All these aspects are very effective but they all rely on one thing, the audience interest. The main different with the Internet is that it is a purpose-driven media. People don’t accidentally use the Internet like they would the television or the radio. This means that when people use the Internet, advertisers need to target the sites that their target audience are likely to go on. This is where cross promotion comes into play. Many Internet based companies have joined with media based companies so that their products can be advertised for free on their websites. On example of this is the partnership between America Online (AOL) and TimeWarner, the media publishing company. When you use the search engine of AOL, the results will be biased on certain sites. On further investigation, you will see that the sites are actually created or containing information relevant to the TimeWarner Company. This way of using different media to advertise each other is becoming very popular and is now almost expected on many Internet sites.
To audiences, the Internet is very much a time saving device and way to make life easier. Being able to communicate with different people in a ‘real time’ situation is the selling point of the Internet. Audiences are now able to do what people have wished for many years. To be able to do tasks such as shopping, paying bills and handling finances without having to go and deal with people. This aspect has produced an experience that many people thought impossible into further in time.
Computer games rely on a niche marketing strategy. The whole point of computer games and consoles is selling products with short lifecycles for high prices. This means that the market is very fast moving and continuous. As one console is released the same company are in the final stages of developing their new console.
Computer games are very different and yet very similar. The genre of games can range from fantasy platform to imitation sports to Role playing games. The whole point of this is the niche market. The games are all different and are aimed at different age groups and genders. For example, a spice girls spin off game is aimed at girls aged 14 and under whereas FIFA 2002 is aimed at men aged 15 to 25. The whole point is to let the audience experience what they want and enjoy the type of situation they feel they would like.
Another point is stereotypes and genders. For many years, the gaming market has been seen for mainly men. The advertising and marketing of games and consoles reflect this. The hero in many games are male and of a 20 to 30 age group. The female heroines such as Lara Croft from tomb raider have very revealing costumes and enlarged physical aspects. The point of this is because of the market the games are aimed at. If the audience was to be female, the men’s physiques would be targeted at and there would be a bigger representation of women in games.
For the audience, the fact that you can be in fantasy situation and do what you want to do in the area is the selling point. People can’t go around shooting people and running around collecting apples and coins in real life but in game all is possible. The main problem with this is how serious the audience takes this game playing and if some people remember where the game play stops and real life starts. One controversial point in the gaming world is the disaster of September 11. A game called Flight simulator was developed for PC for Microsoft. In it you can fly a range of planes and aircrafts around famous cities. And this included flying a Boeing 747 around New York City. You can also crash into building including the World trade centres. This game was blamed for the disaster and it was said that the terrorist practised on the game and planned angles and projections on it. These kind of situations are possible and it is dependent on the audience if they want to believe what they are playing is possible, or is completely fiction and morally wrong.
Over the last 20 years mobile phones have seen the biggest technical transformation of any hardware in the world. In the 1980’s, mobiles costs hundreds of pounds and were very big and heavy. Today, nearly everyone in the western world has used a mobile phone and the industry is a multi-billion dollar organisation. The selling point of the mobile phone is the interactivity. Like the telephone, you can talk to someone as if you were speaking to them face to face, only you can be on the move while using them. The interactivity of mobiles is the main aspect. Audiences like to be able to use the devices and for them to react in split-second time. Synergy has been a big part of the mobile phone system. With the introduction of SMS messaging, many poll and television shows now offer text number as well as telephone number to vote for things. Text alerts from film and television guides also allows companies to build a bond between different medias like mobile phone technologies.
In recent months, convergence of mobile phones has been evident with video technologies. A new company called ‘3’ used guerrilla advertising to promote their new system. Around the UK, the ‘3’ logo was placed around London with nothing but a website. As the months passed a new television ad came out which explained that ‘3’ was a new phone company and that they will be the first phone network in the UK to offer phone conferencing. This kind of system has only previously been seen on the Internet and now it can be done portably, it has built up a lot of interest with audiences. This new experience for audiences will make them want the product so they can try it out and experience this new phenomenon for themselves.
