Digital Media Convergence in new media and advertising
Technology has advanced incredibly
in recent decades. The invention of the IBM Simon in 1993 (the world’s first
mobile phone with a touchscreen interface) and the Apple iPhone (with the introduction
of 3G technology) evidence this prompt advancement of technology. These new
technologies have evolved through means of ‘selection’ by the consumer,
suggesting that technologic advancements are the product of modern Darwinism.
New communication advancements allow the global population to remain connected
to the media and the internet throughout the world. The combination of these
has led to more services being available across multiple platforms, giving way
to the ‘media convergence’. In this discussion, I will highlight how advertising and new media shape 'Digital
Media Convergence', using trends found as examples.
 |
| Consumers want a mixture of services. |
Technology has no boundaries, and
neither does media. User generated content is now reaching global audiences, by
using new media delivery channels. Skype, for example, has been an application
that uses the concept of voice over IP (VoIP) in order to send a message from
one user to another. This application is now able to provide other services,
and is available over a wide range of media platforms. Skype is an example of
how media is converging. Jenkins (2006) describes, ‘Media Convergence’ is the flow
of content of several media industries across multiple media platforms, aiming
to satisfy the needs of entertainment of the consumer.
This is interpreted as the increasing availability of services across modern
communication devices as a way of satisfying media consumers. New media
therefore can be defined as being a method of communication by means of ‘user
generated content’ and the internet as a channel of collaboration. Using the
mobile phone as an example, photographs or video taken are user generated
content.
 |
| Users have the need to create more content. |
The abundance of content creates a
variety of entertainment options available for consumers, showing just one way
in which the new media affects media convergence. The new media presented by
media industries is regulated by social and political norms, as well as the
consensual high standards of modern consumers. This behavior shown among
technology users relates to Levy’s idea of ‘Collective Intelligence’(1999), in which
the consumer’s feedback has more bargaining power due to the intention of media
industries to seduce the consumer. The media is then shaped by the consumer, in
order to satisfy the needs and expectations of these users. As a result,
consumers are selective to the new media content which they are exposed to. An
example of this can be seen in the “JK Wedding Dance” video in YouTube. The amount of viewers (now
over 770 million) is quite significant compared to other content. Reasons for
the success of this video in YouTube over traditional media delivery channels
are collective intelligence and the availability of youtube across platforms.
This is evidence of how a worldwide audience shapes the popularity of new media.
At
the same time, the new media
creates a lot of controversy. User generated content presents legitimate
issues
such as piracy, lack of credibility, and lack of censorship. The
inability to prove if user-created content is legitimate impacts media
convergence. Such is the case
of ‘Wikipedia’, where any registered individual is free to change the content
within the webpage. This compromises the validity of scholar opinions, impacting
on media convergence in relation to the way with which new media is regulated. Addiction
to social networking sites and online content are evidence of lack of
regulation of the media. The availability of services across platforms
impede students and employees' productivity, which changes the use of
services across platforms. This is crucial as constant exposure to media changes the perception of the audience, altering patterns of consumer behaviour.
Exposure
of media content across
multiple platforms is not all doom and gloom. Media convergence has
created the
opportunity for new media delivery channels to increase the sampling
population
for marketing experiments. Multiplatform advertisements target a global
population, enabling advertising companies to better seduce potential
businesses.
As Bezjian-Avery, Calder, and Acobucci (1998, pp. 1) identified, ‘Interactive
marketing’
is a process that is used in order to discover the ‘needs and wants’ of
customers . Their findings suggest that actively interacting with buyers
is an
attractive strategy which satisfies consumers. The Panda commercials are
an example of this. The advertising campaign was successfull because of
its cross-cultural appeal to the public, as its message was seen as
funny and memorable across a globally targeted audience. Thus, the
distribuition of appealing media advertisements through media delivery
channels are evidence of effective advertising by using media
convergence.
On the contrary, advertising
exposure can have a detrimental impact upon the experience of the user. A
‘Media Clutter’ has been developed by media
consumers as a way of blocking uninteresting propaganda. Ingram (2010)
suggests,
online advertising creates more clutter as users are bombarded by
uninteresting
marketing campaigns, which causing buyers to loose interest quickly. In
addition, advertising in online multiplatforms is slowly reducing the
variety
of branded content within the media delivery channels. Media convergence
allows
media industries to collect sampling data in order to create a benchmark
and
identify market niches. Nevertheless, some brands like Nike use Invading
tactics such as the analysis of customer data to find trends in consumer
behavior. This creates the assumption that all consumers behave the same
way as
the sampling population, and impacts media convergence as media content
becomes
homogenized. Evidence of this can be seen in search engines today, as
online advertising ranks the combination of words in relation to current
trends, depriving users of content.
 |
| Users are frustrated by media clutter. |
 |
| Technology is now a necessity |
We can identify that media
convergence is all around us. It is the translation from stationary media to a
mobile one, primarily seen in mobile applications. Technological advancements and modern
consumer behavior has changed the way advertising companies sell and promote
their products. The rise of new media
delivery options have given way to new and exciting opportunities, where
shoppers are exposed to a variety of online content, and seduced by
advertising strategies of media industries. Media content is distributed
through modern delivery channels limited by the evolution of
technology. Thus, media convergence through consumer behavior has shaped the
diverse range of technological products accessible, making them the technologic
army knives of our generation.
References:
Books and online articles:
- Dwyer. T (2010) Media convergence, McGraw Hill, Berkshire, (MAS110 reader)
- NIKE Digital Privacy Policy. 2012. NIKE Digital Privacy Policy. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://help-us.nike.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/16378/~/nike-digital-privacy-policy>. [Accessed 31 August 2012].
- Ingram, M. 2012. Marketers Losing Amid Social Media Clutter - Businessweek. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2010/tc2010105_764897.htm>. [Accessed 31 August 2012].
- Calder B, Bezjian-Avery A, Acobucci D (2012). New Media Interactive Advertising vs.
Traditional Advertising. UTS Texas, [ONLINE] Available at: <http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~tecas/syllabi2/adv391kfall2002/readings/linear_vs_interactive.pdf>. [Accessed 31 August 2012]. - Warren P (2012). Pete Warren on the invasion of privacy through your mobile phone. The Guardian [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/02/google-privacy-mobile-phone-industry.> [Accessed 31 August 2012].
- Jenkins H. (2012). Welcome to Convergence Culture. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://henryjenkins.org/2006/06/welcome_to_convergence_culture.html>. [Accessed 31 August 2012].
- Sinclair, John, Rowan W (2009) 'Waiting for the kiss of life : mobile media and advertising' Convergence: the journal of research into new media, vol 15 no 5 pp 427 - 445 <http://con.sagepub.com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/content/15/4/427.full.pdf+html>. [Accessed 31 August 2012].
- Jenkins, H (2012). Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.hyperrhiz.net/reviews/61-henry-jenkins-convergence-culture>. [Accessed 31 August 2012].
- McGonigal, J (2008). “Why I Love Bees: A Case Study in Collective Intelligence Gaming." The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning. Edited by Katie Salen. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge,MA: The MIT Press, 2008. 199–228. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/dmal.9780262693646.199>. [Accessed 31 August 2012].
- Karph, D. (2012). Reflecting on Convergence Culture… the good and the bad « shouting loudly. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.shoutingloudly.com/2009/12/16/reflecting-on-convergence-culture-the-good-and-the-bad/>. [Accessed 31 August 2012].
- Levy, P (1999). Collective Intelligence: Mankind's Emerging World in Cyberspace (Helix Books). Edition. Basic Books. Available at: <http://books.google.com.au/books/about/Collective_Intelligence.html?id=0D8xKvLmt2EC&redir_esc=y> [Accessed 31 August 2012].
- Trendbird, (2012), Swiss army knife [ONLINE]. Available at: <http://www.trendbird.biz/attach/1/1155135861.jpg> [Accessed 31 August 12].
- Marketoonist, (2012), Market clutter [ONLINE]. Available at: <http://tomfishburne.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/120507b.clutter.jpg> [Accessed 31 August 12].
- Unknown, (2012), bartender [ONLINE]. Available at: <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio7KHR3XbZeKkmfOJv-5zqAihU6zNO1Q7fKLXjbbP_PO7YEKC0H-24HuBIBc_1oTaON-IbBunAZIdYD56zLEsXIDOfX7pwnir4j_r3bAPmBjBB5pYpniiPFstb4zIR-m1hCGZLW7Z54Wk/s1600/d4106su11.gif+w=470.gif> [Accessed 31 August 12]
- Unknown, (2012), Media cartoon [ONLINE]. Available at: <http://bokardo.com/images/comics/ugc.gif> [Accessed 31 August 12].
Videos
- ap3116171. (2010). Never say no to Panda. [Online Video]. 18 August. Available from: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X21mJh6j9i4&feature=fvwrel>. [Accessed: 31 August 2012].
- TheKheinz . (2009). JK Wedding Entrance Dance. [Online Video]. 19 July. Available from: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0>. [Accessed: 31 August 2012].
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