Page 188 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING

online advertising in 2004. That number is expected to grow to 17
percent by 2007 (Kerner, 2004).
Most cross-platform campaigns involve using Internet advertising
along with other traditional and new media options. What this ap-
proach has done is changed how advertisers view all the media options
available to them. Instead of using TV and other mass media as indi-
vidual choices, marketers now look at the toolbox of media available
and integrate the best choices into a coordinated plan.
Network and cable TV advertising still totals $60 billion a year, but
the trickle of dollars now being spent on multimedia advertising could
become a torrent as marketers learn how to get better results through
media integration.

Personalized Media: The Future of Advertising

Advertisers can no longer rely on a few types of mass media to reach
large blocks of homogenous consumers. Media convergence is giving
consumers new ways to access information and be entertained. To
178 reach these fragmented target audiences, advertisers will need to use
an optimum mix of new and traditional media to surround consumers
with targeted messages.
To be successful, this integration must benefit the consumer,
not the media. Consumers are already in control, so advertisers need
to react to that. If you want to watch a Seinfeld rerun at 2 a.m.,
media companies should make it easy to do so. Some companies have
embraced this need to offer consumer-friendly integrated marketing.
Apple’s success with iTunes and the iPod show what a marketer can do
when it integrates various forms of media to build strong relationships
with consumers. The campaigns have included posters, billboards,
TV, magazines, e-mail, Web ads, viral marketing, mobile downloads,
video-on-demand, promotions, and the rock group U2.
For integration to succeed, new media technologies must allow mar-
keters to reach people as they live their digital lives. Many experts feel
that TV and Internet will soon evolve into a lifestyle media device,
providing families with access to high-definition entertainment and
information, as well as the ability to interact with marketers.
Interactive TV is a quickly growing medium that allows advertisers
to microtarget consumers and deliver customized ad messages. With
iTV, you’ll be able to play online video games, watch any TV program
or movie ever made, and talk on your Internet phone as you watch the