Changes in Advertising: From Television to Social Networking

Traditional advertising has always been through television, radio, newspapers, and magazines. Now, the internet is the latest advertising medium, specifically social networks. In order to be competitive today, businesses must keep within the marketing trends such as being in a social network. Also, social media has spread out so much information that is very easy to access in a click of a button. This has changed many media channels. Most firms were owned by a few people with a lot of money. "The printing press set the model for mass media. A lucky handful owns the publishing machinery and controls the information. Whether at newspapers or global manufacturing giants, they decide what the masses will learn. This elite still holds sway at most companies" (Baker). Now, this has dramatically changed. People can get practically find any information they need through blogs and such. Bloggers can say whatever they want and those traditional firms cannot control what these bloggers say. These bloggers can set up an account usually for free and publish their information within minutes. That is how fast information can be received to the audience.

Using social media is a great way to track down information and drive readers to websites and other things. According to Ochman, "Tweets can be used to drive traffic to articles, Web sites, contests, videos, and so on — if people already care about your brand, or if you have a truly original idea that people will want to share with their followers." This is a very interactive way of advertising. I believe the audience won't see it as an "advertisement" but possibly something that may be entertaining or informational. In my opinion, most people watching television do not like watching the traditional television ads. When a video goes viral, it usually happens because of "click of the mouse" just like the traditional saying of "word of mouth". When someone posts a video on their Facebook, their friends can see it, and then their friends see it if they post it. It really can spread like wildfire.

While many companies are joining the social medias, big companies featured in the Super Bowl ad are focusing on integrating all their marketing efforts into several mediums. For example, Doritos posted a contest to make an ad for them. The winner's video will be played during the halftime. Contestants can post their videos through Facebook so that everyone can watch them. "This year the trend is toward "integration" and a new "level of sophistication"--both for first-time advertisers and for veteran brands returning with digital strategies more elaborate than last year" (Wong).

Many people argue that television advertisement is going down because of certain technologies, such as TiVo. Also, many people are also watching their favorite shows online on their own time, making it more convenient for them. Though television is losing viewership, some do argue that it's still a good advertising medium. "We're not writing off TV. It's still a great way to reach people. However, what we've got to do is make sure we follow the consumer. Which channel we use starts with a measurable objective of what we want to do. If you're looking to drive penetration and awareness, then TV is what you want" (Von Hoffman).

In an article by Jaffe, he argues that there are three worlds we live in: physical world, digital world, and virtual world. The physical world consists of traditional advertising such as television, print, and radio. The digital world consists of emails, banners, and buttons. The virtual world contains blogs,