Media Convergence: Blurring Traditional & Non-Traditional Ad Boundaries - Essay Sample

Introduction

Media Convergence Blurring the Boundaries between Traditional and Non-Traditional AdvertisingMedia convergence is the term used to scrutinize various processes of change towards uniformity in the sector of communication. It also entails valuable methods to describe, illustrate, evaluate, and comprehend the digital creative economy. Media convergence in advertisement interconnects media content and transforms establish businesses, amenities, and work performances and permits utterly new methods of content to develop. The following are various ways that media convergence has distorted the borders between old-style and contemporary advertising.

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One way that media convergence has blurred the boundaries between old and modern advertising is through the rise of a techno-economic model. In the modern economy, changes in technology have continuously been leading to an increase in a techno-economic pattern. This paradigm has characterized by inter-connected technical, structural, and administrative innovations, enhancing a novel assortment of products and organizations and changes in the fee structure of all conceivable involvements to production (Muschetz, 2016). The innovative techno-economic model is consistently disruptive, leading to changes that blur the boundaries in the two forms of advertisement.

Another way in which blurring has occurred is through the digitalization of media products and services. Increased internet usage by businesses and consumers has led to the integration between established media and the new media. The rise of the internet has made it hard to maintain platform-specific administrative practices, and with the globalization of the media, it has prompted the blurring of boundaries (Mansell, 2016). The digitalization of media has provoked advertisement companies to change their media policies in the context of coverage, to ensure content abundance and increase competitive advantage. The guidelines also ensure that the organizations their platform is not at a disadvantage. The blurring is to ensure that positive developments and aspects of both forms of advertisement are effective, strong, and flexible.

Media convergence has caused an acceleration of innovations leading to the blur. In the context of the knowledge-based economy, there has been an accelerated rate of designs. It has caused ideas and information to be drivers of economic growth (Kim, 2018). The rise of knowledge-based communities has eased sharing as well as re-use of data. As a response to the global digital economy, the advertising sector has transformed the methods of advertisement to fit the new era.

The rise of user-created content also causes a blur between traditional and non-traditional advertisement. The media users have shifted from being audiences to becoming participants because of the increased affordability of tools of content creation and their easy use. Earlier in the 20th century, media content production and distribution had a clear distinction between producers and consumers (Stiernstedt, 2017). However, currently with convergence is the media, the distinctions have become unclear because of the reduced barrier in user participation. Therefore, the advertisement sector has to interconnect the new and old advertising method to fit in the new era.

Media convergence has led to the blurring between public and private and age-based differentiation. With the blurring, the advertisement sector has changed their strategies to cater to the changing structure in differentiation, since the distribution methods are less clear-cut (Flew, 2018). In traditional advertisements, adverts could be produced depending on the target audience according to the type of media used. However, it has become challenging with the rise of internet users where all kinds of people access contents, and distinctions are hard. Hence, advertisers have to change their strategies to accommodate the change.

Non-Traditional Advertising Working by Publicizing Rather Than Promoting Brands Non-traditional advertising is a new unconventional advertising system. It aims at creating sticking Marketing practices that command attention through their creativity and unpredictability. Therefore, it involves displaying adverts in unusual places and ways, hoping to capture the interest of unassuming viewers. By focusing on publicizing, non-traditional adverting creates awareness of the business existence to the consumers. While brand promotion communicates the benefits and emotions to prospective consumers, publicizing is premeditated to make products and brands more perceptible. The following are ways in which non-traditional advertising works by publicizing rather than promoting brands.

Non-traditional advertising is highly dependent on attracting the attention of potential customers since the adverts can be put on anything such as coffee cups, sidewalks, dry cleaner bags, and billboards, among others. The advertisement channels depend on a person seeing the product and getting to know its existence. Brand promotion, however, engages the potential customers to know the brand specifics to persuade them to purchase (De Jans, Hudders, & Cauberghe, 2017). Since the customer will have limited contact with the advert, the advertisers aim to ensure that in the short time of communication, the customer has grasped convincing information of the brand.

Non-traditional advertising works on publicizing brands by directing the advertisements to the public and the advertiser's ideas to the customer. In contrast, brand and promotions are conducted to a specific target audience. Therefore, non-traditional advertising creates 'buzz' for the brand making the potential customers be excited and attracted by the brand (Kim & Sullivan, 2019). The focus of non-traditional advertising is an attraction to the general public, so creativity is employed to ensure that the audience can be connected with the message and the brand. When the connection is achieved, the brand gains popularity.

Non-traditional advertising does not discriminate on its target. It is all-inclusive, and the intended audience selects itself. It creates mass appeal by the use of creative ads to increase publicity, while brand promotions involve widespread campaigns. The averts can be used to re-define the image of a brand and introduce it to new demographics (De Jans, Hudders, & Cauberghe, 2017). Due to this fact, it creates a broad scope by which the brand is known, therefore, creating publicity.

The Effectiveness of Non-Traditional Advertising Techniques

Product Placement

Product placement is the isometric of inserting brands inside a television show or film as a technique to endorse them. Through the embedment, it makes the TV viewer prefer the product unconsciously. With the rise of modern technology, a person can skip through advertisements. However, by embedding the product includes it as part of the program. So, this part of the paper will evaluate the effectiveness of product placement as a non-traditional advertising technique.

Product placement can unswervingly impact a person's couched attitude. That is to say, a person's attitude towards a product becomes associated with the TV program or film. Though the individual is unaware of this influence, the emotions experienced while watching the show are transferred to the placed product (Chan, Lowe, & Petrovici, 2017). Consequently, the feelings enhance the person's preference for the product. That means if the program is positive, a person will have a positive attitude towards the embedded brands, but if similar negative emotions will be transferred to the product.

Product placement can also affect implied self-identification, which means a person identifying themselves with an object such as a brand. It means that if an individual watched and liked a character who used a particular brand, he can automatically identify himself with the brand as a means to experience the life of the character (Trifts & Aghakhani, 2019). Psychology studies show that a person is more inclined to buy a product they relate with than the one he or she likes (Slavin, 2019).

Product placement effectiveness is based on the fact that even though the audience is aware that the product in use is an advert, they can not resist it. Also, compared to other forms of advertisement, this technique is more long-lasting in the mind of the audience because the product and the program or film become one. Therefore, product placement is positioning the brand in the right place and time.

Viral Marketing

Viral marketing is a technique of non-traditional advertising that generates traffic, leads, and creates demand for a yet to be released product. It creates interest and yearning needed to cause the demand for a brand. Viral marketing shapes itself upon word of mouth, and it's the swiftest method to market a brand. It includes images, text messages, video clips, and interactive flash games.

Viral marketing is effective because the audiences focus on the content provided, and they do not question the brand. Another reason for effectiveness is that it achieves excellent results at a low cost. Also, it can reach a great number of people, especially on the internet, and it is not invasive because the users decide to participate and share the content. When the content is sufficiently creative, it attracts the users to choose on sharing it, and thus, developing a personal connection with the brand (Agam, 2017). Consequently, creating awareness of the bland.

Ambush Marketing

Ambush marketing is when a company hijacks other brands' advertisement campaigns to raise its awareness. In this kind of marketing, a company may ambush another company's slogan by responding to the motto on their advert, placing a product store next to another, and complementing the other brand so that they may look as a merged advert. There are various advantages of using this technique, leading to the below-listed effectiveness.

Creativity in ambush marketing makes it very effective. Since the company ambushing the other is mostly a close competitor to the brand, it surprises; the strategy involves responding to the already existing campaigns in creative ways. Creativeness entails wordplay or visual trickery, making the advertisement more memorable than other ads because of the entertainment factor. Also, the creativity factor in ambush campaigns allows the ads to go beyond the scope of advertisement guidelines in a company. Ambush marketing is effective in its ability to change consumer perceptions (Lee, 2019). By ambushing another brand, it enables a company to nurture and reveal new brand features and values of its product that consumers may not already associate with that advertiser.

Content Marketing

Content marketing encompasses supporting a product and building confidence with the brand's audience. It focuses on giving customers what they are searching for. When appropriately implemented, it is effective in propelling sales through charming customers with unique, well-planned thought-provoking concepts. Content marketing engages the audience in a discussion that ends with a call for action either to purchase a product to accomplish another goal.

Content marketing effectiveness can be measured through the time an audience spent on the page, comments, shares, and downloads, among others. Another way that the content market is effective is that it puts sales on autopilot because by engaging in discussion with a prospective customer, the marketer can cater to the specialized needs of the customer. Also, a customer can be redirected to the selling point by a click of a button. Content marketing amplifies the publicity of a brand by exposing it to millions of viewers who search for similar phrases...