Mega post: What does digital communication really mean?

Yes, it’s a big one.

Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Culture, DCS, Facebook, Marketing, Media, New Media, Opinion, SEO, Synergy, Theory

Hyper-targeting, and how the internet has become an integral extension of our self expression.

OR: How I learned to stop worrying and love social media.

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Picture this; you are walking through a busy shopping centre, and left and right you see ads that really engage you as a person. An electronic billboards shows custom tailored ads for baby milk and gym memberships, promotions for your favourite comedian’s latest gig , and gift ideas for your boyfriend, after all, it’s his birthday soon.

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Sound far-fetched?

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Think again.

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OK so Minority Report style holograms might not be exactly just round the corner, but hyper-targeted ads are here to stay, and our mass immersion into social media has made us oh so easy to segregate.

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We now live in an age where social media (Facebook, Twitter and the like) has become such a huge part of so many people’s lives (and growing), that it has become the primary place for people to define themselves in their communities, as well as talk to the people they love about they things they love and hate.

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It has become another tool or medium with which we use to define ourselves to other people. The days of the Prada handbag and Northface jacket, may not have ended, but the days of ‘Strange Women Lying in Ponds and Distributing Swords as a Government System’ and ‘‘I love crumpets!‘ have only just begun.

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Social media users are curiously immersed in their connections; a few seconds of downtime, a red traffic light, a commercial TV break, or even a trip to the loo and out comes the smartphone, ready to digest what is going on in that person’s cultural sphere.

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But what does this increasingly pervasive digital aspect of culture and self-expression mean for advertisers? Well for one, the huge wealth of information supplied through privacy lacking social mediums like Facebook has made it easier than ever for brands to track  trends, brand perceptions and user experiences. It has also made ‘hyper targeting’ possible.

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Before the internet advertisers segregated target audiences into demographics and psychographics, and selected media channels based upon these aspects. Google AdWords and other ‘site user-profile’ based banner advertising allowed advertisers to target users based on average estimated audience values, a step forward, but not the ‘giant step for mankind’ that advertisers were desperately looking for.

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Facebook allows brands and companies to target an individual’s own pages, based upon that individual user’s own real-life values and behaviour.

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“So, John Doe, you are a Bristol university student from Catford that ‘Likes’ ‘Ministry of Sound’, ‘Rinse FM’ and ‘Cider’, I bet you would be interested in a pair of these shiny new Nike trainers, how about some cheap coach tickets so you can go and visit your lonely mum back home. Oh look it’s your sister’s wedding anniversary next week, don’t forget to send her a Moonpig card.”

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This is the future, now.

Filed under: Advertising, Branding, DCS, Facebook, Marketing, Media, New Media, Opinion, Synergy