Discuss the
phenomenon of digital media convergence in relation to one of the following:
Advertising & New Media or Music Video Online.
Advertising and New Media are two forms
of media that have been affected by digital media convergence. Before discussing
these effects, one must understand the concept of media convergence and the
industrial, consumer, content, economical, and political changes brought on by
the transition from traditional analogue media to digital media. “In the world of media convergence, every
important story gets told, every brand gets sold and every consumer gets
courted across multiple media platforms” (Jenkins, 2006), in other words, media
convergence is essentially all forms of media coming together to form the same
message or idea. However, in some cases, digital media convergence can put
these forms of media at disadvantage. In this essay I will explore the positive
and somewhat, negative, affects of the digital media convergence phenomenon in
relation to Advertising and New Media.
Traditional analogue media can be viewed
as limited when compared to digital media, as “traditional analogue media was
bound to its material form, industries specialised in particular media, and
distribution was constrained to local areas” (Keith, 2012). It can be argued
that digital media was a response to the degradation of traditional analogue
media. Digital technologies have given media the possibility of global
transmission and it’s consumers to have the tools to produce and distribute digital
media. As a result, there has been a significant impact on all aspects of
traditional media production i.e. industry, consumer, content, economics and
politics. With the increase of digital technologies on media, the industries
have formed diverse, collaborative, and in some cases, niche markets, the
content is more participatory and varied, its politics have increased diversity
and representation and its economics have adopted a commercially-oriented
strategy. Media convergence is now representing a culture shift, where
“consumers are encouraged to seek out new information and make connections
among dispersed media content” (Jenkins, 2006). It can be argued that the
audience have transformed into a participatory culture, a term used to describe
consumers acting as participants, interacting with each other and the media,
contrasting with the older notions of passive media spectatorship.
New Media has helped to create
convergence between all different forms of media, as “technologies have enabled
the same content to flow through many different channels and assume many
different forms at the point of reception” (Jenkins, 2006), and therefore
people are free to publish what they want to say online, access what they are
interested in, and print whatever they may need. However, new media converging
with old media is not always in the best interests of media producers, for
example the computer industry is converging with the television industry, and
can be said to be following a similar fate to the “automobile that converged
with the horse, the word processing program that converged with the typewriter and
the CAD program that converged with the drafting board” (Jenkins, 2006).
However, the fate of such convergence lies within the hands of the public, as
they determine whether new media succeeds or fails, for example the failure of
the broadcasted 2004 Bollywood feature film, Rok Sako To Rok Lo, that was
streamed via mobile phone devices to major parts of India. The reason for its
failure was its unpopularity and the overall idea that it “remains to be seen
how this kind of distribution fits into people’s lives” (Jenkins, 2006).
New media can be affected by convergence
through its social and economic advantages. “New media technologies have
lowered production and distribution costs, expanded the range of available
delivery channels, and enabled consumers to archive, annotate, appropriate and
recirculate media content in powerful new ways” (Jenkins, 2006). For example,
it can be argued that it is more cost efficient to create a website, or
advertise over the internet than produce and print a newspaper. Socially, convergence
allows consumers to interact over various platforms to create either a positive
or negative public opinion on new media. Participation in media has become
increasingly popular due to consumers being socially connected via the
internet, allowing them to be actively involved in media by either creating
original media, supporting or consuming original media.
Through digital media convergence,
advertisers are able to reach to their consumers over a variety of different
platforms of media, making advertising their message or product easy.
“The global advertising industry is
affected by the increasing amount of time that consumers spend online” (Sheehan,
2009), as a 2007 IBM survey proved that 19% of respondents spend 6 or more hours
a day on the internet while 9% of respondents watch television. Through the
digital media form, the internet, search engines and online directories can be argued
as “the single most important development for informational advertising since
the time of the first paid newspaper advertisements or the telephone directory”
(Spurgeon, 2008, P.25). Advertising in search engines is “the largest and one
of the fastest growing segments of online advertising” (Spurgeon, 2008, P. 25),
exceeding outdoor, cinema and magazine advertising expenditure. Companies that traditionally
advertise via print media have faced challenges in having to compete with other
companies across a wider, or more digital, range of platforms, one being the
internet. “Participants at the summit (British advertising executives) admitted
that the British industry was struggling to determine how to adapt and change
their business policies and practices based on the increasing consumer usage of
the Internet” (Sheehan, 2009). It is evident that digitization has been the
biggest challenge the advertising industry has faced as “consumers spend more
time online, they spend less time using traditional media” (Sheehan, 2009).
However, it can be argued that
traditional media still plays an important role in advertising, as “combining
online advertising with advertising in offline media can result in more
positive consumer responses than using only one medium” (Voorveld, 2011). Food
chain franchises i.e. Hungry Jacks, are a classic example of companies, through
digital media convergence, are able to advertise their campaigns, via a variety
of different media forms, to their consumers. Hungry Jack’s, “Hungry Jack’s Penny
Pinchers Menu” campaign is advertised through a variety of platforms including;
television, radio and online (Facebook and various websites).
The
following are advertisements of the Hungry Jack's Penny Pincher Menu,
including the television advertisement, and the Online advertisement (Facebook
and various other websites). It is
important to note that the same audio from the television advertisement is played in their radio advertisement, heard on 2Day FM and Nova 969.
Hungry Jack's have their own official Facebook Page, where they advertise new products and new deals to their consumers, including the Penny Pincher Menu. They also have an official website, www.hungryjacks.com.au, where they feature their current menus.
Websites including Wikibestdeal and Ozbargain, advertise for the same Penny Pincher Menu.
In conclusion, it can be understood that
digital media has affected the traditional industrial, consumer, content, economical,
and political factors of media. New Media has aided to the rise of digital
media convergence and has had both a positive and negative impact on
Advertising. Although it can be argued that traditional print advertising
companies have faced challenges in keeping up with the digital media phenomenon,
many of these companies have been able to reach out to a greater audience,
through the convergence of digital media, by expanding their advertisement across
a variety of platforms.
Bibliography
Jenkins, H. (2006) Convergence Culture,
New York University Press, New York, pp 1-24.
Spurgeon, C. (2008) Advertising and New Media,
Oxon, Routledge, pp 24-45.
Sheehan, Kim and Morrison, Deborah (2009) Beyond
convergence: Confluence culture and the
role of the advertising agency in a changing world in First Monday Vol
14 No 3 – Accessed 27/08/2012 http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2239/2121
Karp, Scott. (2007) Propping
Up Declining Traditional Media Businesses -Accessed: 27/08/2012
Voorveld, Hilde AM. (2011) Media multitasking and the effectiveness of combining online and radio
advertising in Computers in Human Behaviour Vol 27, Issue 6 - Accessed:
26/08/2012
Keith, Sarah. (2012) Week 2 Digital Convergence
PowerPoint, Macquarie University
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