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Market Analysis: Why we should we invest in online advertising?

            Advertising as we know it is dying. Less and less people are buying and using traditional media (TV, magazines, newspapers, cinemas, radio, etc.), in which the traditional types of advertising are present. The age of television, radio, and paper will eventually come to a close; already the Internet is showing itself to be a dominant player in media, in countries that have developed their internet infrastructure to a satisfactory level. We and other companies have tried to keep up with the rise of the internet, by placing banner ads, pop-ups, and video ads, but people are getting around the ‘inconvenience’ or ‘annoyance’ of these ads via ad blocking software, making our adverts useless (since not enough people view them). However, there may be another, less overt way.

            To the average person, having to sit through an advert before viewing a video/article, or view a site littered with ads is an annoyance, easily mitigated via ad blocking software. Because this software isn’t going anywhere for the near future, we must develop new ways of reaching our target audiences. The documentary “Generation Like” shows how more innovative people and companies have prepared for an internet world, by harnessing the power of social media. The documentary detailed the experiences of various people involved in social media, and how ‘likes’ have become a sort of ‘currency’. By playing on people’s demand or need for ‘likes’ innovative social media/advertising companies are able to advertise their product. Companies get fans to advertise their products through various social media campaigns. The Hunger Games (famous book series turned into film series), featured in the documentary, used a points and ranking system to encourage their fans to share news, scenes, and trailers for The Hunger Games series. Instead of paying companies and websites for ad space, fans will do it all for us, by uploading product related posts, therefore reaching their friends. They do this for free as well, all we have to do is offer ‘ranks’ or a system that creates a feeling of being rewarded (actual money not needed, rewards can be virtual + fans feel rewarded when ‘their’ content is liked), in order to keep them happy and keep them working. If we play our cards right, we can reach many more people and spend a lot less resources. It’s pretty much ‘mutual exploitation’: they exploit our content for ‘likes’, while we exploit them, by having them advertise for us at no cost (they don’t even expect money).

To conclude, why should we continue wasting our money on buying ad space in traditional media and websites, if we have a fan base we can utilise to advertise for us? The traditional/standard form of advertising, both in traditional media and online, gets increasingly ignored every day, as people find ways around it, but people will listen to each other, especially friends. Ad blocker software may block pop-ups and video ads, but it can’t block fan posts on social media. Advertising is changing and either we keep up, or we get left in the dust. Look at Kodak, they had the opportunity to get into the digital camera market at an early stage (a Kodak engineer actually created the first one), but clung to their old ways, becoming a nostalgic remnant of the past, even becoming bankrupt at a stage. Safe to say, we do not want to end up like Kodak. By integrating our ads and products within the Internet (by using people to spread our message, via ‘fandoms’ and more), and not as glaringly obvious outsiders (pop-ups and side ads, etc.), we may find great success. Let's guarantee our future success by investing in future: online advertising. 

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