How Technology Is Changing Advertising and Marketing

Introduction: Technology and the Changing Business Environment

The world has changed, and it seems obvious that it will continue to change. Businesses today need to please both shareholders and customers, and the only way they will be able to do that is to change as well. In order to meet growth, quality, and social expectations, organizations must continuously reinvent themselves to capture new and future business opportunities. In this highly global and technologically advanced business environment, traditional methodologies need to be reevaluated. It is no longer acceptable to conduct business, marketing, or advertising ventures in a "business as usual" manner. The bar keeps being raised as new expectations and standards are set.

This line of reasoning has affected many aspects of our lives because new technologies dictate media choices such as print and television. This paper therefore aims to present three ways in which changes in technology have affected media types in advertising. Specifically, the objective is to show how new products or services and the advertising mediums used to promote them will change because of technological developments over the course of the next ten years.

The Decline of Traditional Advertising

In the realm of advertising and marketing, traditional means have mostly become — or will eventually become — outdated. New approaches and methodologies will emerge and prove to be more effective. To illustrate, consider how one might advertise a Ford Mustang today compared with approaches used in the past. Technology has changed that way of thinking. Three key innovations and their effects on marketing a product like a car are worth examining:

TiVo has demonstrated that consumers no longer watch television commercials if they do not have to. Meanwhile, databases and the internet have provided cheap, highly reliable, and interactive communications opportunities for businesses. Together, these three innovations are reshaping how companies reach their customers.

Successful communication will always be an essential part of business success, and the majority of all business success revolves around attracting and retaining customers. "It is well recognized that a key issue in gaining brand awareness, trial, and subsequent loyalty is to reflect deep-seated values in advertising and augmented product offerings. When marketers address consumer values, target consumers sense that the product's purpose is to benefit their individual lives" (Durgee, O'Connor, and Veryzer). If communication is such an instrumental part of marketing and advertising strategies, then the modern and future approach will be to personalize that communication through direct mail, word of mouth, and internet marketing. The traditional means of radio, television, magazine, and newspaper advertisements are being left behind because they cannot deliver personalized messages to individual consumers.

Database Marketing and Personalization

Today, customized and individually tailored marketing and advertising efforts are necessary in order to justify marketing expenditures as well as the return on investment. Companies today have resources that companies of the past could only dream about. Existing database technology, for example, has enhanced and personalized marketing strategies, enabling a move away from mass marketing. Today, customers expect that their individual needs will be met, and database marketing is the key component that makes this possible.

Companies have the ability to house data on almost every single customer who has ever inquired about or purchased a product or service from them — and they can purchase information on prospective customers as well. This information has become a gold mine in the information era, as companies now utilize their vast stores of data to execute focused database marketing campaigns that help capture market share and better serve existing customer bases.

Database technology makes it possible to evaluate both existing and new customers' value and, in effect, score them. This allows companies to create rankings of more valuable customers, or customers who could potentially become valuable through cross-selling opportunities. Companies are also better positioned to serve customers and to create select target markets for specific products — such as consumers likely to purchase a blue Mustang as opposed to a red one. Statistical analysis of a customer's calculated lifetime value greatly enhances a company's ability to identify potential new markets, target groups, and new products, all within the company's existing database structure.

New database marketing campaigns save time, resources, and money while pinpointing marketing and advertising efforts with precision. This will continue to increase customer satisfaction and, as a result, improve overall business performance.

Conclusion: The Future of Advertising

The objective of this paper was to demonstrate how new products and services will use new advertising and marketing approaches because of the changes in technology over the course of the next ten years. In the realm of advertising and marketing, traditional means no longer meet the needs of business because consumers have new expectations of more personalized and direct marketing efforts on the part of companies.

When a person wants to buy a new Ford Mustang, they will not see a commercial on television because their TiVo unit will skip right past it. Instead, they will visit a webpage to inquire about the car, and the manufacturer will gather their personal information and create an individualized marketing approach tailored to that single consumer. This shift is already underway, and it will only accelerate as technology continues to advance.

Works Cited

Durgee, Jeffrey F., Gina Colarelli O'Connor, and Robert W. Veryzer. "Translating Values into Product Wants." Journal of Advertising Research, vol. 36, 1996.