Getting the Goods: Customized Consumerism & Me

In Kieran Healy’s article “Digital Technology and Cultural Goods,” we are posed with a recurring question in today’s new media world: does customization enhance or hinder our consumer experience? As is the case with many new media dilemmas, there appears to be no right or wrong answer. On the one hand, customization is a seemingly necessary means for advertisers to get through the clutter and cater to overwhelmed consumers who are engulfed by the endless options provided by the Internet. As Healy writes, “with perfect information about your habits, your newspaper could tailor itself to you—sports scores (but no baseball), foreign news (but no business reports),” etc., etc (482).

However, on the other hand, Healy notes that the convenience of customization may ultimately prevent consumers from seeking new information, looking for new experiences, and essentially making people “less likely to hear about or try out new things” (483). This idea of “perfectly targeted advertising” has been criticized for the potential of making people “more extreme in our views and less tolerant of other people precisely because it allows individuals to specify in advance what they want to see, hear, and read” (483).

From personal experience within this new media environment, it’s safe to say that we have all experienced both the positive and negative effects of customized consumerism, or so we think. Take amazon.com for example. Upon entering this online shopping mecca, I am warmly greeted with a banner that reads “Hello, Marli” (Exhibit A). And like an old friend who knows my tastes in books, I am immediately guided to look at things “to enjoy” (Exhibit B). And finally, by displaying the covers of books I have previously added to a wish list, Amazon reminds me that every now and then I should treat myself to a gift (Exhibit C). So even if I was initially on the website to browse for used Backstreet Boys CDs, by showing me remnants of my purchasing past, I am propelled towards the safety and convenience of Amazon’s recommendations. So as I am stopped dead in my tracks by my Amazon homepage beckoning me to read the newest novel by my favorite author, I’d have to say yes, customized consumerism makes me less likely to try out new things.

Exhbit A:


Exhibit B:


Exhibit C:




Healy, K. (2002). Digital technology and cultural goods. The Journal of Political Philosophy, 10(4).

Woman Sues Blockbuster Over F-Book Ad Feature

According to a USA Today article, a woman last month sued Blockbuster, claiming that the company releasd personal information about her video and gaming rentals to Facebook through their Beacon system without her permission. Maybe this woman didnt't realize she could opt out of this function? While this case will likely not come to fruition in the courts, it does bring up some important ponts about the privacy implications of new media advertising.

Here's an interesting video about privacy concerns on Facebook and about how much your demographic information is worth to some new media advertisers.

CSI and Transmedia Storytelling

In Octobert 2007, the popular television franchise Crime Scene Investigation: New York took a leap into the world of transmedia storytelling by leading its viewers into Second Life to help fill in the gaps of an unsolved crime that would not be completely solved until February of this year. By leading its audience members into Second Life, CSI producers hope that its viewers can become better acquainted with the online comunity and can interact with other fans of the show, do virtual lab experiments and read blog entries.

Here is a preview of what the episode looked like:


And the following is an interview from Henry Jenkins' blog "Confessions of an Aca/Fan" with CSI producers about their collaboration with Second Life.

http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/10/producing_the_csinysecond_life.html

Social Networking Sites: Integrated Marketing's Effects on Privacy

Shifting to new media advertising may have greater social implications, particularly with social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, that use integrated marketing in ways not necessarily positive for consumers. Facebook can now report on users’ purchases that take place outside of the Facebook network through a new advertising tool called Social Ads. Social Ads expose people’s purchases on Facebook that they did not know would be exposed. This type of exposure is potentially threatening to Facebook users because as their social networks expand to include employers, coworkers, and friends of friends etc, they do not wish for their personal information to be compromised on the Internet for the benefit of marketers. For example, a sorority girl might not want others to know that they ordered $50 worth of cookies and brownies from Insomnia Cookies at 3 a.m. And a professor might want to keep it secret that he purchased the latest Gossip Girl novel from Amazon.

Whereas Facebook allows personal information to make its way into social conversation online, MySpace uses “hyper-targeted banner” ads through high-tech software that allows advertisers to purchase ad space on MySpace. Marketers can then target users according to the interests they find on MySpace user profiles. These banners are less complex and less risky than Facebook’s Social Ads because users’ personal information is not broadcasted beyond the marketers for all to see.

Here MySpace founders discuss the way in which the online networking site customizes its ads for users based on their individual profiles.

Shields, M. (2007). Advertising to get more social. MediaWeek, 17(4), 4-5.

Logic+Emotion Blog

Riley, D. (2007). MySpace to announce self-serve hyper targeted advertising network. TechCrunch Weblog.

What is Integrated Marketing?

Bobby Calder and Edward Mathouse of Journal of Advertising Research discuss integrated marketing as a way to effectively reach consumers in a new media environment. There has been an apparent shift in media and advertising away from thinking that exposure to media means effective advertising to focusing on consumer engagement in media as a measure of advertising effectiveness. In contrast to traditional reactive marketing, integrated marketing provides a means to “throw it in your face.” Advertisers will no longer use persuasive messaging as if people are merely consumers, but rather they will connect to the person as a whole. The focus is on a person’s life and anything that affects a person’s life is a potential advertising tool. Understanding the consumer’s current experiences is crucial for the marketers to be able to advertise the product in ways relevant to those experiences. For example, ESPN fantasy sports on the Internet is a way to not only keep major sports fans continuously informed about sports, but also to provide sports entertainment and allow them to connect with others that have the same level of sports interest.

As part of integrated marketing comes the “relationship brand” idea. Products/services promote an overarching brand idea that is the same for everyone, but the way in which consumers experience the brand is individualized and fragmented in a new media environment. Continuing with ESPN as our example, their overall brand idea is same to all consumers, but some may prefer to have sports scores sent to their email, some prefer to check message boards and participate in discussion forums, some may prefer fantasy leagues, and others may just want to continuously check espn.com for updates. Yet all ESPN consumers wish to be highly informed about whichever sports they follow, but now they have the ability to tailor their ESPN experience in whichever way they’d prefer. Integrated marketing allows consumers to form personal relationships with brands through a range of new media technologies and provides an effective way to reach consumers.

Shift in Control of Advertising

A particular way in which the character of advertising has changed within a new media environment relates to control. Saul Berman and Bill Batino of Mediaweek identify four main drivers that have caused a shift in the control of advertising. First, they discuss the ever increasing use of Internet and the simultaneous decrease in TV viewing that has enabled consumers to become more in control of how they view, interact with, and filter advertising. Next, they believe that new media technology has allowed for user-generated and peer-delivered content and new ad-revenue-sharing models so that amateurs and semi-professionals can create lower-cost advertising content. As a result, the realm of creativity of ads has expanded. Additionally, they mention a change in format of advertising from impression-based to impact-based. Now marketers have the capability to measure beyond merely ad-reach and into actual product/service engagement. Finally, because ad space is now available through open, efficient exchanges, proprietary marketers such as broadcasters are being replaced by open platforms.

Is Big Brother Watching Us?!?

Would you be willing to let a phone company eavesdrop on your conversations if you got free service? Pudding Media, a startup based in San Jose, Calif., is listening in on your phone calls and placing ads on your internet screen based on what it hears. For example, a conversation about the New York Knicks might elicit ads about basketball tickets.

Ariel Maislos, chief executive of Pudding Media, says that young people don't care as much about privacy as they do about saving money.

“The trade-off of getting personalized content versus privacy is a concept that is accepted in the world,” he said.

Do you agree? The company just raised $8 million so they must be doing something right! Read this article and judge for yourself:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/business/media/24adcol.html

TiVo and New Media

An article in today's New York Times examines how in the age of TiVo and web video, advertisers have no choice but to adapt to these on demand television options. As consumers are watching their favorite shows on their own time, there is increasingly no such thing as "primetime," posing challenges for traditional advertisers.

TiVo and other digital video recording (DVR) technologies have transformed traditional television advertising and the way in which advertisements reach TV viewers. Digital video recorders have become synonymous with ad-skipping and liberation from intrusive marketing. Consumers are no longer buying into ads that are intrusive, disruptive or irrelevant. They control what ads they view. Therefore, a major challenge exists for advertisers who ask themselves: how can we create ads that consumers want and choose to watch, and how do we then reach the consumers in an ever growing DVR environment?

Yet, technology experts are joining with marketers to create advertising solutions using the new technologies. Nicole Urso of Response Magazine notes that “ironically, the same consumer-driven technology undermining the future of spot advertising is the same technology overcoming its self-created challenges.” DVR technologies now include specific means through which advertisers can reach consumers. Urso mentions three ways in which TiVo has solved the ad-skipping problem: a) consumers can click through to an ad using the gold star on TiVo central, b) when viewing programs, consumers can click on a tag at the bottom of the screen to opt-in to see a commercial, and finally c) consumers can peruse ads using TiVo's new keyword search function.

Urso, N. (2006). Answering the TiVo challenge. Response Magazine.

Zeisser, M. P. (2002). Marketing in a post-TiVo world. McKinsey Quarterly, Special Edition, Technology, 4, 89-92.

Double Click and Privacy

New media advertisers like DoubleClick that collect and distribute personal data from users to outside organizations must have comprehensive privacy policies.

Check theirs out:

http://www.doubleclick.com/privacy/index.aspx

"The Daily Me"

As Cass Sunstein would argue in his “The Daily Me,” from "Republic 2.0," that the customization of media technologies has led not only to audience fragmentation, but to a general limited awareness of the media world. As users can limit themselves to the news, blogs, and points of view they prefer, they need not run into any potentially opposing viewpoints or alternative attitudes. As a result, beliefs are reinforced and divergent thoughts are stunted: “when the power to filter is unlimited, people can decide, in advance and with perfect accuracy, what they will and will not encounter.” Sunstein would argue that people should be exposed to unintended material and that common culture and shared experience are crucial for society.

Though it would be impossible not to filter culture to some extent, Sunstein laments the fragmentation that has resulted from culture customization. He argues that “there are serious dangers in a system in which individuals bypass general-interest intermediaries and restrict themselves to opinions and topics of their own choosing,” and recommend that consumers not limit their intake of media to premeditated views and subject areas. His wishes may not be answered, however, as developing technologies only make it easier to access the content we want and avoid the rest.

This article in Wired Magazine takes into consideration some of Sunstein's points, reflecting that while new media advertisers have the ability to customize ads to better target consumers, such personalization lessens the opportunity for content that may challenge our existing beliefs.

Decoding Advertisement

In their “Advertising in the Age of Accelerated Meaning”, Goldman and Papson discuss the deciphering of advertisements as an inadvertent and almost absentminded process. They argue that most of the fun is in understanding each ad as a medium through which to tell a story. When watching a commercial, for instance, viewers “rarely pause to consider the assumptions imposed by the advertising framework” as they are far too busy trying to decode the message. Essentially, we are distracted by our inability to simply view a message for its component parts – we fail to recognize the underlying tactics and techniques as we focus our attention on “solving the particular riddle of each ad as it passes before us on the screen.” It is only those ads that excite the viewer (apart from his efforts to decipher) that have any real commercial potential. By tailoring ads to fit the individual media consumer, advertisers have a chance at making a profit. Thus, advertising relies on what Goldman and Papson refer to as “commodity signs”: attaching brand names to images with social or cultural value. When such values are familiar and appeal to viewers of an advertisement, they attend to it further and are more likely to remember a product. By knowing what the individual consumer is looking for, advertisers can be more successful in their tactics. It is this technique, in combination with new forms of media advertising including transmedia storytelling and integrated marketing that makes advertising effective.


Goldman, R., & Papson, S. (2000). Advertising in the age of accelerated marketing. In J. Schor & D. Holt (Eds.), The Consumer Society Reader (pp. 3-19). New York: The New Press.

Advertising and the Proliferation of Media Content

As discussed in Adordno and Horkheimer’s “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception” (The Consumer Society Reader, 2000), the culture industry is an entity so extensive as to warrant the need for the repetition and reproduction. Because the industry is so far-reaching, the dissemination of media products requires meticulous planning and industrial organization. As technology has advanced and research has been done concerning consumer preferences and practices, the variety and sheer amount of advertising has increased exponentially.

Integrated marketing, for instance, has allowed for the customization of media content to meet the needs of individual users. Putting the same media into different formats, users can consume content in the way they choose and media caters to individual experience. Audiences have become fragmented as a result of this customization, creating change in the media community: people attend only to media targeted specifically to them. Transmedia storytelling is another technique used for getting the message heard. Rather than relying on only one mode of transferring a message, producers make use of multiple media in attempts to express media content. This method does, however, have the potential for overkill.

As a result of the proliferation of new media content, people have become almost immune to the process of consuming culture: “so completely is it subject to the law of exchange that it is no longer exchanged; it is so blindly consumed in use that it can no longer be used. Therefore it amalgamates with advertising… Advertising is its elixir of life.” Because the innumerable products of the culture industry have become little more than visual distraction, the industry has required advertising to revive itself. It is the excitement and novelty of ads that attracts viewer attention, supports the culture industry and makes sales. The key to advertising success is getting noticed. Regardless of the fact that consumers can see through the advertisements they are presented with, they continue to buy the products being advertised. The question of advertising success still remains, however; how to advertisements break through the clutter?


Adorno, T.W., & Horkheimer, M. (2000). The culture industry: Enlightenment as mass deception. In J. Schor & D. Holt (Eds.), The Consumer Society Reader (pp. 3-19). New York: The New Press.

What is transmedia storytelling?

Transmedia storytelling, as described by Henry Jenkins, is the conveyance of media messages across various media channels, allowing for more points of entry for the consumer to become involved in the message (Jenkins, 2007). Jenkins describes how a movie like the Matrix can benefit from transmedia storytelling as publicity for the franchise is created through using various channels of communication to spread the media message. Mark Deuze (2007) describes this use of transmedia storytelling as a deliberate attempt by media conglomerates to extend their franchises, explaining that convergence culture allows for large corporations to “seek new ways to intensify customer relationships, and cultivate consumer loyalties by captivating people’s media use across multiple platforms at the same time.” By increasing the number of platforms through which people can create and consume their media, corporate conglomerates aim for more intense consumer loyalty and usage. As media conglomerates integrate horizontally, they enable themselves to extend their brands- be it a movie or television show- over the various media channels which the companies themselves own. This enables such companies to strengthen their social influence in our mediated environment.

Deuze, M. (2007). Media work. Polity Books.

Jenkins, H. (2007). Transmedia storytelling 101. Retrieved March 4, 2008, from http://henryjenkins.org/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html#more

Breaking Up America

In Joseph Turow’s book, Breaking Up America: Advertisers and the New Media World, Turow takes an historical perspective to uncover the changes that have occurred in our new mediated environment. He explains that since the 1970’s, American advertisers have rejected the methods of mass-media marketing and instead have adopted a new target-market focus. While target marketing may be more effective, Turow posits that this new technique can actually exacerbate the existing divisions already present in American society. Turow states, “The US is experiencing a major shift in balance between society-making media and segment-making media. Segment-making media are those that encourage small slices of society to talk to themselves, while society-making media are those that have the potential to get all those segments to talk to each other. ” Now as advertisers are aggressively seeking to exploit the differences between consumers in order to create idealized targets, society is facing immense fragmentation. As Turow describes, media firms with an interest in target marketing are building “primary media communities” for their consumers.

These communities are build as the consumer is met with a media message that resonates with their personal values and beliefs, allows them to feel like the message is also reaching people similar to them and helps them identify their place in society. Turow gives the analogy of a gated community; in this new media environment, advertisers are literally creating communities of similar interests and lifestyles and gated them off from one another. While this practice may make niche markets feel more secure and comfortable, it is also greatly fragmenting contemporary American culture, affecting the way consumers relate to one another in a new media environment.

Turow, J (1997). Breaking up America: advertisers and the new media world. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Amateur Advertising

Bosman, Julie. (April 4, 2006). Chevy Tries a Write-Your-Own Ad Approach, and the Potshots Fly. New York Times.

Jaffe, Joseph. (June 13, 2005). Consumer Generated Content. iMedia Connection.

Kiley, David (July 25, 2005). Advertising, Of, By, and For the People. Business Week.

Wheaton, Ken. (February 12, 2007). And the winner is...everyone! Advertising Age, Vol. 78, Issue 7

Amateur Ad: Converse

Click here to learn more about this ad!

Amateur Ad: iPod Mini


Firefox Flicks: About the Project

Click here to see more entries!


Heinz Ketchup Commercial Challenge: About the Challenge
Click here to see more entries!

KFC Popcorn Chicken Commercial Contest: About the Contest

Joint Ventures in Advertsing

Brand Licensing and Transmedia Storytelling

Elliott, Stuart. (December 17, 2007). A year for quick hits and fast flops as campaigns broke new ground. The New York Times.

Jenkins, Henry. (March 22, 2007). Transmedia storytelling 101. Confessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins.

Robinson, Buck. (September 1, 2007). DR bonds radio with the internet. Response Magazine.

Yang, M. Roskos-Ewoldsen, D.R., Dinu, L., Arpan, L.M. (2006). The effectiveness of “in-game” advertising. Journal of Advertising, 35(4), 143-152.

What Makes Advertising Effective?

Ad Aesthetics

Chatterjee, Patrali (2008). Are Unclicked Ads Wasted? Enduring Effects of Banner and Pop-Up Ad Exposures on Brand Memory and Attitudes. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research: Online Advertising and Sponsored Search, 9(1), 51-61.

Chatterjee, Patrali. (2004). Changing banner ad executions on the web: impact on clickthroughs and communication outcomes. Advances in Consumer Research 2004 Proceedings, eds. G. Menon and A. Rao, Provo, UT: Assocation for Consumer Research, forthcoming

Moore, Robert S., Claire Allison Stammerjohan, Robin A Coulter. (2005). Banner Advertiser-Web Site Context Congruity and Color Effects on Attention and Attitudes. Journal of Advertising, 34(2), 71-84.

Ruth, Julie A. Bernard L Simonin. (2006). The Power of Numbers. Journal of Advertising, 35(4), 7-20.


Media Strategy

Baker, William E., Heather Honea, Cristel Antonia Russell. (2004). Do Not Wait to Reveal the Brand Name: The Effect of Brand-Name Placement on Television Advertising Effectiveness. Journal of Advertising, 33(3), 77-85.

Chang, Yuhmiin. Esther Thorson. (2004). Television and Web Advertising Synergies. Journal of Advertising, 33(2), 75-84.

Obermiller, Carl, Eric Spangenberg, Douglas L MacLachlan. (2005). Ad Skepticism. Journal of Advertising, 34(3), 7-17.

Rowley, Jennifer. (2004). Online branding: the case of McDonald's. British Food Journal, 106(2/3), 228-237.


Cognitive/Affective Appeals

Cline, Thomas W., James J Kellaris. (2007). THE INFLUENCE OF HUMOR STRENGTH AND HUMOR-MESSAGE RELATEDNESS ON AD MEMORABILITY: A Dual Process Model. Journal of Advertising, 36(1), 55-67.

Fam, Kim-Shyan, David S Waller. (2004). Ad likeability and brand recall in Asia: A cross-cultural study. Journal of Brand Management, 12(2), 93-104.

Homer, Pamela Miles (2006). RELATIONSHIPS AMONG AD-INDUCED AFFECT, BELIEFS, AND ATTITUDES: Another Look. Journal of Advertising, 35(1), 35-51. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database.

Johnson, G.J., Bruner, G.C. II, Kumar, A. (2006). Interactivity and its facets revisited. Journal of Advertising, 35(4), 35-52.

Muehling, Darrel D., David E Sprott. (2004). THE POWER OF REFLECTION: An Empirical Examination of Nostalgia Advertising Effects. Journal of Advertising, 33(3), 25-35.


Gender Differences

Chang, Chinching (2007). THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPARATIVE AND NONCOMPARATIVE ADVERTISING: Evidence for Gender Differences in Information-Processing Strategies. Journal of Advertising, 36(1), 21-35.

Comprehension

Khatibi, Ali, Ahasanul Haque, Hishamudin Ismail. (2004). Gaining a Competitive Advantage from Advertising (Study on Children's Understanding of TV Advertising). Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 4(1/2), 302-306.

What Are the New Forms of Advertising?

"Viral" or "Buzz" Marketing

Jaffe, Joseph. (June 2, 2003). Viral Marketing. iMedia Connection.

Khermouch, Gerry. (July 30, 2001). Buzz Marketing. Business Week Online.

Morrissey, Brian. (November 1, 2007). Brands Infiltrate Social Circles to Create Buzz. AdWeek.

Stevenson, Seth (October 24, 2005). Masked: Is Burker King Trying to Put One Over on Me? Slate Magazine.

Wilson, Ralph. (February 1, 2005). The Six Principles of Viral Marketing. Web Marketing Today.


Interactive Advertising

Jaffe, Joseph. (2003). Involving Experiences. iMedia Connection.

Jaffe, Joseph. (2003). Inviting Interaction. iMedia Connection.

Stelter, Brian. (March 18, 2008). Online Games by the Hundreds With Tie-Ins. New York Times.

Weeks, Rebecca. (May 13, 2005). Q&A with Reebok's Marc Fireman. iMedia Connection.

Burger King's Subservient Chicken

Reese's Puffs Cereal: Kelly Kimbell's Snowboard Slalom


Product Placement

Hampp, Andrew. (2008). Why Brands Win in Reality Competitions. Advertising Age.

Kehaulani Goo, Sarah (2006). Apple Gets a Big Slice of Product-Placement Pie. The Washington Post.

McMains, Andrew. (August 4, 2003). Absolut Mixes Up 'Hunk' Cocktail." Adweek.

Steinberg, Brian. (2007). "Verizon Gets in on 'Gossip Girl.'" Advertising Age.

The Future of Advertising

Berman, S.J., Abraham, S., Battino, B., Shipnuck, L., Neus, A. (2007). New business models for the new media world. Strategy and Leadership, 35(4), 23-30.

Hemp, Paul. (2006). Avatar-Based Marketing. Harvard Business Review.

Kharif, Olga. (March 10, 2008). Mobile Ads: Slow to Take Off. Business Week.

Vara, Vauhini. (August 23, 2007). Facebook Gets Personal With Ad Targeting Plan. Wall Street Journal.

Why Are New Forms of Advertising Necessary?

Berman, Saul, & Bill Battino (November 2007). The End of Advertising As We Know It. MediaWeek, Vol. 17, Iss. 41, p.10.

Calder, Bobby J., & Edward C. Malthouse (December 2005). Managing Media and Advertising Change with Integrated Marketing. Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 45, Issue 4, p.356-361.

Urso, Nicole. (February 1, 2006). Answering the TiVo Challenge. Response Magazine.

Zeisser, Michael P. (2002). Marketing in a post-TiVo world. McKinsey Quarterly, Special Edition, Technology Issue 4, p.89-92.