The Future of Emerging Digital Media and Its Impact on Marketing

The future of emerging digital media and its impact on marketing

By

Chandana Chatterjee

12/18/04

Innovation in information technologies has thrust humankind into an era of democratic media in which almost everyone can have immediate access to news and information, and become creators and contributors in the journalistic enterprise. As a result, news now moves in unconventional ways with unpredictable consequences.

In the dawn of Web 2.0, viral marketing is presenting a new medium for brand exposure and a new definition of marketing. Recent advancements in technology in general are driving and facilitating changes in consumer/business behavior; RSS is simply one manifestation of that.

• The shift from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 and corresponding availability of new applications such as blogging, podcasting, wikis, RSS, microsites, etc. is emerging.

• All of these technologies are experiencing phenomenal growth. There have already been 5 million podcasts in 2005, which is up 500 percent vs. 2004 . Flickr currently has 19.5 million photos online - an 80 percent increase over June of 2005. Wikipedia is now "hit wise" the number one reference site on the Web.

• They all map to the "whatever, whenever" model: customers want - and expect - personalized, culturally appropriate information at their finger tips at any time.

The strategic environment in the current years has been the decline of broadcasting models and the rise of narrowcasting models. With the advent of cable television, catering to small group’s specialized audiences have emerged from seasoned networks like wild life, 24 hour news channels, and home shopping channels. The TV industry is frantically trying to figure out how to combine broadcasts, internet movies and home videos all into one package. TV will ultimately be on-demand all the time with broadcast TV eventually being phased out. Whether this takes 3, 5, or 10 years is beside the point. TV is better experienced on-demand and advertising will evolve in this new world. On-demand will lead to more, not less, TV revenue. New technologies around targeting long-form advertising will drive this growth. Digital media will force the entertainment industry to rethink current