, digital technologies are reconfiguring their function and status (Jenkins 2006: 14). In this shift towards digital media platforms, media consumers are no longer passive media spectators, they have begun to engage themselves in the participatory, collaborative culture that Web 2.0 has created. For advertisers, digital convergence is requiring them to “rethink old assumptions about what it means to consume media” (Jenkins 2006: 18). “The traditional packaging strategy for audiovisual content – the advertiser funded television channel – has come under increasing pressure from the growing popularity of online advertising” (Dwyer 2010: 18). Such corporations like Google are rapidly converging audiovisual material and targeted advertising together with social networking. In the virtual oasis of digital media convergence, media companies are developing innovative strategies of amassing audiences in order to flourish and maintain a profitable consumer media culture (Dwyer 2010: 18).

Digital media convergence considers the interconnected power relations between media producers and consumers as they interact in the most unpredictable ways. If the consumers of traditional media forms such as print, radio and television“…were assumed to be passive, the new consumers are active..noisy and public” (Jenkins 2006: 18) – 21^st century media consumers are grasping digital media devices such as the Internet and mobile phone to control the flow of media and interact with other consumers (Jenkins 2006: 18). Consumers are now becoming the catalysts for “where, when and how they consume the content they desire” (Deuze 2006: 692). The pervasive power for consumers to select the media they consume, overrides the tradition medial flowing in a uni-directional nature: from producers to consumers. Advertisers have begun to track their audience online, using the digitized media environment to promote their products and thus, engaging with the fragmented mainstream audience (Sheehan and Morrison 2009).

“...The Internet search engine is, perhaps, the single most important development for informational advertising.” (Spurgeon 2008: 25). With the help of the video-sharing website, YouTube, the viral campaign phenomenon has helped the advertising industry converge into digital media platforms. Companies can now seek greater brand exposure through the viral campaign phenomenon. Such methods also help to reduce advertising costs that would have otherwise, been spent on old media promotion such as television commercials. In order to measure the success of viral campaigns, one must look through the number of views, comments and responses a video attracts. The converging roles between media producers and consumer help individuals to communicate with the advertisers in ways never seen before. (Sheehan and Morrison 2009).

In a recent VISA travel-focused advertisement campaign, audiences can recognise the convergent “prosumer” where consumers are becoming the producers of their products. The star of this VISA viral video campaign is YouTube sensation – Matt Harding. Harding first begun his own viral video, in the series “Where the hell is Matt?”, where he travelled around the world, recording individuals from various countries dancing along with him. In this captivating series of homemade style videos, Harding demonstrates to us how the power of dance connects communities, countries despite barriers such as language, war atrocities etc.

"Where the Hell is Matt? 2008" By Matt Harding.

After gaining more than 43 million views in his 2008 video “Where the hell is Matt?” VISA took hold of this viral video popularity and asked Harding to participate in their recent travel-based commercial displaying how VISA cards helps travels to enjoy their holiday without the worry of currency exchange issue. Similar to Harding’s own videos, the audience witnesses him dancing joyfully in iconic locations around the world. VISA’s campaign reveals how digital media convergence is reconfiguring traditional forms of media distribution such as television commercials. The converging roles between media producer and consumer are proving the thrilling success social media distribution is providing for advertisers and the company.

VISA Viral Ad Campaign for Hassle-Free Currency Exchange, featuring Matt Harding.

Example of Advertisements on Google Search Engine

The eruption of digital media convergence awakens advertisers to the reality of user-controlled content. “The ways that people are using media are fragmenting” (Dwyer 2010: 3) in such a way mass media communication is no longer existence. Instead, advertisers are forced to engage in conversational media which produce new, niche and one-to-one media communication platforms (Dwyer 2010).The use of powerhouse search engines like Google and Yahoo! help advertisers to build and maintain profitable media cultures (Dwyer 2010: 8). Advertisements along the borders of a user’s search page are customized according to their previous search history. This form of targeted advertising and the use of the Internet is an area providing great economic success. The accumulation of vast amounts of information from one click of the mouse, shifts from “mass media to the new media of mass conversation” (Dwyer 2010: 19).

“Where old and new media collide, where grassroots and corporate media intersect..” (Jenkins 2006: 2) digital media is conceived. This convergence culture revolutionises the ways in which advertisers and consumers communicate with one another. The adaption of the “prosumer” reveals how consumers are beginning to control the flow of content and what information they receive on a variety of digital media platforms. The participatory, collaborative culture of Web 2.0 is redesigning the ways in which advertisement campaigns are constructed and distributed. Where “old consumers were assumed to be passive, new consumers are.. migratory..noisy and public” (Jenkins 2010: 18) – they are the mechanisms for converging digital media and advertising strategies. Nonetheless, the reconfiguration of advertising and new media will continue to provide endless success in the future of digital media convergence.

Karvya Kalutarage

Reference 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.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

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