The New Media

Until the 1980s media relied primarily upon print and analog broadcast models, such as those of television and radio. The last twenty five years have seen the rapid transformation into media which are predicated upon the use of digital computers, such as the Internet and computer games. The use of digital computers has also transformed the remaining 'old' media, as suggested by the advent of digital television. Even traditional media forms such as the printing press have been transformed through the application of technologies such as image manipulation software like Adobe Photoshop and desktop publishing tools.

New media rely on digital technologies, allowing for previously separate media to converge. Media convergence is defined as a phenomenon of new media and this can be explained as a digital media."The idea of 'new media' captures both the development of unique forms of digital media, and the remaking of more traditional media forms to adopt and adapt to the new media technologies."[1] Convergence captures development futures from old media to new media. For example, we can easily see that people watch movies in the home on DVD these days instead of videocassettes. Also it is true that people listen to music with their CD player and mp3 player instead of cassette player. The most prominent example of media convergence is the Internet, whereby the technology for video and audio streaming is rapidly evolving. The term convergence is disputed, with crtics such as Manovich pointing out that the 'old' medium of film could be seen as the convergence of written text (titles and credits), photography, animation and audio recording. Equally, Espen Aarseth has surveyed the ever increasing number of incompatible electronic appliances to critique the techno-utopian claims of convergence. The status of convergence is one of many such disputed claims regarding the revolutionary 'newness' of new media.
While the term New Media is disputed - the technologies involved are now up to 25 years old, and therefore not new in the sense of recent innovations - theorist Lev Manovich has argued forcefully against the alternative term digital media in The Language of New Media (2001). Manovich contends that a digital process is one which is based on sampling a continuous (analog) one from the real world in order to re-present it. While computer based media fit into this description, as data is converted into binary code, so too does cinema - which functions by sampling time into a series of discrete images which are then played in rapid succession. Consequently, the term digital media signifies too broad a range of technologies for Manovich to consider it to be of any value within academic discourse.

Andrew L. Shapiro (1999) argues that the "emergence of new, digital technologies signals "a potentially radical shift of who is in control of information, experience and resources" (Shapiro cited in Croteau and Hoynes 2003: 322). W. Russell Neuman (1991) suggests that whilst the "new media" have technical capabilities to pull in one direction, economic and social forces pull back in the opposite direction. Thus, although social changes will occur, they "will be evolutionary, not revolutionary" (Croteau and Hoynes 2003: 322). According to Neuman, "We are witnessing the evolution of a universal interconnected network of audio, video, and electronic text communications that will blur the distinction between interpersonal and mass communication and between public and private communication" (Neuman cited in Croteau and Hoynes 2003: 322). Neuman argues that New Media:
  • will alter the meaning of geographic distance
  • Allow for a huge increase in the volume of communication.
  • Provide the possibility of increasing the speed of communication.
  • Provide opportunities for interactive communication.
  • Allow forms of communication that were previously separate to overlap and interconnect.
In place of the vague, hype infused terms often used to describe new media such as digitality, hypertextuality and interactivity, Manovich presents what he purports to be the principles of new media - which are not to be understood as fixed as laws - but general ways in which new media function.[2] These principles are listed as-

  1. Numerical Representation
  2. Modularity
  3. Automation
  4. Variability
  5. Transcoding

As an area of academic inquiry, new media studies has sought to understand the genealogies of new media platforms and texts; tracing the distinct pasts of digital computers and the media, and understanding how these paths came to intersect in the 1980's with the advent of GUI's and computers which were sufficiently powerful to run image manipulation programs. New media studies also seeks to map the potential trajectories of new media systems, and analyse their relationship(s) with democracy and the Habermasian notion of the public sphere. Consequently it has been the contention of scholars such as Douglas Kellner and James Bonham that new media, and particularly the internet provides the potential for a democratic postmodern public sphere, in which citizens can participate in well informed, non-hierarchical debate pertaining to their social structures. Contradicting these positive appraisals of the potential social impacts of new media are scholars such as Ed Herman andRobert McChesney who have suggested that the transition to new media has seen a handful of powerful transnational telecommunications corporations who own the majority achieve a level of global influence which was hitherto unimaginable. Recent contributions to the field such as Lister et al (2003) and Friedman (2005) have highlighted both the positive and negative potential and actual implications of new media technologies, suggesting that some of the early work into new media studies was guilty of technological determinism - whereby the effects of media were determined by the technology themselves, rather than through tracing the complex social networks which governed the development, funding, implementation and future development of any technology.

A host of companies and organizations describe themselves as "new media". With this all-encompassing use of the term, "new media" can refer to any type of media that is used for public relations or marketing, if it is more electronically sophisticated than an animated flashing neon sign. Because this broad use of the term has a vague definition, it may be considered something of a buzzword.

Such marketing organizations may understand "new media" as another term for digital media, whilst others discussing the term tend to see it as more related to a hypothetical future of digital media. This narrower, more advanced use of the term doesn't just apply to digital media, but to the technological leaps themselves--from developing new concepts, products, or technology to pushing technological advances on items already in circulation.

New Media has become a significant element in everyday life. It allows people to communicate, bank, shop and entertain. The global network of the Internet, for instance, connects people and information via computers.[3] In this way the Internet, as a communication medium of New Media, overcomes the gap between people from different countries, permitting them to exchange opinions and information. Diverse means for this exist even within the context of the Internet, including chat rooms, Instant Messaging applications, forums, email messaging, online video and audio streaming and downloads, and voice-over-internet telecommunications. New Media is defined not only as a communication tool, but also as a tool for the commercial exchange of goods and services.[4] Consumer goods are for sale, and personal property may be auctioned, through the Internet. New Media is increasingly ubiquitous in everyday life. To adopt the phrase used by Lister et al in New Media, a Critical Introduction, those of us with access to the online world are now 'living in the interface'.[5]

Understanding User Generated Content

User generated content (UGC, often hyphenated), also known as Consumer Generated Media (CGM[1] or User created Content (UCC[2], refers to various kinds of media content, publicly available, that are produced by end-users[3].

The term entered mainstream usage during 2005 after arising in web publishing and new media content production circles. It reflects the expansion of media production through new technologies that are accessible and affordable to the general public. These include digital videobloggingpodcasting, news, gossip, research, mobile phone photography and wikis. In addition to these technologies, user generated content may also employ a combination of open sourcefree software, and flexible licensing or related agreements to further diminish the barriers to collaborationskill-building and discovery.

Sometimes UGC can constitute only a portion of a website. For example on Amazon.com the majority of content is prepared by administrators, but numerous user reviews of the products being sold are submitted by regular visitors to the site.

Often UGC is partially or totally monitored by website administrators to avoid offensive content or language, copyright infringement issues, or simply to determine if the content posted is relevant to the site's general theme.

Understanding Customer Engagement

Customer Engagement (CE) refers to the engagement of customers with one another, with a company or a brand. The initiative for engagement can be either consumer- or company-led and the medium of engagement can be on or offline.
Unlike marketing terms such as 'Positioning', which was introduced by Al Ries & Jack Trout, the term 'Customer Engagement' (CE) has not been traced to a single source.[1] No book has been published on CE, yet hundreds of pages have been written, published online, read and commented upon. Numerous high-profile conferences, seminars and roundtables have either had CE as a primary theme or included papers on the topic. [2]
Customer Engagement marketing places conversions into a longer term, more strategic context and is premised on the understanding that a simple focus on maximising conversions can, in some circumstances, decrease the likelihood of repeat conversions (Customer engagement interview with Richard Sedley). CE aims at long-term engagement, encouraging customer loyalty and advocacy through word- of-mouth. In this sense "CE is the best measure of current and future performance" 2006 Annual Online CE Survey.
Online Customer Engagement is qualitatively different from offline Customer Engagement as the nature of the customer's interactions with a brand, company and other customers differ on the internet. Discussion forums or blogs, for example, are spaces where people can communicate and socialise in ways that cannot be replicated by any offline interactive medium. Customer Engagement marketing efforts that aim to create, stimulate or influence customer behaviour differ from the offline, one-way, marketing communications that marketers are familiar with. Although customer advocacy, for example, has always been a goal for marketers, the rise of online user generated content can take advocacy to another level.
The concept and practice of online Customer Engagement enables organisations to respond to the fundamental changes in customer behaviour that the internet has brought about, as well as to the increasing ineffectiveness of the traditional 'interrupt and repeat', broadcast model of advertising. Due to the fragmentation and specialisation of media and audiences, as well as the proliferation of community- and user generated content, businesses are increasingly losing the power to dictate the communications agenda. Simultaneously, lower switching costs, the geographical widening of the market and the vast choice of content, services and products available online have weakened customer loyalty.
So today, leveraging customer contributions is an important source of competitive advantage – whether through advertising, user generated product reviews, customer service FAQs, forums where consumers can socialise with one another or contribute to product development.
Amazon recently re-branded into 'serving the world's largest engaged online community', the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) has created a 'Blueprint for Consumer-Centric Holistic Measurement' and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), have put together the 'Engagement Steering Committee' to work on the customer engagement metric. Nielsen Media Research, IAG Research and Simmons Research are also all in the process of developing a CE definition and metric. [3]
Online Customer Engagement (CE) refers to:
1. A social phenomenon enabled by the wide adoption of the internet in the late 1990s and taking off with the technical developments in connection speed (broadband) in the decade that followed. Online CE is qualitatively different from the engagement of consumers offline.
2. The behaviour of customers that engage in online communities revolving, directly or indirectly, around product categories (cycling, sailing) and other consumption topics. It details the process that leads to a customer's positive engagement with the company or offering, as well as the behaviours associated with different degrees of customer engagement.
3. Marketing practices that aim to create, stimulate or influence CE behaviour. Although CE-marketing efforts must be consistent both online and offline, the internet is the basis of CE-marketing.(Eisenberg & Eisenberg 2006:72,81)
4. Metrics that measure the effectiveness of the marketing practices which seek to create, stimulate or influence CE behaviour

Using CVP in Internet Marketing

CVP is a management accounting tool that express relationship between sales volume, cost and profit. CVP can be used in the form of graph or an equation.

CVP Analysis can be used in marketing to determine the point of maximum profit for a company engaged in Internet Marketing efforts, in relation to the cost of those efforts and the volume of sales created. It is a key measurement in determining marketing strategy and developing realistic business goals (increased profit volume or market share.)

CVP Analysis is a multi-variable equation that takes into account various middle metrics, including Return on Investment (ROI) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). Some marketers, particularly in online marketing firms, use CVP Analysis to predict where maximum profit volume exists for their clients, and manipulate the middle metrics to in order to make the path to success more efficient.

Using CVP Analysis, marketing firms can measure the results of media campaigns along the Customer engagement cycle and convert the data into sound business strategy. Through predictive analysis, they are able to gauge the effects of future marketing mix changes to produce maximum profit volume or increased market share for their clients.

Advantages on Online Marketing

One of the benefits associated with Internet marketing is the availability of great amounts of information. Consumers can access the Internet and research products, as well as purchase them at any hour of any day. Companies that use Internet marketing can also save money because of a reduced need for a sales force. Overall, Internet marketing can help expand from a local market to national and international market places. Compared to traditional media, such as print, radio and TV, Internet marketing can have a relatively low cost of entry .

It should be mentioned that, although it may seem a relatively simple task to enter the world of online marketing, sound business strategies still apply. There is still an emphasis on business goals, namely CVP analysis when determining strategy and the overall effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

Since exposure, response and overall efficiency of Internet media is easy to track compared to traditional "offline" media, through the use of web analytics for instance, Internet marketing can offer a greater sense of accountability for advertisers. Internet marketing, as of 2007 is growing faster than other types of media.

Internet Marketing - Online Marketing

Internet marketing, also referred to as online marketing or Emarketing, is the marketing of products or services over the Internet. The Internet has brought many unique benefits to marketing including low costs in distributing information and media to a global audience. The interactive nature of Internet marketing, both in terms of instant response, and in eliciting response, are unique qualities of the medium.
Internet marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the internet, including design, development, advertising and sales. Internet marketing methods include search engine marketingdisplay advertisinge-mail marketingaffiliate marketinginteractive advertisingblog marketing, and viral marketing.

Internet marketing is the process of growing and promoting an organization using online media. Internet marketing does not simply mean 'building a website' or 'promoting a website'. Somewhere behind that website is a real organization with real goals.

Internet marketing strategy includes all aspects of online advertising products, services, and websites, including market research, email marketing, and direct sales.

Direct Mail Fundraising History and growth in the United States

However, in its modern form, direct mail fundraising appeared in the United States only after World War II, when nationwide charities such as the National Easter Seal Society sought ways to broaden their fundraising base.

It was only with the advent in the 1960s of the ZIP Code and, later, the computer that direct mail fundraising began to gain wide use. Before the ZIP code, it was difficult to target appropriate recipients of direct mail fundraising appeals, and before the computer, compiling and maintaining lists of supporters was tedious and costly. During the 1970s, when computers became increasingly affordable, the use of direct mail fundraising spread widely. It quickly became the means by which most Americans learned about and first provided financial support for their charities of choice.

The explosive growth of the nonprofit sector in the United States — quadrupling in the 1980s and doubling again in the 1990s and early 2000s — led to a massive expansion in the use of direct mail to build and sustain large, nationwide donor and membership lists. Today, direct mail fundraising accounts for at least one-fifth of the more than $250 billion contributed annually in the U.S. to the nation's 1.6 million nonprofit organizations