Advances in Marketing - Essay Example

Advances in Marketing Introduction 21st-century marketing symbolises the evolutionary attribute of modern business and interaction. In the last decade, marketing has undergone numerous changes that have altered both its perception and potential. The internet and especially social media has been the driver of marketing innovations since the turn of the century. This has led to the emergence of online cultures and trends that all marketers can use to enhance the effectiveness of their advertisements. One feature of online culture that is hugely relevant to marketing, and which will form the basis of this paper, is video sharing. This paper will examine video sharing and the trends it has spawned that are relevant to marketing, particularly product reviewing videos on YouTube. Discussion The Culture of Video Sharing According to Scott (2013), video sharing is part of the modern participatory culture that has defined the current generation of internet users. Today, many teenagers and middle-aged individuals who use the web are actively engaged in sharing. This includes joining online forums and communities to create and share videos, producing creative content in novel forms (digital sampling, video production, and modding), forming groups to execute tasks and generate new knowledge, and defining the flow of media. An expanding body of literature reveals likely benefits of the video sharing culture, including opportunities for the enhancement of skills relevant in the contemporary workplace, opportunities for coordinated and peer-to-peer learning, and more informed and empowered notions of citizenship (Kawasaki and Fitzpatrick, 2014). Some scholars contend that young people acquire video sharing skills and competencies independently by embracing popular culture. However, the challenges of limited media transparency, the collapse of conventional variants of professional training and interaction, and unequal access validate the case for pedagogical and strategic interventions. There are few online experiences that are more enjoyable than watching great videos. Humans are naturally inclined to maximise pleasure and minimise displeasure. This trait is augmented by an intrinsic need to satisfy emotional needs, hence the urge to participate in activities that arouse emotions in a positive manner (Nelson-Field, 2013). In this regard, there are few contemporary online cultures that can better the impact of video sharing. Professional filmmakers, casual internet users, vloggers, and practitioners in various disciplines are involved in promoting the video sharing culture. In fact, there are video sharing options for people of all social classes and ages (Tuten and Solomon, 2014). With the increasing availability of smartphones, apps, and fast internet speeds, there are still many opportunities available in video sharing. Currently, people are live streaming all types of content, from social events to sports matches and instantly sharing them in their web communities. Discourses on video sharing have shifted from debates about technological access to inquiries on access to opportunities for engagement in the video sharing culture and how to provide all internet users with the opportunities to acquire the cultural and social competencies needed to propagate a video sharing culture. This initiative demands a systemic perspective of media education (Nelson-Field, 2013). For example, parents, afterschool programs, and educational institutions all have unique roles to play. Video sharing is one of the most recognisable online cultures. Currently, millions of videos are created, published, and shared among millions of people around the world. This has been facilitated by the growing sophistication of mobile phones, computers, and other portable gadgets like tablets (Tuten and Solomon, 2014). At the moment, it is possible to create, record, share videos with people halfway across the world in less than 10 minutes (Spotts, 2014). All it takes is to capture, or if a specific video is already in existent, simply share it with others on internet domains like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The “share” function is the most powerful aspect of video sharing on any platform. For example, YouTube includes a share feature that allows viewers to publish videos on other social media sites in less than a minute (Kapoor, 2013). In this sense, a video that was previously available on one site becomes immediately accessible in other domains in the most convenient way. At the start of the video sharing culture, the subject seemed to be limited to popular topics like current affairs and entertainment. However, in a development that epitomises the power and commonality of the internet, video sharing has become an all-inclusive culture. Internet users view, create and share videos whose subjects range from routine activities like cooking to the latest innovations in the technological segment. Due to the existence of highly sophisticated devices, people can now record themselves while performing normal tasks like attending lectures and make them available to millions of other users across the world. Video sharing has both promoted and restricted faceless interaction (Hautz et al. 2013). Although people can create and publish videos, viewers are not necessarily given access to the individuals behind the videos. They might know their names and professions, but they are not automatically assured of seeing their faces. As a result, there are scores of viewers who do not know the sources of the videos they watch online (Li, 2013). Unless the person sharing the video wants their identity to be known, it will remain unknown. On the other hand, video sharing has also facilitated face-to-face interaction because creators have the option of revealing themselves to their viewers. By using point of view (POV) recording, audiences can see and even engage the individuals on the other side of the media. Video sharing has fundamentally altered the dynamics of social relationships. By sharing video product reviews, a consumer interacts with millions of other consumers who he may never see or meet and, in many circumstances, is not known to him. Video sharing has removed the physical boundaries traditionally inherent in marketing and allowed marketers to interact with and sell to customers with whom the only relationship they will ever have is based on video hosting sites and video product reviews (Information Resources Management Association, 2014). Findings of studies conducted since the turn of the century to present have shown that the level of interactivity of marketing is directly proportional to the degree of consumer desire. This means that the more interactive a marketing channel or strategy is, the higher the consumer desire. This is the case with video product reviews that give consumers a realistic and well-packaged view of products that they might not have seen or heard of before (Logan, 2013). However, once they visit video sharing platforms and watch product reviews, they develop a desire for products that, in all likelihood, they might not have purchased without watching and sharing marketing-oriented videos. Video Product Reviews At this juncture, it is necessary to delve into a by-product of video sharing that is of great significance to marketing: video product reviews. A good example of a popular exponent of video product reviews is EXPOTV (EXPO), which classes itself as a customer-focused video platform. A visit to its website reveals video product reviews posted by members of its virtual community, known as videopinions (Scott, 2013). EXPO’s videopinions exploit the culture of video sharing to market products to consumers in different parts of the world. Currently, over 500,000 video product reviews have been uploaded on the website. After creating the videos, the company distributes them to different consumer outlets like social network platforms, manufacturer domains, and retail websites (Park, Shin and Ju, 2014). EXPO’s revenue model is based on licensing its technology and videos mainly to producers but also to online comparison shopping websites and retailers. EXPO is just one among thousands of consumer-oriented video domains that market products to virtual communities. While EXPO covers almost all product categories, there are companies that use the same platform to provide video reviews of specific products. These include the likes of GSMArena, which specialise in mobile phones, laptops, and affiliated products (Zhang et al. 2014). In recent times, manufacturers have capitalised on the video product review platform by creating their own websites where consumers can view and learn more about product features from in-house employees. From a marketing perspective, video product reviews combine audiovisual acuity with presentation skills and virtual consumer-product interaction (Scott, 2013). For example, if customers want to buy refrigerator but they are not sure about the size and brand that would suit their needs, they can visit EXPO’s websites and find thousands of video reviews on refrigerators. They do not have to visit a physical store to understand what is available and which brands and models meet their requirements. On EXPO’s portal, consumers will find informed and authorised reviews of Samsung, LG, or General Electric refrigerators and, after watching all of them, choose and even buy their preferred refrigerators. If they do not want to shop on EXPO’s website, they can take the information acquired from its reviews and visit a physical store armed with enough insight into what they need (Tuten and Solomon 2014). As a result, they do not have to spend more time in the supermarket deciding which refrigerator to buy. The same scenario applies if a consumer wanted to buy a mobile phone; GSMArena would function like a marketing tool that not only educates the consumer but also provides a great online shopping experience. The marketing function of video product reviews manifests in two ways. Firstly, the video product review websites can be paid by manufacturers to market their products because they have an established presence on the internet (Roberts and Zahay 2012). In this respect, if consumers looking for laptops were to visit YouTube or any other video product review site to acquire a better understanding of the different laptops available, they would inadvertently have to watch a variety of reviews of HP, Dell, or Apple laptops before they settle on one brand. In the process, they will have been exposed to and learned about brands that they were previously unaware of or had limited knowledge about. Even if they decide to buy a Dell laptop over an HP laptop, HP will have marketed its products to the consumers. Consequently, there is every possibility that some consumers will recommend HP laptops to their friends and family based purely on video reviews of the company’s products. In addition, some consumers might settle for Apple laptops the next time they want to buy another laptop on the basis of the information acquired from the video product reviews. Secondly, manufacturers can have proprietary video product review sites where they market their products to existing and prospective customers (Scott, 2013). For example, although they are not as detailed as the mainstream versions, technology and fashion firms now publish videos of their latest products on their social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) and websites, featuring company representatives and salesmen discussing their product portfolios and educating consumers on the benefits of buying their items (Kawasaki and Fitzpatrick 2014). In fact, such avenues have become a new, profitable marketing front owing to the fact that consumers tend to trust opinions provided by manufacturers over those issued by commercial entities that are keen on making a profit. It could be argued that video sharing video product reviews are accurate depictions of individuality, social relationships, consumers’ relationship with brands, the essence of leisure, and commercial evolution. In terms of individuality, it is safe to say that marketing is more individualistic than it has ever been. Marketers have moved away from an en masse mentality to a direct targeting of individual consumers (Pride and Ferrell 2014). Marketing campaigns are becoming increasingly tailored to meet the needs of the individual, and this is why video sharing and video product reviews are of huge importance to marketers. The possibilities offered by the internet have given consumers the option of seeking out advertisements that meet their specific needs (Qian, 2014). Video sharing has ensured that customers no longer have to make the trip to supermarkets, line up in long queues and physically review products. At the moment, manufacturers and marketers have to reach out to consumers by first understanding their individual preferences and then presenting them with endless options to consider. With the personalisation of technology, marketing has also become personalised, leading to the development of individualistic marketing strategies. In reality, video sharing is a perfect compliment for internet and mobile marketing. Millions of consumers now have laptops, desktops, mobile phones, and other devices on which they spend hundreds of hours every week working or socialising. These personal gadgets have given consumers the power to control their spending habits, leading marketers to adapt to their requirements (Colligan, 2014). In lieu of this, a consumer looking for a specific product can open his laptop or tablet, go to YouTube, search for reviews of the latest versions of that product, watch the video, compare the product with others, order and pay for the product and, if impressed by the experience, share the YouTube review of that product on Twitter or Facebook with specific people. It is worth noting that the whole process up to the purchasing of the product is individualistic until the consumer decides to share the video product review (Nelson-Field, 2013). Consumers’ relationship with brands, a vital marketing component, is considerably enhanced by video sharing. Currently, with online technology seemingly at its peak and consumer habits more individualistic than before, customers are more attracted to brands that reach out to them. This takes the discussion back to the culture of video sharing, which facilitates marketer-consumer engagement in hitherto unfathomable ways (Berger, 2013). With the aid of the video sharing culture, consumer experience has become the most valuable commodity in the marketing sphere. Consumers are gravitating towards a preference for great product and service experiences than price or brand value. Through video sharing, marketers can promise and provide consumers with an engaging experience that inspires them to pay for products and services, yet they may never meet or interact. Online culture has birthed numerous other trends that have increased the marketing potential of businesses (Pride et al. 2014). Thus far, video sharing has proven to be one of the trends with the highest marketing power, and it is hardly surprising that video product reviews have grown in popularity since video sharing became a universal culture. Conclusion This paper has contributed to the general comprehension of online culture that is relevant to marketers. By dissecting video sharing and demonstrating its practical and theoretical application to the marketing function, this paper has provided a valuable insight into the past, current, and future of marketing with respect to consumer engagement and online culture. 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(2014), ‘An examination of social influence on shopper behavior using video tracking data’, Journal of Marketing, vol. 78, no. 5, pp. 24-41. doi:10.1509/jm.12.0106 Read More