Argument: How Advertising has Changed and its Current Social Implications

Advertising has changed in its culture, largely due to the switch from informational to a more expressive conceptual way to communicate with consumers. This switch has offered the audience less cognition about products and more sensory orientated heuristics about positions and branding of companies. Previous to the 1970s consumers were exposed to informative ads that helped them make decisions by exploring the positives of products and the negatives of competitors. Post seventies, informational ads were not as effective, as consumers were becoming more aware of deception in the government due to the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam war, they then associated that deception with media and advertising, forcing advertisers to change tactics. With change of the types of ads came emotion and heuristically approached messages. This style of advertising carried through the nineties and into the two-thousands, with the introduction of the Internet, mediums mixed, video became easily available with interaction, this changed the strict lines between informational and emotional advertising. The internet allows for users to experience traditional informative advertising in many different forms, while encouraging interaction with consumers by click-through sites and links. The internet encourages a gateway in which consumers can go beyond the depth of the emotional and contextual advertisement to dive into a world of information and rhetoric. These gateways include banner ads, pop up ads, text messaging advertisements, and online video ads. Each of these methods of advertisements offer a different way for a consumer to become more involved in the marketing process.
The foremost aim of this project is to develop a framework for an analysis of new media advertising that focuses on its current implications and its switch from a pure contextual aspect to hybrid between informational and conceptual as a way to persuade consumers. This assessment will perform analyses of this form of new media advertising and how this bridge between types of informational and emotional advertising has changed the way consumers make decisions about products and services.

In attempt to convey proper meaning to readers, we would like to define terms and provide examples to help clarify any confusion.

Informational Advertising: This type of advertising exhibits a more central processing route which induces cognitive evaluation of the aspects in the advertisements. Many ads of this type are longer in length, or in the case of print advertising, use a lot more text including facts, diagrams, or anything used to elaborate a message.

Example of Informational Advertising:
Print Magazine: Mac World



Emotional/Conceptual Advertising: This type of advertising uses a peripheral route to process, heuristics and symbols aid in the comprehension of the message of this appeal. Rather than prompting the consumer to process information about a product and evaluate it, these ads offer attitudes and emotions to make quick assessments of the mood and persuasive message of ads.

Example of Emotional/Conceptual Advertising:
Print Magazine: Mac World

Pre 1970's Advertising

1930’s

(References--JSTOR pgs 137-139)
In Ben C. Duffy's A look at Advertising Media in The Journal of Marketing in 1938 we see what an early promoter and scholar of advertising was interested in. The television isn’t really looked at as a means of advertising despite already becoming commercially available. The author is actually trying to prove the usefulness of the radio as it emerges in more American homes. Newspapers and magazines are the main mediums of this primitive “mass media” and comically low costs of advertising are interesting in the chart.

Figure 1.2 shows us an example of a stereotypical print ad from the 30's. It stays true to the purely informative template: telling us amidst a picture of the product and some descriptions that you pay 1 penny for 100 sheets...good deal.

1940’s

Wendell Willkie’s 1940 presidential television advertisement is two minutes and forty five seconds of the candidate standing in front of a tree talking. Informational and boring to the max. Don't bother trying to sit through the speech-- he doesn't move, the images don't change, and


Figure 1.3 rings true to the spirit of advertising of the times--the advertisement from a newspaper literally just lists reasons how you can get a new Oldsmobile, along with a picture and a description. Doesn't exactly instill one with anyeart-pounding emotions.

1950's
(References--JSTOR pgs 209-211)
In Quality vs Quantity in Televised Political Ads we see that during the 1953 campaign the Eisenhower administration used “spot advertising” to show more direct, catchy and concise points, rather than a “long winded speech that people could tune out.” This was the beginning of the transition from information based “central route processing” (according to the Elaboration Likelihood Model) to the quick, conceptual, emotion provoking synonymous with the “peripheral route” --more closely tied with the present day advertisements.

1960’s


This 1960 presidential advertisement for Kennedy shows some development from the simple information via a speech and a face, however as you can see it’s two minutes long—over the next 48 years of development we’ll see a reduction in time as advertising costs go up. From 10 minutes for 100$ offered by AT&T in 1922 to the billions paid for by advertisers today as shown in this Timeline.




This video for president Johnson in 1964 political campaign ad is one minute long is getting towards the major transition which occurs in the 1970’s when really we see the majority of the advertisements looking like this one. Grabbing a single idea and framing it amidst an entertaining and “brief” clip about the candidate.

Post 1970’s most of us know how presidential campaigns are advertised; if you’re not en masse then the other blog posts should give insight as to how advertisements have evolved further. It’s now a combination that reverts back to the information based messages seen here and the conceptual advertisements of the post 70’s. There is also the presents day new media advertisements that incorporates a third category involving interactivity.

1970’s Represented a Dynamic Structural Change within Advertising

The 1970’s signaled a pivotal shift in the way advertising was presented to consumers. Influenced by television and other new mediums of the time, advertising of the 1970s departed from the informational, graphic forms and subtle messages that were typical of the past to a more expressive conceptual form of advertising. Ads in the 1970s sought to capture the attention of a public accustomed to blaring, to-the-point TV commercials.
Previous to the 70s consumers were exposed to informative ads that helped them make decisions by exploring the positives of products and the negatives of competitors. Post seventies, informational ads were not as effective, as consumers were becoming more aware of deception in the government due to the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War; they then associated that deception with media and advertising, forcing advertisers to change tactics. As a result, advertising in the 70s became more emotional and advertisers began to use clever phrases and melodies to capture the consumer’s attention which helped make the advertising message more memorable. This can be evidenced in VW ads in the 70’s, which became known for their witty, ironic statements and bold graphic designs.


1970s Car Commercial Ad: informational, graphic forms and subtle messages



Present Car Commercial Ad: modern day expressive and emotional form of advertising

Advantages of Hybrid Advertisements

The option of explorative advertisements allows for conventional problems of advertising to be remedied. These problems include advertising wear out, inaccurate demographic targeting, and millions of wasted resources. Advertising wearout is a result of consumers being bombarded with too many advertisements, thus their persuasive messages being ineffective (Marketing Power). Although the internet encourages even more advertising, it is conducive to segmented marketing, where producers can target demographics and certain specific groups by the websites and areas they decide to advertise on. Due to this highly selective advertising avenue, consumers are more responsive to this type of persuasive message. Consumers are more responsive and are more likely to tolerate more advertising of industries that they are interested in and attract their attention. For example, a consumer who is on a golf website, is more likely to pay attention to an ad about golf equipment more so than generalized ad, such as household cleaners or cars. This specialized advertising removes the clutter of irrelevant advertising and allows for more attention for directed ads.

Affects of New Media Advertising

There is a bridged culture on the internet of experts and amateur commentators; this affects the way that internet advertising is received. Due to the nature and structure of this bridged culture on the internet, there is a lot more room for public discourse about brands' images. As an example, Nike's campaign slogan, “Just Do it” has been around since 1988, this “can do” attitude has lead Nike's image for decades and has become one of the most successful campaigns in the history of marketing (CFAR 1). It was not until the inception of the internet that the public discourse and openness of this companies slogan was attacked. Due to the issues with worker's rights in Nike's production countries, this advertising campaign has been the subject of many parodies including slogans like “Just Don't Do it.” This type of aggregate uprising is only available because of the accessibility of the internet's public discourse.

A New Type of Marketing

As the internet offers new ways to reach consumers beyond rhetorical informative or emotional conceptual advertisements consumers become more engaged and thus generally more responsive to the persuasive messages. Previously to this hybridization of messages, advertisements appealed to consumers in a way that set their role in the process of marketing as spectators, now they can explore and interact with the marketing that they so choose. In a case regarding the participation of consumers in an advertising producer role, Chevy has used an ad campaign to encourage a new era of consumer involvement. In an article titled “Commercial Break,” Frank Rose encompasses the campaign as a great revolution in advertising. Not only does this type of involvement allow for consumers to create authentic advertising and express their ideas in the marketing process, but it also allows for negative feedback from users to the marketer. This two-way street of marketing can damage the position of Chevy and other companies that use this tactic, this was obviously addressed by Chevy before they released the idea into the Internet world. In analysis of this, Rose explains that this tactic, either way, is beneficial for Chevy, as viewing consumers understand that Chevy makes themselves vulnerable to this type of attack, which modestly makes them more approachable as a brand, and in the end is a positive image.

Mechanics of Internet Ads

Internet ads (with click-throughs) have two important layers, that of the initial image, such as that on the front screen of a banner ad (Figure 1.0: Located at the bottom of page), and the second layer, after a user clicks on the ad (Figure 1.1). The second layer, in this example leads a user to the splash screen of the advertisers homepage. This illustrates how a user makes the transition from a conceptual or emotional ad, being on the front page of another website, which provides the context for the ad to an informational link to a whole web world for the brand.

See Figure 1.6 for model.

Utilizing the Click-Through

American consumers are bombarded by advertisements every single day. Driving down the highway billboards loom overhead, when reading the morning newspaper advertisements cloud entire pages, and while sitting at home watching a favorite TV program, the regularly scheduled program is interrupted by a 30-second spot for household cleaner.
While advertisements can be an everyday annoyance they are important to the American way of life. It is how we as a people learned about new products that enhance our lives and potentially boost the economy. However, these advertisements that are displayed above us or invade our pre-work ritual leave much to be desired. These contextual ads give the consumer a quick preview of what they could buy, watch, or eat, and not very much information on what exactly it is the potential buyer is investing in.
In our new digital age the media and information giant known as the internet provides gateways for us as consumers to get that initial attention-grabbing glimpse of the product and the information to back it up. The consumer gets both pieces by clicking on the initial advertisement which directs them to a website that further describes the product with information. This is known as the “click-through”.
The two main methods that utilize this technique are banner ads and interstitial ads, more commonly known as pop-ups.
Banner advertisements were the first advertising method to implore the click-through.(Internet Advertising Works) Banners are stationary ads that can sit on the top of web page (known as a ‘skyscraper’) or on the side of a web page (a vertical banner). Banners can incorporate mixed media into their design utilizing moving images and sounds making the ads more attention-grabbing. One important aspect of banner ads are their ability to be placed strategically. Advertisers can buy keywords so that when that word is used in a search their ad will pop up. Cookies also enable the internet to track which websites users frequent which makes it possible for sites to target advertisements to the particular visitor’s interests. (Howstuffworks.com)
See example of an banner advertisement (Figure 1.4).

The second mode of advertising is the interstitial ad, or the pop-up. Pop-ups literally “pop-up” when an individual is browsing the internet. Similar to banner ads, pop-ups give the initial advertisement and when they are clicked on, they lead to the product website. (Howstuffworks.com)
See example of a pop-up advertisement on a webpage (Figure 1.5)

The cohesion of the initial text that ultimately leads to the informational advertisement is a tactic that can only be utilized on the internet.

MTV Networks consolidates new-media advertising into 'Digital Fusion' Division

This is an interesting article about Viacoms MTV networks move to consolidate all of its new media advertising to one division. Digital Fusion, according to a release from MTV Networks, encompasses both innovation and consolidation. On one hand, it's an efficiency move to give the MTV a edge in the increasingly competitive online-ad market. But with that renewed efficiency, MTV hopes to go further, using it to "create entirely new digital-ad products, from creative uses of existing inventory to original interactive experiences, including video content, online games, microsites, and widgets."

The Future of Online Advertising is Video

This report released by senior analyst David Hallerman of eMarketer reflects on the future of online advertising. Hallerman explained the promise and power of video advertising. He says that while paid search will be the biggest growth sector next year, the appeal of search is limited, that it's essentially a direct marketing tool.

CNBC video on online advertising

Interesting segment from CNBC on online advertising. Prominent clients finally talking about dramatically increasing their interests in the online space.

Alternative Media Poised for Strong Growth in '08, Despite Slowing Economy

This article articulates the rapid increase in new media advertising in 2008 and traces the recent increase in new media advertising spending over the last five years. In the article, Patrick Quinn, President and CEO of PQ Media notes that “by 2012, we anticipate one out of every four dollars spent on advertising and marketing will be earmarked for alternative media." Furthermore, analyst suggest that that the following segments of new media advertising are projected to drive growth over the next five years: consumer-generated media, mobile advertising, videogame advertising, online video, word-of-mouth marketing, advergaming & webisodes, product placement, search & lead-generation advertising, and digital out-of home media. This article articulates the

Advertising, Print Media, and Pornography

New media involves many cultural implications regarding gender, sex, and norms, in this article. New forms of advertising and older forms, including print media, are looked at how they shape our culture regarding women's portrayals. The authors argue that advertising, because of its sheer volume, is the most powerful education tool of society, and that media consumes the lives of its users. According to the authors, advertisements sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth. Sometimes they tell us who we are and what we should be. This is a useful tool to use while looking at the implication new media has had on different groups, such as women.

Ogilvy's New Media Guru On Online Advertising

In this interview, Dave Oglivy gives a great overview of advertising opportunities afforded by online video. While he is very bullish on branded sites like Nike's Joga, he is leery about the viral advertising on video sharing sites like YouTube. He cautions viral ads can be make a big impression, but can damage valuable brands.

Advertising and the Internet (1999)

This article provides a wide-ranging view of issues addressing how advertisers can proceed on the Internet and World Wide Web. The article traces the development of Web advertising from its very beginnings as it was represented and discussed in the pages of i Advertising Age /i . Although there is a noticeable trend to define Web advertising by comparing it to traditional media, it is clear that Web advertising just won't fit the old mold. Keith Reinhard of DDB Needham articulates this linkage between the old and new in his invited chapter. Furthermore, there are numerous discussions on consumer and advertiser interactivity, the role of Web advertising within larger campaigns, audience segmentation, and alternative Web-based promotion formats. The five sections cover definition and theory, structure, specific applications, legal issues, and the voice of the practitioner.

Advertising a Recording Artist Using Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)

This book explores the many realms of the marketing world, including advertising and different forms of marketing strategies. As an overview, The book is split up into cases where a different product is marketed using different methods. The author discusses new ways to market in the new realm of media. In case 28, there is a strong campaign regarding text messaging promotion of a recording artist. This case explores the difficulty with creating emotion through text messaging and using SMS to provoke behavior.

Cases in Advertising and Marketing

Advertising and the World Wide Web (1996)

This dated, yet informative collaboration of essays regarding 'early' new media offers insight on what it was like to marketing on the internet when it was initially public.

This document's link can be found on the left side of the screen.

Frontline: The Persuaders: Clotaire Rapaile

Frontline: The Persuaders Clip

The Persuaders focuses on new forms of media in advertising and how it affects society. There are a number of field experts in this film who analyze what is happening to the advertising industry due to advertising wearout and customer numbness. This documentary provides a fresh look at what advertisers are trying to do to get through to their customers.

3G to Web 2.0 Economic Crunch Affects New Media

Telecommunications companies (telcos) paid too much for European 3G licences on the basis that they would be able to reach mobile consumers directly with web content. The subsequent reluctance of consumers to pay for commercial content and the debts and devaluations afflicting the post-tech-boom telcos has had several consequences. Besides an undercapitalized 3G infrastructure, there has been increasing consternation about the absence of a must-have service ‘killer app’ that would lead to the uptake of 3G products, and determined efforts to find one, as evidenced at events like ‘Mobile Content World’, an industry conference and trade fair held in London in October 2005. But the efforts to sell 3G spectrum (and the entire 3G experiment) may be based on a misapprehension of the nature of users’ relationships with ICTs and web content. This article presents an overview and commentary on the progress of the 3G mobile content industry. In part it is based on a review of presentations at ‘Mobile Content World’, and in part on a review and synthesis of the most recent literature covering 3G and mobile content from the fields of media studies, cultural studies, economics and business.