Merging Media and the Market

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place”

George Bernard Shaw

It has been predicted that within the next decade at least one-half of all content consumption on the Internet will be driven by communitainment: a type of hybrid between social communication and entertainment driven by the popularity of instant messaging, social networking, photo and video sharing sites.  Piper Jaffray coined this term and recently released a report title, The User Revolution, predicting that global online advertising revenue will be over $80 billion by 2011.  Right now over fifty percent of a person’s online time is allocated to communication and entertainment.  The idea of communitainment legitimizes the internet as and emerging medium and hones in on the social interactions that are surround broadband internet users. 

A study by Netpop found that broadband consumers spend almost half of their spare time online and are active producers of content.  It seems that as consumers become more and more involved with new media they become less and less responsive to the more traditional forms of advertising. Broadband has revolutionized they way that we use the internet and our enabled us to do more with less time. As such, new media and communitainment specifically is going to offer marketers a new opportunity to reach consumers on an individual basis. 

This study found that online consumers are oftentimes more receptive and interested in advertisements that appear on their favorite Web site.  This interest is attributed to that fact that consumers trust their favorite sites and feel that these sites think like they do.  Web sites are becoming more of a confidante to consumers than simply an informative digital front.  Consumers can gain instant perspective, referrals, information, purchase, and build a relationship with any entity through an effective Web site.  A consumer’s favorite Web site is like a best friend that they need to ‘catch up’ with on a daily basis. 

New media is allowing marketers the opportunity to connect with consumers on a personal level, engage them, and then support this budding relationship through additional integrated marketing communications.  Ultimately, communitainment is bringing marketers closer and closer to effectively communicating with a segment of one.  But since the internet has the ability to integrate so many different mediums marketer must rethink their online efforts to create extremely powerful relationships with consumers.