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What is the new media revolution?

In what ways have advertisers
adapted to the new technologies?
This assignment will investigate what the new media revolution is and how and why it can
be described as a revolution. To do this I will examine how new media has changed the
actions of consumption and production of media content. I will also investigate how
advertisers revised their techniques for advertising on old media to better succeed in
winning over consumers of new media.
To do this the essay is split into four sections. First, it looks at the definitions of new
media, old media and the new media revolution to help visualise the concepts of
discussion. Then it will describe the reasons for which the new media revolution can be
described as revolutionary when it comes to the consumer experience. After, it will inspect
the same topic but from the point of view of the media producer. The fourth section will
discuss the various different types of advertising available to internet marketers, how they
have used assorted features of the internet to their advantage, and how they have
overcome several difficulties of advertising on the internet.

To begin, New media is defined loosely by Cady as media that is delivered usually via a
network to the consumer (1999, p7). Most notably this includes the Internet, however,
services such as cable and satellite television can also fall under the definition of new
media. In contrast, old media is comprised of more traditional media technologies:
newspapers, radio and broadcast television (Freedman 2006, p275).
The new media revolution refers to the shift of media and culture distribution away from old
media and towards new media (Manovich 2002, p5). Its effects have been particularly
noticeable since the birth of the World Wide Web in 1990, which in effect opened up the
Internet for use by the general public. In the time since the share of prime-time viewing for
major television networks has dropped significantly and newspaper sales have experienced
similar declines in sales across the western world. During the same time period, consumer
usage of the Internet has increased dramatically (Des Freedman 2006, p275).

There are several reasons why this phenomenon can be described as revolutionary. New
media combines technology never before possible to transform how media is consumed. For
instance, Manovich notes how through hypermedia, a method by which parts of a document
- such as the Internet, are connected through hyperlinks, a user can receive a specific version
of a document; tailored to their own requirements (2002, p57). Further, this example
touches on the interactivity of the new media. Consumers can create their own experience
and comment or improve upon others work. This is discussed by Castells who remarks on
the decentralised nature of Internet structure and discussion (2001, p200).
It follows then that the Internet can be seen as fundamentally more democratic than
traditional media. Rather than a one-way channel of information from a singular broadcaster
to many consumers, there can potentially be a multidirectional to and fro between equals.
In 1994, Gilder predicted that there would be a shift in power from media bureaucracies to
digital networks and that authority would move from elites and establishments (1994,
quoted in Freedman 2006, p275-276). Today, although in some respects media
bureaucracies have been neutered, many have successfully managed to consolidate their
businesses online. Further, it could be argued that digital networks, like Google, rather than
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giving power to the people, instead funnel web traffic to a select few hyper-successful
sites (Hindman 2009, p40-41), therefore only shifting social power from one elite to another.

The clearest example of user directed discussion are social media sites such as Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube. Social media is defined as websites and applications used for social
networking (Korenich et al 2014, p234), and are demonstrably popular among Internet
users, with nearly four in five visiting such sites (Nielsen 2011). Users can share content they
find interesting and style their own feed to receive solely content they desire, marking a
departure from the traditional approach of passively receiving material provided by a media
outlet.

So far the main focus has been how new media has revolutionised the consumer experience,
however, the world of producing media content has too changed face drastically. Firstly,
Freedman explains that the barrier of entry to media markets has been lowered due to the
cost of distribution being removed almost entirely. For example, thousands of sheets of
paper and postal service do not need to be bought to deliver an online newspaper; the only
requirement is an Internet connection. Instead, the cost to receive the publication is
transferred to the consumer who pays for their computer and Internet Service Provider
(2006, p279).
Furthermore, the Internet has seen new forms of news article emerge and become popular.
Namely liveblogs, described by Matt Wells as the online answer to 24/7 television news
(Wells 2011), have come to prominence in recent years, especially in the reporting of events
such as sports, elections and protests such as the Arab Spring uprising (Wells 2011). These
live text articles are possible as the Internet erodes advantages based on time of
production and distribution (Freedman 2006, p279) that are present in traditional
newspaper reporting. Due to the nature of the medium, a story in a newspaper is fixed at
the time of print and thus a journalist who is able to print their story after a rival has a
competitive advantage, as they may have had access to facts that were revealed later in
time.
Finally, producers of traditional broadcasting services have had to combat the fact that they
are under direct competition from the Internet (Freedman 2006, p279). Consumers may
watch television streaming services, both legal and illegal, on their computer instead of a
traditional television. Therefore, to ensure they receive the views required, many
broadcasting companies have developed online streaming services of their own. In the UK,
for example, the BBC has BBC iPlayer, ITV has ITV player and Channel 4 has All 4. These
players offer both streaming of live television and on demand features, where consumers
can catch up on previously broadcast programmes.

These numerous new features of new media has led marketers, who are extremely willing to
start advertising on the Internet due to its growing popularity, to theorise and experiment
on the best methods of advertisement. Not only is advertising vital to businesses who need
to sell their product or service, but it is also required for online media producers to keep
their companies afloat. While establishments such as the BBC can still rely on the television
licence fee, private media must find alternative sources of revenue.
Spurgeon claims there are three main types of online advertising: Display advertising, search
advertising and classified advertising (2008, p25), however, social media advertising is
increasingly significant and can be included as a fourth. (Edwards 2014).

Firstly, display advertising is defined as visual advertising, such as a banner on a website, a

video advertisement or pop-up an advert which opens in a new window (Edwards 2014).
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Advertisers who have experimented with display advertising have encountered several
issues. For example, consumers defect from social communities where they perceive
undue brand and company presence, or even at the mere sight of banner or interstitial
ads (Korenich et al 2014, p237). This could be due to the ideology held by many early
Internet users, who were academics and researchers who used the Internet to exchange
information freely. As such there is a tendency for Internet users to be sceptical of overt
commercialisation; Spurgeon notes that early Internet users especially proved to
enormously resistant to being packaged as consumers (2008, p12)

In addition, display advertising is particularly vulnerable to ad-blockers, a type of web

browser add-on that blocks all adverts on a website. For a general interest site, between
15 and 20 percent of visitor use an ad-blocker, resulting in a loss of ad revenue (Hern
2013).
In order to overcome sceptical consumers and ad blockers, web advertisers have devised a
number of tactics. For instance, native advertising is used, where the advert is disguised
as content that would normally appear in a publication (Rampton 2015). This can include
sponsored content; perhaps an article that mentions or is simply about a select product.
Other workarounds are product placement or branded content, advertising sub-industries
that have grown quickly since widespread consumer uptake of the personal video recorder
(PVR) (Spurgeon 2008, p40), a product that is similar to an ad-blocker in that it allows the
viewer to skip through ad breaks on pre-recorded television shows. These techniques
ensure that the product becomes fully integrated with the show, often to the point of
being deliberately stealthy when it comes to product placement, and consequently the
viewer must watch the advert if they wish to see the content (Morrison 2010).

Secondly, search engine marketing (SEM) is an attempt to increase a brands visibility in a

search engine (Edwards 2014), such as Google, Yahoo or Bing. These sites are among the
most visited on the Internet - in 2013 it was measured that Google receives 40% of all the
Internets traffic (Worstall 2013), and on account of this are a prime target for advertisers
trying to reach customers. There are two main methods of SEM: one can pay to be a
sponsored link and thus be featured at the top of the page of search results, albeit with a
tag alerting the user to the paid nature of the results inclusion, or search engine
optimisation (SEO) techniques can be used to generate an organic result which is ranked
highly by the engines automatic search algorithm. According to Berman and Katona,
consumers tend to trust organic links more, and so SEO techniques are usually preferred
over paying for sponsored spots (2013, p644).

Thirdly, classified advertising is the placing of adverts on e-commerce sites such as Amazon
or eBay (Spurgeon 2008, p16), however, these adverts are not all that different from
traditional classified ads in newspapers for a marketer to advertise in. Spurgeon does note,
however, that due to these sites operating primarily via a search function the line between
them and the search engines mentioned above is blurred (2008, p16). Because of this,
classified ads placed on such sites can be made subject to similar SEO techniques in order
to be listed higher in search results.

Finally, social media advertising is, in general, the act of establishing an account on any of
many social networks; perhaps Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, and attempting to achieve a
large social network presence. Sites like these are extremely popular, with 78 percent of all
Americans having at least one profile (Statista 2016).
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There are various ways social media can be utilised by a company. At its most basic level,
companies can share display adverts for their brand which can then be viewed by direct
followers of the account and by the followers of anyone who shares the advert.
Apart from this, social media can also be used to collate user reviews into one centralised
area. Sites like Yelp, one of the most popular review site for businesses (Edwards 2014), is
an example of this. Online reviews are an extremely efficient advertising method, as it
comes with next to no cost in either money or time and it has been found that 90% of
consumers trust social media recommendations and 67% of consumers purchase
decisions are influenced by social media content (Korenich et. al. 2014, p235).
What is more, Korenich et al note that in order to maintain an effective social media
presence, advertisers create communities around their brands, offering valuable content
that is not only centered (sic) on the brand or industry (2014, p243). This can include
interacting with the community, for example by sharing their posts or by responding to
them. The American fast food chain Wendys recently achieved success with this when
their social media team responded to a Twitter user who claimed they were lying about
not freezing their burger patties (Figure 1).
Wendys Twitter team sent back a humorous response which
resulted in being retweeted (shared) 8,715 times and
liked 23,323 times, meaning that it was seen by a huge
number of people. However, the spread of the conversation
did not stop there. The funny exchange was shared on
multiple other social networking sites including Reddit and
Facebook where it received many more impressions. Finally,
the story was picked up by traditional old media outlets and
was reported about by CNN on television.
This is an example of (possibly unintentional) viral
marketing. Viral marketing can be defined as electronic
word-of-mouth whereby some form of marketing message
related to a company is transmitted in an exponentially
growing way, often through the use of social media
applications (Kaplan and Haenlein 2011, p255). This can be
an extremely effective advertising method as a large number
of consumers can be reached with minimal cost and effort,
as the distribution is performed by the consumers
themselves.
However, attempts to go viral often fall flat, so it helps for
advertisers to be up to date with Internet culture. One
example of Internet culture is meme culture. An Internet
meme is a catchall for freely copied and amusing online
content (Murray, Manrai and Manrai 2014, p332), most
often in the form of an image or video. To utilise existing
memes marketers can search for them on social media and
then appropriate them for use in their adverts. Social media
marketing consultancies, like Viral Spark, have been
Figure 1: Wendys employed to do this on behalf of such companies as Disney,
Taken from Nike and Red Bull (Murray, Manrai and Manrai 2014, p332)
http://imgur.com/a/2xhq8 (Viral Spark 2017). In addition, some companies will hire
their own marketers with special consideration taken towards their knowledge of Internet
memes. For instance, Discord, a voice and text chat service, have a position for marketing
partner advertised which mentions that meme expertise is a bonus which would help
secure the job (Discord 2016).
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To conclude, the invention and wholesale adoption of the Internet and new media in the
new media revolution has shocked traditional old media producers and broadcasters into
action due to its capacity to compete for the same audience. The new features it has
brought to the table, such as interactivity, hypermedia and democratic structuring, have
transformed how consumers expect to receive their media. It has also opened many new
doors for advertisers wishing to conduct their trade in a growing environment, who have
been gifted new styles of advertisement to experiment with. Advertising on the internet is
not without its challenges, however, to which advertisers have been forced to adapt. Ad-
blockers, a general antipathy to commercialisation and the rapidly fluctuating cultural
expectations of social media users have led advertisers to re-evaluate the best course of
action to reach consumers and sell their product.
The internet and World Wide Web are still subject to constant change and new
technologies. With these changes the new media revolution continues, though it is yet to
be seen if it can displace traditional media as being consumers main source of media
content.

Word Count: 2500

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