mediajunk

Online marketing company Marketleap has produced a thought-provoking report on a shift that, it claims, has occurred during the last year in advertising. The power of television advertising is declining as the power of web marketing rises: “Television is losing its relevancy as the single source of information communication because there are better things to do than just unplug and stare. The television model will begin changing dramatically because there are more cost-effective ways to drive traffic and action to a business without a 30 second TV ad.” Marketleap’s claims are based, in part, on the Nielsen for the autumn TV season, which traditionally brings in the largest viewing figures. “One group in particular is showing stunning declines in watching TV -- the American male aged 18 – 34, down almost 10% from last year.” Males, it seems, are leading the shift away from television and towards computer-mediated forms of communication, that give them more power as users/consumers. In Europe too, it is true that TV is no longer the "mass" medium it once was. Advertisers have to work harder to gain mind-space in this fragmented market. Does this mean advertising will go away? Of course not. Worse, we can expect the distinction between 'regular' content and 'sponsored' content to blur even further – just as we are seeing now in those search engines that merge paid listings with bona-fide ones. The practice is not confined to new media. Advertorials are becoming increasingly common in print and, even in current affairs news, it is hard to tell the spin from the reportage (so much so, in fact, that some are calling for ‘content labelling’ to be introduced in journalism). In the future, it will be difficult to tell what's advertising and what's not, regardless of the medium. The word "advertising" could even fall out of use, not because it won’t exist, but because it will be seamlessly integrated with the rest of the infosphere, making it effectively invisible. This article is brought to you by Heraghty Consulting. ;)