Influence of New Media on Old Media
According to a recent survey of worldwide marketers by ICOM, some traditional media choices are on the decline as a result of new media choices. For example:
- 42% of marketers say they use newspapers less.
- 20% use radio and television less.
- 18% use magazines less.
Fastest growing media?
- Blogs, e-mails, group sites
- Viral marketing
- Internet
- Commercial messages on handhelds
But don’t take survey results like this at face value. There’s more to the story than jumping to the conclusion that newspapers, radio, and TV are dying. eMarketer.com reminds us that “taking these survey results at face value is shortsighted. The idea that old media is a collection of monolithic business models doomed to death by static inaction misses the fact that these formats are changing to keep with the times. For one, all the alarmist claims that digital video recorders and video-on-demand will cause the death of TV and the loss of billions of dollars worth of advertising are just plain wrong. More people will watch more TV and video content in the future, not less. They will just be doing it in different ways via the Internet, the PC and portable devices.”
A November 2006 study by the American Advertising Federation found that U.S. advertising executives are highly interested in integrating online media with traditional media.
A colleague of mine who is an experienced public relations man agrees with this analysis: “The writer is spot on. New media is forcing old media to change and develop a different kind of style and relationship with their audiences. Old media will be around for a long time, but it’s certainly starting to look and feel different, even in our day-to-day working relationships with them. A fascinating time to be in the business.”
Comments
This makes me wonder, how the Church is addressing these trends from an advertising perspective? I’ve seen and enjoyed the Church radio and television ads for years. I’ve seen the use of the mormon.org url in these tv spots as well. Do you see Church content or format changing in other ways in our radio and tv ads as a result of these trends?
As for Internet marketing, I’ve noticed the mormon.org ads showing up next to my church-related google searches. The pass-along cards (both physical and electronic) appear to target a viral marketing approach.
The Missionary Department has some great plans for viral marketing that should materialize a few months out, merging radio and TV campaigns with their Web site. Keep watching!
Recently I noticed alot of Video Segments on Google Video. I’m not sure about YouTube, but it was kind of Cool. I could download Clips from those old Seminary Videos they used to show. I even synced them to my iPod.
I looked again more recently and they were gone. I think that it would be better for the church to let people put them up, because the only other LDS related content is posted from enemys of the church.
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