The Impact of New Media on Marketing Communication

Marketing is the process of communicating information about an item using a variety of direct and indirect communications channels with the objective of amplifying the object’s qualities and consequently increasing sales. Marketing is a product of the era of industrial capitalism, it is made up of public relations and advertising. Advertising is its most common form of marketing and it’s main objective is to increase sales. On the other hand, Public Relations does not have a measurable result. Advertising allows marketers more control of the result and if it is carried out over time in a consistent style, it creates an image derived from the messages’ form, content and context (Brand). Marketing began as the simple act of ‘saying a good word’ about a certain product or service. There was no significant motivation to improve this when societies were concentrated in small geographical areas, and competition was relatively low. With the industrialization of the world and the extensive transport and communications networks that came with it, trade was possible over great distances and this created a need for the development of elaborate and more effective marketing strategies. Over time, Communications media has been used to convey messages from marketers to their target audience using a chosen media channel. Each media channel has different audience demographics of success, which are dependent on lifestyle of the target audience. Depending on the kind of product or service to be marketed, and the demographics of the target audience, a marketer may use several media channels. In order to reinforce the effect of one channel with another and to cover a larger audience, it is necessary to carefully select the channel depending on the target audience and plan the marketing process. This step is critical to the success of a marketing campaign. ‘Electing appropriate media may as well be the most important decision you make in your entire marketing program. The greatest mixed media message in the world won’t do a thing to sell your image, product or service if it doesn’t reach the people who might need or want it.’ (Entrepreneur Magazine. 1996 Ch. 51).

The number of media channels increases with time this brings along a wide range of characteristics, advantages and disadvantages that come into play in the selection on a suitable medium for marketing. Marketers can choose a combination of direct mail, newsprint, radio, and television.