I found these interesting articles on Bloomberg Businessweek. One of which is a story about how Netflix is giving premium cable channels, like HBO, sleepless nights. I thought it was very relevant when we speak of media TNC's. Ironically, the article says that up until now, Netflix was more a friend than a foe to HBO but that has clearly changed.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_39/b4196021822248.htm
The other piece is a cover story called 'How Facebook sells you' - it starts off with a story about Nike and how advertisers used Facebook as a medium to 'Write the Future.' (You'll see the context when you read the article - the numbers in the article are mind-boggling.) This article is a great education on how social media has kind of pervaded our lives to such an extent that now advertisers and marketers have access to our personal preferences. It's astonishing at how extremely 'user-specific' and targeted the advertising is.
Again, if a media TNC manages to buy Facebook in the future, how powerful would it become seeing as Facebook is probably getting bigger as we speak? The article also mentions a movie called the 'The Social Network' which is about Mark Zuckerberg and the rise of Facebook. It opens in theatres this week - October 1.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_40/b4197064860826.htm?chan=magazine+channel_top+stories
Perhaps issues like the Netflix vs. HBO conflict are to give us hope for the continuation of some kind of competetive market despite the excess of media conglomerates. Perhaps, though, it's just a bump on the road to smooth cooperation, and they will figure out how to make profits continue to grow for all of the interested parties in perfect harmony with one another. Lets hope they continue to butt heads.
ReplyDeleteI think the way in which Facebook operates its' advertising is a good example of glocalization that is discussed in the Mody and Lee article Differing Traditions of Research on International Media Influence. While Facebook is a giant social network advertisements are very much adapted to each user’s location, likes, friends’ likes, etc. It does not feel like you are sharing this with millions of people around the world because you only see what applies to you and your friends. I also think that Facebook does a good job of democratizing the ad space, with inexpensive simple ads smaller companies are able to advertise directly to their target markets and alongside NIKE and Starbucks.
ReplyDeleteThis is sort of going off topic from the original post, but the comment above reminded me of an article I heard on NPR a little while ago. It talked about how all of us are tracked online, and then our information is sold to advertisers, so then those advertisers can make sure their ads show up for people who might be interested in their product on certain web pages. For instance, the woman being interviewed talked about looking up a pair of shoes online, and from then on, she kept seeing ads for those shoes all over the Internet. After hearing this story, I started noticing how much it happens to me. I am from Utah, and my sister sent me a video from the Mormon church's new advertising campaign. Ever since then, I see it on a lot of the web pages I visit, including Facebook. I’d be curious to know if there are any studies on this to see how effective it is, and on average, how many times someone has to see a certain ad in order for them to click on it or purchase the product.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129298003