Examine the way/s in which ‘digitalisation’ has enabled full interactivity between the producer and consumer; and as consequence side-stepped advertising and changed the entire framework and rules of the marketing (Logan, 2010). Before the digital era, advertising agencies worked with the traditional media channels to try and capture their audience at different points in their journey from discovering a product, to buying it. This process was known at a ‘purchase funnel’ and different media was generally used at different intervals of the process.
Often consumers viewed messages they were not in the right mood to receive and the available media would also meant that even if targeting a relatively small market, the message would be placed where there was far broader coverage. This can prove costly and is why most brands were unable to keep the messages present on a constant basis. This meant that the ideal placements for the media funnel to succeed were unachievable. The digital age changed this though. Its capabilities allow an increasingly constant contact with the consumer throughout their journey with the company, from prospect to loyal customer. Spending Advertising Money in the Digital Age, Hamish Pringle & Jim Marshall, 2012] The integration of digital communication streams is in many ways similar to the disruption that TV brought to the market. Businesses had to look at entirely new ways of communication with their audiences and a far for creative and emotional form of advertising was born. Unlike the introduction of TV advertising though, the Internet, social media, and the rise of mobile devices changed not only the style and voice, but also the communication’s structure of hierarchy, the selling process and the markets being targeted.
Jim Farley, the CMO of Ford, summed up the sentiment when he said: “We want to take that stupid little box we were forced into as advertisers, blow it up, and change the way we interact with the customer, and we want it to be around the experience. ” This is particularly interesting given the early beginnings of the Ford brand, which contrasts so greatly with this new sentiment. Henry Ford’s original vision saw the introduction of mass production and mass consumerism. Schudson (1984) was also interested in the wider social and economic impact of advertising in terms of sustaining consumer capitalism.
Production lines meant that cars could be created more cost effectively, at greater speed and in higher quantities than ever before. Standardised parts meant that any worn out or broken components could be replaced, so that theoretically, buyers of the cars would never need to purchase another vehicle again. Henry Ford presented this standardised product to the world and invited them to buy it. In the digital age however, this process has been flipped on its head. No longer is it expected that businesses can create products and invite them to buy the same thing.
Generation Y is a term that has emerged with digitalisation. This tech savvy generation expects good quality information fast and is used to having the control in a consumer/ producer relationship. Globalisation through digital channels has meant that they have a far greater choice than ever before and that in fact they do not have to choose from a range of completed products that businesses believe they will want, but are able to create and customise their own personal designs for products. This moves far from the ideas of fordism. No longer will one size fit all. Any colour as long as it’s black” no longer meets the consumer’s expectations. Robertson (1992) suspected that this change came as Japanese manufacturers moving into the US market pioneered post-fordist strategy, where global production networks were managed through flexible local production, distribution and marketing. This reflects the changing consumer expectations that were emerging at the time. (Lash and Urry 1993) Web 2. 0 given new life into the internet, subsequent to the collapse of the Dot. com bubble, and not only transforming it into a truly ‘global medium’, and the world of advertising has been taken by storm.
The digital age has placed the power firmly in the consumer’s hands and also provided the means for those demands to be met. Modern day companies including car producers such as Ford create products based on the individual customer’s requirements. The colour, size, additional features and tyres can all be selected in advance, before the design is sent to the place of manufacture. Just in time production methods mean that this process can happen with immense speed and the customised product can be ready to drive within a matter of hours.
This alteration in consumer buying patterns means that now instead of selling an individual product, advertisers are conveying a lifestyle and ideal for consumers to aspire to. The individualisation people feel through digital means that there is a far greater desire to convey a sense of self. After all, as the world gets bigger, it becomes harder to stand out from the crowd. Many brand’s strategies have fed from this insight in the past and through shared aspirations, values and style, create loyalty to the products, which become status symbols. Social media and blogs in particular, feed this ever increasing approach to advertising.
Digitalisation has done more than alter consumers purchasing habits though. Perhaps the most significant change is in the interaction and voice used by brands when connecting with consumers. CRM systems have altered dramatically with the introduction of digitalisation, to the extent that the term ‘management’ in regards to the process is now hotly disputed. The altering practices are perhaps the most effective way of monitoring changes in interaction between producers and consumers. CRM systems mirror the activity of small businesses, which are able to make assumptions about the needs of their consumers based on an intimate knowledge.
It works in a way that is scalable to far larger businesses and originally was fixed around channels including phone, mail, house visits and fax. It is not a system based upon statistics, but more upon observations and learning from direct interaction. As technology evolved though, so to did the system. At first the change was as simple as the addition of new channels. Consumers expected to be able to interact with businesses across more platforms. They also wanted quicker responses that matched the speed of information they were able to find on the Internet. As these new channels developed though, so did the nature of the conversations.
New connections were created with far greater speed. Audiences are used finding the information they require to make informed decisions quickly and have expectations that are possibly higher than ever before. Electronically driven speed is immeasurably fast precisely because it transcends the obstacles and frictions of physical geography. Across networks, this kind of speed is measured against the standard of instantaneity. Consequently, efficient transmission is not assessed within the parameters of sequential clock time. Instead, the central question is – can lengths or lags of time be reduced or eliminated?
This drive towards instantaneity within and between networks is encapsulated by the notion of ‘real time’. Of course, real time can never accomplish full immediacy. In any given circumstance, there will always be tiny ineliminable lengths of time (Hassan, 2003: 231–3). There is also a shift in the power though, with consumers choosing which information they do and don’t want, perhaps most evident in the compulsory ‘Unsubscribe’ option present in all business email communications. Early online advertising techniques consisting of banner ads and pop-ups are already seen as a dated approach.
Disruptive ads that function in the same way as those on traditional media channels, don’t speak in the digital language that instead revolves around the ability to share. Marketing traditionally focused on the four “Ps”: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Social media however, forced advertisers to consider a fifth: People. A strategy based on people is at the centre of a dynamic social marketing mix. John Janitsch of Duct Tape Marketing viewed this in a different way that was better in-keeping with the new digital environment- The four Cs for the social age: Content, Context, Connection and Community.
A people strategy is much broader, deeper and more profound than consumer targeting. CRM systems have altered to suit this. They allow businesses to listen to and engage with everyone who can influence current and potential customers at all stages of brand interaction. It’s less about “we the people” and more about “me the people,” (Jeff Pulver) This idea of “me the people” combined with the great capabilities to share on a global scale can be extremely powerful when used to a company’s advantage. What I would like to have is a one-on-one relationship with seven billion people in the world and be able to customize offerings for those seven billion people. Digital allows that relationship. ” (Bob MacDonald, CEO of Procter & Gamble) Social media has changed the way people interact between themselves and media. People play a number of roles as receivers, creators, critics, advocates, transformers and transmitters of messages. The ‘like’ function on social channels gives communicators an idea of how messages are being perceived, as well as being able to monitor vitality rates
The creation of content by consumers is particularly key to changes in communication. The term User Generated Media (UGM) is not only gaining more acceptance, but advertisers now recognise that “Content is king and consumers are the king makers”. YouTube response videos are often as widely viewed as the brand’s paid for advertising, if not more. Dove’s campaign for real beauty response videos are a perfect example of this. Web 2. 0 was ‘built’ around the idea of an enriching experience through the phenomenon of dynamic content. This currently effects not only communications online, but also that on traditional media channels.
Although the markets are becoming more fragmented, we are seeing the media channels merging in a way they have not before. The bonding of media and advertising in the 20th century was said to evolve through four distinct phases based on realignment and transformation. (Leiss, 1991) Internet Protocol television (IPTV) converging technologies will see digital capabilities being applied to TV. This is already happening to an extent with multi-screen interaction. Advertising will have to develop a style for this that reflects the desires of the audience.
General Internet-based or web-based multimedia services often use traditional style TV advertising which is mandatory to watch before accessing content, growing amounts of free material may effect the suitability of this communication though. References Why Social Media Doesn’t Matter Anymore. 2013. Why Social Media Doesn’t Matter Anymore. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www. ducttapemarketing. com/blog/2010/05/25/why-social-media-doesnt-matter-anymore/. [Accessed 19 March 2013]. Evolution of Beauty – Dove Campaign for Real Beauty – YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. youtube. com/watch? =IHqzlxGGJFo. [Accessed 19 March 2013]. The Evolution of #140conf: Finding Meaning – Jeff Pulver. 2013. The Evolution of #140conf: Finding Meaning – Jeff Pulver. [ONLINE] Available at: http://jeffpulver. com/? p=5347. [Accessed 19 March 2013]. How the Internet Has Changed Advertising!. 2013. How the Internet Has Changed Advertising!. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www. bitrebels. com/technology/how-the-internet-has-changed-advertising/. [Accessed 19 March 2013]. 2013. . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www. kpmg. com/US/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents /impact-of-digitization. pdf. Accessed 19 March 2013]. Hall, S. (1981) “Notes on Deconstructing the Popular,” in R. Samuel (ed. ) People’s History ana Socialist Theory, London: Routledge ; Kegan Paul Manson, R. S. (1981) Conspicuous Consumption: A Study of Exceptional Consumer Behaviour, Farnborough: Gower. Markin Jr, R. J. (1974) Consumer Behaviour: A Cognitive Orien 2000. Customer Relationship Management: A Strategic Imperative in the World of E-Business. 1 Edition. Wiley. Frederick Newell, 2000. Loyalty. Com: Customer Relationship Management in the New Era of Internet Marketing. 1st Edition. McGraw-Hill Companies. Emanuel Rosen, 2010.
Buzz. Edition. ProfileEPZ. Nigel Cope, 1997. Retail in the Digital Age (Work in the Digital Age). Edition. Bowerdean Pub Co Ltd. Gerard Hastings, 2007. Social Marketing. 1 Edition. Butterworth-Heinemann. et al Alex Birch (Author), . The Age of E-tail: Conquering the New World of Electronic Shopping. Edition. Capstone Ltd. William Leiss, 2005. Social Communication in Advertising: Consumption in the Mediated Marketplace. 3 Edition. Routledge. Godfrey Parkin, 2009. Digital Marketing: Strategies for Online Success. Edition. New Holland. Will Rowan, 2002. Digital Marketing. Edition. Kogan Page Business Books.
