Traditional Versus Digital Media - Coursework Example

Traditional Versus Digital Media Table of Contents Introduction 4 Traditional marketing media 4 Advantages and disadvantages of traditional media 5 Digital marketing media 5 Web based marketing opportunities 7 Advantages and disadvantages of Web media 8 Contrasting views regarding traditional and digital media 8 Convergence of traditional and digital media 9 Conclusion 9 Reference list 10 Bibliography 12 Executive summary Marketing is a highly dynamic sector and over the years it has witnessed continuous changes. However, advent of internet resulted in significant paradigm shift thereof. Consequently, marketing tools have observed significant level of transition. It was also ascertained that digital marketing campaigns, unlike that of traditional marketing, can be conveniently sculpted and modified as per the needs of a target market and can easily accommodate the continuous evolution in consumer taste and preferences. In this paper, digital and traditional marketing tools have been compared and contrasted so as to determine ways to improve marketing efficiency. In this regard, purchasing behaviour and consumer perception has been paid significant attention as product sale and consumer satisfaction are ultimate goals of any marketing tools no matter whether traditional or digital. The paper has also discussed briefly the scope of convergence of the both the kinds as union of traditional and digital media has capability of enhancing consumers’ purchasing experience. Introduction Marketing is not only about selling a product or service to consumers but to alleviate the latent needs of consumer and convince them to make the purchase. Earlier, marketing strategies were limited to measures such as direct marketing, print media and broadcast media. However, the landscape of traditional marketing is being gradually overtaken by digital media techniques such as social media and internet (Coupey, 2001). Considering the nascent phase of digital media, it is often difficult for consumers to distinguish between digital and traditional media (Kotler and Keller, 2011). In this regard, the paper contrasts conventional marketing strategies with that of digital marketing along with critical analysis of theories thereof. Traditional marketing media Traditional media is referred to any communication method of publication form where conventional techniques have been implemented for the purpose of distribution of information, marketing message and news (Scullin, Fjermestad and Romano Jr, 2004). Solis (2010) referred to traditional media as relatively old and highlighted that it comprises of all the measures that were introduced prior to the advent of World Wide Web (internet). The development in printing technologies in 1700s and 1800s was closely followed by introduction of technologies such as radio and motion picture (Winston, 1998). Presently most academic literature emphasizes on digital media; nevertheless, conventional media has significant contribution towards marketing communication. It can be observed that traditional media played three significant roles, which are dissemination of information, consumer awareness and education and impact on buying behavior (Hoskins, McFadyen and Finn, 2004). Conventional sources of communication exist in numerous forms that are often categorised as broadcast media and print media and have so far served as a constant companion and an essential source of information to consumers and other spectators that helped in their purchasing activities. However, one significant drawback of traditional method of information communication is that it is a one-to-many approach and is one directional in nature. The traditional media lacked instant feedback mechanism and there is no way for audience to communicate back their queries instantly. The flaws in traditional media were remained dormant and highly insignificant till digital media surfaced. Conventional marketing methods were often referred as source of mass communication. Another important aspect of traditional media is that, it assumed the mass audience to be homogenous in nature (Mirzaei, et al., 2012). These media were employed carefully depending upon product nature, consumer buying behaviour and level of competition in the market. In other words, traditional marketing measures were significantly influenced by marketing mix components or the 4Ps, that is, product, price, place and promotion. Kotler and Keller (2011) asserted that each component has its specific set of marketing tools. Traditional marketing generally relies on conventional media outlets, such as television, magazines, bill board, radio, trade journals and news articles for conveying message to the target market. Advertising and other promotional measures such as discount voucher and redemption coupons through these measures affect consumer cognition by means of their emotional intelligence. For instance, consumers tend to buy more of those products that have associated discount or are advertised more on television and magazines instead of those that are relatively less visual or vocal on media (Abideen and Saleem, 2011). In this regard, Bell and Emory (1971) criticized traditional techniques of marketing for being manipulative. They explained that businesses often used print or broadcast advertisement to manipulate information and increase product demand. Celsi (1991) strengthened their argument by appending that excessive usage of manipulative marketing has caused growth of consumer protection organizations. Advantages and disadvantages of traditional media Traditional marketing media has a high success rate for various reasons such as understandable communication techniques, significant level of reliability, can be developed according to consumers’ culture, flexible in terms of format, theme and content, has lasting impact due to greater degree of human interaction and is highly communicative and entertaining. However, it is not devoid of disadvantages and these include ignorance towards heterogeneity among consumers, restriction on geographic diversity, limited reach and often presumed irrelevant by buyers (Mirzaei, et al., 2012). Digital marketing media In recent years, a major change in human interaction has been experienced through digital empowerment. The proliferation of social networking and blogging has resulted in rapid development of web platform for commerce and migration of consumers from physical store to virtual stores. Digital revolution has not only touched lives of consumers but has also influence promotional techniques and purchasing pattern (Hoffman and Novak, 1996). Kondopoulos (2011) noted that strengths and reach of internet as a channel for business development and sales has been well recognized by companies. Weinberg and Pehlivan (2011) and Zhao and Zhu (2010) appended in this regard that marketers are making significant investment in digital platform and marketing tools due to its strong potentials. Kiani (1998) emphasized that the invention of internet can be considered as mankind’s second best intervention after language for the web has gained significant importance as a mode of communication and transaction within a small period of time. It was further proposed by the author that digital revolution has lead to greater usage of ICT (Information Communication Technology) as the prime communication tool by businesses. Authors such as Armstrong and Hagel (2000) further contributed that electronic media is experiencing rapid growth and acceptance because it allows business to communicate with existing as well as potential consumers located in domestic and international locations in a very conveniently manner and at a relatively low cost. The internet, more specifically the web marketing has certain innovative yet strong characteristics which has caused a complete paradigm shift in the world of marketing. Shift can be observed from one way communication to both way communication between suppliers and buyers. The advent of virtual stores on the internet has enhanced consumers buying experience as they can effortlessly view products, purchase them and get them delivered at doorstep. Digital revolution resulted in substitution of the one-to-many marketing model by the many-to-many marketing model. Additionally, it has also caused the supply oriented marketing to exhibit inclination toward demand orientation. Consequently, the marketplace is being driven by decentralization and differentiation (Blattberg, Glazer and Little, 1994; Rayport and Sviokla1994). According to authors such as Bayo-Moriones and Lera-Lopez (2007), addition of digital dimension in marketing has benefitted consumers in a number of ways such as extensive information, efficiency, greater degree of participation, convenience, product diversity, instant feedback and proactive communication. The author appended that easy availability of genuine information about products and services through social media has also affected purchasing behaviour in a positive manner. Word of mouth is another source of promotion of ecommerce. Consumer readily purchases products that have been recommended by their colleagues and friends. Interactive websites also offer instant customisation of products and services which is very unlikely in traditional media. Therefore, digital media takes shopping experience multiple steps ahead of the traditional marketing. Additionally, there is little or no scope of consumer manipulation in digital marketing thereby consumer is perfectly informed about their purchases (Google, 2014). Kiani (1998), while evaluating the growing scope of marketing opportunities in the web-based interactive environment, proposed a number of communication models that can prove useful to firms as well as to consumers. These situations are company to consumer, consumer to consumer, consumer to company and company to company. Web based marketing opportunities Company to consumers: Virtual communication between company and consumer is mainly focused on content delivery. Morgan (1996) asserted that interactive media can be used by marketers to deliver various product and non-product related information to consumers. J Ellsworth and M Ellsworth (1997) supported the argument by suggesting that web is comparatively fast, inexpensive and global in nature and offers rich information and advertisement details (McQuade, et al., 1996). Consumers to company: Blattberg, Glazer and Little (1994) reported that web platform provide ample opportunities to consumers to approach firms with enquiries regarding product and services. They further established that digital media has made it convenient for consumers to participate in the production and product development process. Kiani (1998) extended their thought by appending that web marketing has also resulted in greater emphasis on lean production and greater specificity in product development. Consumers to consumers: Armstrong and Hagel (1996) explained that digital revolution has caused significant increase in interaction among consumers through various social media and blogs. Social media and online consumer feedback help consumers gain appropriate idea about utility of a particular product. Experienced consumers act as source of virtual word-of-mouth for new and potential buyers (Gillin, 2009). Company to company: It was gathered that with advent of digital marketing, interdependencies among different companies have increased significantly. For instance, marketers need to depend significantly on online marketing companies for promoting their products or they need to pay software companies for developing company website. Internet brings out a number of complexities for companies and therefore, it is important for them to partner with others to enhance the level of competitiveness. Additionally, virtual trade fair and mega sales also bring together a number of companies under one roof for business purpose (Kiani, 1998). Advantages and disadvantages of Web media The benefits of using digital media can be vast depending on appropriate utilization of the platform. It has been observed that web media help companies to understand their consumer needs in a specific manner and therefore facilitate the opportunity of reaching heterogeneous audience efficiently. Digital media offer message and feedback dissemination in negligible amount of time. Additionally, using digital media companies have choice of segmenting and targeting specific consumers. Virtual consumer interaction is another benefit of digital media which can be used in favour of organisations. Digital media is in its nascent phase of development and consequently is prone to certain drawbacks such as largely impersonal in nature, high development and maintenance cost, limited rural access and require training for operational and maintenance purpose (Kiani, 1998). Contrasting views regarding traditional and digital media Depending upon the theories, literary viewpoints and definitions, the impending differences between social media and traditional media are presented in this section in a comprehensive manner. Traditional marketing focus on process of conducting market research, product promotion and sale while digital marketing is to reach consumers by means of social media, blog, company website and external web platforms to engage and empower them for purchasing. The most common platforms of digital marketing include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blog. Conversely, traditional marketing is limited to offline media such as television, radio, newspaper, fliers, billboard and banners (Mirzaei, et al., 2012; Salehi, 2012). Web marketing is often referred to as paperless mode of interaction and communication. Traditional media require greater physical involvement of sales personnel during direct marketing and personal selling. However, selling through online chat does not require physical presence, so the consumer and seller can interact easily irrespective of their locations. Significant difference can be observed in terms of approach as well. Traditional media while promoting a product assumes that one product is suitable for all and there is no need of change in communication style for different consumers. In online marketing, consumers are often segmented in terms of their lifestyle, age and other factors for better brand positioning. In this regard, a number of online communities can be identified where likeminded consumers interact openly (Mirzaei, et al., 2012; Salehi, 2012). Convergence of traditional and digital media In the light of various academic arguments, it can be observed that digital marketing media is an enhancement and extension of conventional communication technologies. Innovative modification in traditional communication models paves way to the major paradigm shift. It was observed that conflict between both kinds of media is very little and there is a broad scope of convergence. For instance, television and online video streaming serve the same purpose but the difference lies in terms of consumer preferences. Together, they can form a very powerful medium where television can reach the rural consumers while digital media can meet the requirements of urban consumers. Through convergence, both the media will cover each other’s underlying shortcomings (Kiani, 1998). Conclusion Marketing is an extremely broad subject where different kinds of communication media and tools are utilised. However, recent development of web interface and its usage in marketing has resulted in broad classification of the tools in traditional and digital marketing. This paper studied potentials of traditional marketing tools with respect to that of digital marketing on the basis of various academic opinions so that benefits of their convergence are determined and method of convergence is proposed. Convergence has been proposed to test the strength of an integrated media that comprises traditional as well as digital tools. Reference list Abideen, Z. U. and Saleem, S., 2011. Effective advertising and its influence on consumer buying behavior. European Journal of Business and Management, 3(3), pp. 55-65. Armstrong, A. and Hagel, J., 2000. The real value of online communities. Knowledge and communities, pp. 85-95. Bayo-Moriones, A. and Lera-Lo´pez, F., 2007. 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