Communication used to be one-to-one or one-to-many but now it has moved to many-to-many where consumers from all over the world can discuss ideas with each other. This model shows new interactive media communication:
Interactive media and the power of web 2.0 means the convergence of everything, for example, wiki, blogs and social networking. The internet is not just a source of information any more; it is now used for communication and consumer participation. It has given the consumer a chance to talk back. ‘New Traffic Lanes’ have been made for the convenience of consumers however marketers are finding new ways to take advantage of these tracks. As a result of this many companies have jumped on the digital bandwagon creating blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts without really knowing why.
A good reason for brands to do this right is so that they can create awareness and ‘Buzz’amongst consumers online. One of the best ways of doing this is by creating a video advert, launching it onto the internet and hoping it will go viral. T-Mobile have done this really well with their flashmob at Liverpool street station and the one done at Heathrow in October last year.
A good viral spreads so quickly and so far. This is a massive benefit to brands because consumers respond better to these viral adverts because they actively seek out to watch them. They don’t see it as advertising directly to them so are therefore willing to share it.
Having an online presence is hugely important for brands as they can use advertising techniques such as retargeting; when a consumer is browsing the internet, visits a retail site and moves on, a brand will know this and be able to target them later. Many consumers don’t realise this is happening; however this is extremely beneficial to the advertiser. All Saints revealed it had generated £21 for every £1 it had spent on retargeted advertising. As a result, many other retailers want to get involved with this type of advertising, for example; Game, John Lewis and French Connection are embracing the approach.
There are challenges for brands in this new web 2.0 environment, such as competition with trading sites such as Ebay, Craigslist and Gumtree. These mean that consumers can buy from and sell to each other without the need for retailers at all. This could be problematic as people are buying second hand products from other consumers rather than buying new full priced products from the company directly. ‘Companies see resale as competitive with the first sale’.
Consumer’s online interactivity can also damage a brands reputation as they are becoming more in control of information. Brands need to remember that consumers are more likely to spread bad news that good news (REF) and with social networking sites, blogs and sites such as Twitter and YouTube, this means that information can travel faster, further and reach a lot more people than ever before. Consumers have a huge amount of power online as they outnumber brands by a huge amount. With sites such as Wikileaks, consumers are more knowledgeable than ever.
However I think the best way for brands to take advantage of consumer’s interactivity is to get them involved with their brand online. Make it fun for consumers to interact with your brand and they will spread the positive image of the brand for you. Brands that have done this well are the OfficeMax ‘Elf Yourself’ campaign who used an opportunistic marketing strategy to link into Christmas. Another brand which is doing this very well right now is Channel 4. They have created a multimedia campaign called ‘Twist Our Words’. People can go onto the website and click different words to create a sentence. Different channel 4 celebrities will then read out your message. I think this is a brilliant way of getting the audience to interact with and remember your brand. I have had a lot of fun with this already and have passed this on by word of mouth and now I’m passing it on to you. This is excellent free publicity for Channel 4- a great incentive for other brands to take advantage of the interactive consumer. CHECK IT OUT!
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