Vivek Vastrad 42917417

Digital Media Convergence and its impact on Advertising and New Nedia

Digital convergence has had a significant impact on the correlation between advertising and new media forms which are constantly evolving. To understand the impact of digital media convergence we must first understand what digital media convergence is. Digital media convergence can be summarised as delivering multiple services on a single platform (Dwyer 2010: 04). The platform being described here is the Internet and how it manages to encompass a wide variety of mediums into a single platform and is able to shift how advertising is viewed and acted upon within the Internet.

 

This video by OK GO is part of a series of advertisements by the American automobile manufacturer, Chevrolet. The video debuted during the 2012 Super bowl and was part of a series of videos by Chevrolet advertising its new car. The video debuted online and is currently sitting with roughly 24 million views. More views than it would have gotten during the Super bowl. Putting the video online was a wise move as it managed to advertise two products and services within the one video. OK GO was able to promote their new song via use of a car which in this case is the Chevrolet Sonic. Digital media is almost symbiotic with most of our lives (Sheenan, Morrison 2009: 02) we are consuming digital media on a daily basis thanks to more recent innovations such as smart phones, tablets and wireless connectivity.

Advertising through digital media is a much more cost effective way of reaching an ever expanding audience when compared television or print advertising. Computers are used for more than just typing word documents or sending emails and are instead being marketed towards society as multi-media hubs with the ability to stream movies to your television or any other smart device within your household. Companies who were born on the Internet and revolve around technology have a much higher understanding of companies which are just now adopting the Internet as a form of digital media (Allen 2011: 323). One example of this is the Nexus Q a device may by Google and is being pitched as a media hub which functions with any Android smart phone.

This is just one of the new ways we are able to consume media and is developed by a company that understands digital media. Google primarily markets this device through its Youtube channel and also has the device for Pre-order through its Google Play store. The device is not sold in physical retail stores but instead is solely sold online through Google’s own services. Digital media will forever be evolving as we find new ways to connect and share our devices with one and other and this in turn allows for advertising to reach into new markets such as social networking, devices which are always connected or even our cars as they are integrated into the online world.

Reference List

Supurgeon. C.(2008) Advertising and New Media, Routledge, pp 24-45

Dwyer.T. (2010) Media Convergence Mcgraw Hill. Berkshire. pp 1-23

Shehan, K. B., & Morrison, D. K. (2009, March 2). Beyond convergence : Confluence culture and the role of the advertising agency in the new world. First Monday, 14(3).