CI5472 Teaching Film, Television, and Media

Module 6: Studying Advertising

Advertising on the Web

Another important aspect of advertising is the ability to attract one’s attention in the midst of a highly cluttered consumer market in which people are saturated with images and sounds (Gitlin, 2001). Given thousands of competing messages or bits of information geared for the same audience, how does a marketer or advertiser convey their message in a manner that attracts that audience’s attention?

This has led to a new industry of consultants who assist marketers and advertisers who are able to promote attention itself as a valuable commodity (Lankshear & Knobel, 2002). Colin Lankshear & Michelle Knobel (2002) argue that being a member of the “attention economy” requires the ability to know “how to pay and receive attention” (p. 22), something discussed in Module 2 in terms of the media literacy of “attention transacting.” As fans or consumers, people may recognize the difference between an illusory, false attention afforded them by “stars”—celebrities or politicians, and authentic attention. This requires new forms of literacy associated with “attention transacting,” which requires:

Knowing how to elicit information from others, encouraging them to provide it (with appropriate assurances), and knowing how to work with that information so that it becomes an instrument for meeting what the other party believes to be their needs or interests… [through the] the use of new information technologies to obtain, interpret, share, and act on information of a private nature, knowing how to build and honor trust in online settings, knowing how to divulge and interpret information obtained electronically in appropriate ways, and so on (p. 35).

Another form of literacy is that of “contact displaying” in which people employ “public media” to “create an opportunity to gain attention” in ways that achieve “‘immediate effects’ (rhetorical, quirky, stunning)” (pp. 32–33).

A central tool in this “attention economy” is the use of technologies designed to attract others’ attention—particularly advertising on the Internet. This ranges from more direct forms of “spam” or “push” messages or uses of animation or flashing signals, to more indirect means of creating “’ad bots’ that inhabit chat rooms and similar spaces on the Net. These respond to trigger words and can engage potential customers in private conversation that has commercial relevance” (p. 27).

While some of the promises of high levels of revenue from advertising on the Web have not materialized, the Web remains a major new site for marketing and advertising. Marketers can target certain audiences with “spam” e-mail advertising. Advertisers can promote specific products within the contexts of specific sites associated with specific audiences who use those sites.

One of the major issues associated with Web advertising involves marketing to children. In a report on online marketing and privacy issues ,the Media Awareness group noted that the Web can often jeopardize children’s privacy. The report contrasts television with online advertising by noting the while there are standards for television advertising, there are none for Web advertising. It also notes that Web-based ads can engage children through interactivity not present in television ads. While television ads have obvious start and stop times, Web-based ads are more subtle and interwoven into the content.

Media Awareness Network: Teacher guide: Online Marketing Strategies geared for children

Webquest: Cyberganda: Advertising on the Web

Webquest: Create an ad for the Web

Webquest: Cycertise Webquest