70% of the Advertising Industry is based in
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If you are interested in numbers, graphics and money… well, you should definitely visit these websites:
What are you talking about?
"Media convergence is not just a technological shift or a technological process, it also includes shifts within the industrial, cultural, and social paradigms that encourage the consumer to seek out new information. Convergence, simply put, is how individual consumers interact with others on a social level and use various media platforms to create new experiences, new forms of media and content that connect us socially, and not just to other consumers, but to the corporate producers of media in ways that have not been as readily accessible in the past.
For example, the Wii is not only a games console, but also an web browser and social networking tool. Mobile phones are another good example, in that they increasingly incorporatedigital cameras, mp3 players, camcorders, voice recorders, and other devices." (Wikipedia)
Is it worldwide? What about traditional media?
When thinking about convergence and how it would affect traditional media, I instantly think about third world countries. The reason why I do this is because convergence is not exactly everywhere and it is almost an elite treat in this kind of countries. Therefore, traditional media will stay the way it is now for a very long time in these areas and any type of transformation will remain in a niche sector/market (at least for the next decade, in my opinion). Therefore, traditional media as we know it now will continue in order to fulfill everybody else’s demand.
Nevertheless, I think that traditional media will definitely be transformed by convergence in the future. The way that we are going to consume media will radically change but still traditional media as newspapers, magazines and books will continue to exist. Maybe this media would get a transformation but its traditional form will remain. For example, online newspapers have more readers than traditional newspapers nowadays but it is important to point out that while travelling or being in a waiting room, traditional newspapers are still in use, more than online ones. I guess this will continue simply because it is a completely different experience to actually touch the physical media and also, because salons, for instance, are not going to afford digital readers or portable PCs for their costumers to read digital newspaper while waiting.
Wait… Why are you talking about convergence? Any advantages?
On the other hand, I deeply think that convergence is absolutely positive for creativity and cultures. In other words, convergence can help cultures to get in touch one to another, to connect different ways of thinking and take advantage of the results. What I’m trying to say is that convergence can make the Creative and Cultural Industries more diverse by providing the professionals with the tools to understand other cultures and communicate in the right way with them. Ignorance encourages segregation but knowledge and curiosity (incentivized by convergence) can make the Creative and Cultural Industries more diverse and richer in content. In my opinion, convergence can broaden up their market and even create more opportunities for the business. That is why I strongly believe that convergence will make London an even more multicultural and creative city. Being able to consume cultural products from different countries by media is going to incentivize creativity and interest in other cultures.
Make it clearer!
A striking example is the possibility of a book, which emphasizes and portrays a culture in the most deeply sense, to be sold, read and discussed in different media and thanks to convergence. This book can also become a film or a website where people comment about it. Moreover, the film’s soundtrack can also influence and help multiculturalism by inserting a certain type of music to the rest of the city. In my opinion, someone who reads or bumps into this book or movie can feel attracted by the culture and this could function as a trigger for further investigation and understanding of it and it might also act as an incentive for creativity.
In conclusion, in my opinion, convergence can make any city more multicultural and creative, especially a city like
PS: Photos taken from gettyimages.com
After playing with different words, my business is:
"JOYFUL AND FUNNY MARKETING TACTICS TO REACH UNIQUE ART COMMUNITIES."
My business’ aim is to connect different art communities in order to incentivize creativity and culture in undeveloped countries, giving them the opportunity to show and sell their work globally. Instead of approaching these communities with the only objective of buying their art work and not keeping any more contact after the purchase, my business will create a joyful and comfortable environment where these communities are going to be encouraged to share their uniqueness with other communities and learn from them too. Joyful and funny marketing tactics are going to be used in order to demonstrate that we are willing to produce a creative and cultural environment where all communities can find their place and share with others happily.
Online resources are unlimited and, sometimes, it is difficult for the researcher to figure out if the information out there is useful or not. To make things easier for you, here are my major references for researching the Advertising Industry.
In all these websites you can find general information about the Advertising Industry in
Blogs are important sources too. Trends, opinions and interesting facts can be found there. Check this blog, for example.
Rankings, lists, Top 100... You can find loads of information online about which company, agency or campaign is considered the best creative one, for example, but I personally recommend the following lists to have a broad idea of the industry and its major players:
But you can also find:
I also recommend reading the "Agency A-List Cocktail Party"AdAge article.
Very important!! Check this website and enjoy the British Television Advertising Awards!
Hope everything is clearer now guys!
Brief explanation (just in case you are dizzy looking at the arrows):
Clients (basically, the ones who PAY) can contract Ad Agencies, Marketing Groups or Specialized Boutiques (creative agencies, interactive agencies, digital agencies, media planning agencies, PR agencies, etc.) to create/produce/deliver/improve their message. Sometimes, the 3 of them can work together or maybe only 2 of them: an Ad Agency needing specific help may contract an interactive agency, for example.
Ad research companies usually work with Marketing Groups and Ad Agencies either for market research, pretests, posttests or tests during the communication campaign. They can be contracted by any of them and, many times, if they are working jointly, they’ll share the tests results in order to create a coherent and consistent message.
Ad Agencies, Boutiques and Marketing Groups often need Production Companies’ services. These companies, for instance, can be specialized in the Film Industry but are hired by the Ad Industry in order to create a shocking and quality spot or webvert.
Media Agencies are companies that sell media time and space to deliver the communication message. They work as a link between the Ad Agencies, Marketing Groups or Specialized Boutiques and the Vehicle Providers (Media: TV channels, newspapers, radio, out of home ad, etc). Nevertheless, big Ad Agencies have their own powerful contacts and can buy the vehicles themselves without needing the Media Agencies services.
OK so you have everything: the client, the Agency, the message and the vehicle… don’t forget regulators!
UK has a self regulation method with 3 main players: OFCOM, Clearcast and the Advertising Standard Association (ASA). Ofcom owns Clearcast, which is a specialized division for Ads and provides different services to the industry. As they are the ones in charge of giving any ad the green light to be published, they offer the agencies the opportunity of testing their messages in several stages so you know that what you are doing is ok with them and you save money (imagine having to produce a whole spot again… millions of pounds lost!). If Clearcast gives the green light to an ad but someone complains about it (for example, a viewer feels offended and calls the vehicle provider or Clearcast itself), this regulator will investigate the case and maybe the complaint is upheld or withdrawn. If the complaint is accepted, the spot can be banned. Here is when ASA comes into scene, in order to avoid any PR crisis or negative image or a bigger punishment, the ASA can take the ad off the air and apologize.
If you are interested in regulation, please go to these regulators websites and find out more about it… it’s extremely interesting how it works! You can find the links in my main menu or in my “Useful Websites” post.
Cheers!
