Most of us had seen this meme in the past. When I read about traditional vs new media, this was the first thing that came to my mind. I think it is just funny but if I was asked to describe traditional vs new media in one sentence, this would be it.
How is this meme related to my blog? Well, firstly, it shows how far society has came, how much technology has progressed and how its evolvement brought about confusion and forced people to adapt to new technology. Similarly, marketers had to ditch the traditional marketing methods and start using new ones. Okay, maybe not completely ditch it but definitely find ways to incorporate new media marketing into their daily business operations.
Traditional or old media is defined as traditional means of communication – TV, radio, billboards, magazines and newspapers that existed before the advent of modern mass media. New media is content that is easily accessible via many different forms of digital media and has the capability to reach thousands of consumers with ease. Examples of new media include, online advertising (e.g. pop-up ads), online streaming and social media advertising. There are a number of factors that make traditional and new media marketing distinctive. They are:
- Means used to market products
Traditional media marketing only allows businesses to use a few means (television, radio, magazines and newspapers) to advertise their products. With new media, successful companies can conduct tv advertising while at the same time creating ads that can be viewed by customers through social media platforms. Small or new businesses can use social media to promote their products without having to go through traditional media. Fenty Beauty by Rihanna for example, is a new brand that only used new media marketing yet earned a huge profit in just months.
- Cost of advertising
In Australia, businesses pay between $200 to $1500 for a 30-second commercial on a local television station. This is very expensive. Furthermore, TV marketing costs can go higher depending on the city where and the time of the day the business wants their commercial to be run. Rihanna mostly used public figures on Instagram to help promote her new brand. This had cost her some money but not as much as TV advertising would have.
- Reach
Newspapers, magazines and local/national TV ads have a much more limited audience than social media marketing. Social media content can reach billions of individuals within hours. Fenty Beauty went viral on social media the day it was launched.
- Longevity
Online videos can be viewed and stay online for as long as the company wants them to be while a TV ad has a limited time frame meaning that TV stations will stop showing a specific product after its contract is over.
All of these points demonstrate that new media marketing is more favourable than traditional marketing, particularly for new or small businesses.
However, would you agree that it will be challenging for fairly new businesses to find and maintain a balance between both types of media?
Comment below!
MKTG1415_Digital Marketing 2018_Outlooks 
Hey Mariama,
Yeah, I do think it would be hard for a new business to sustain both traditional and social media as costs seems to be the main hindering factor. If I place myself in the situation I feel as though I would prefer to be well-known on social media as opposed to traditional as it seems far more beneficial from what I read, what about you? (which media do you prefer to be popular/well-known from).
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True. Same, I think social media would be more beneficial and I prefer it because I do most of my shopping and research online. I don’t trust TV ads, don’t read newspapers and don’t buy magazines anymore. So social media is definitely the answer for people like me. However, whether a company should focus on traditional or new media marketing depends on the type of business and the age group of its customers’. I would not recommend new media to a business whose main clients are people who are 50-70yo.
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Great blog, Mariama. New media is definitely the way to go mostly with the younger generation. Social media is their thing and for a retail business for instance, new media marketing on social platforms is more beneficial. Do you agree?
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Thank you Alise. I totally agree. Traditional media won’t get business messages to the younger generation. New media has a better chance of being successful. And it is cheaper and can reach more of its customers’ age group (young people) than traditional media can.
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Hey.
New media is the way to go. I remember when Fenty Beauty came out. I went to buy it just because everyone was talking about it on Instagram. Plus, I don’t watch tv much so online marketing is the only way that companies can get people like me to see their products.
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It is but would you agree that it also depends on the type of business you’re running? For instance, new media would not work in marketing for companies that create products that are for older people.
Omg, me too 🙂 I went to buy it simply because everyone was talking about it but it ended up being worth the hype. I love my Fenty Beauty makeup products. Did you think that it was worth it? I mean, not like those products that a lot of people talk about on Instagram but when you buy it it doesn’t turn out to be the same or to work for you.
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Hi Mariama,
I fit in to the older age bracket (being over 50), but I don’t really rely on traditional media that much any more, largely because I am time poor. I never watch TV or read papers or magazines. Instead I watch ABC Iview on my IPad. I listen to radio but never commercial radio.
I am not that au fait with social media, but I like to scroll through my Facebook feed and respond to social issues that are posted by interest groups. I buy books online.
I think I am in a grey area (like my hair!) where I am no longer influenced by traditional media but don’t have a strong social media involvement either.
Michael
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Hi Michael, thank you for commenting on my blog 🙂
What a surprise. I thought that you would be all about getting your information through television. So digital life is really changing everyone’s ways of doing things and not just the younger generation’s. Would you rely on traditional media if let’s say you had more time to watch TV?
I think that’s more than au fait with social media. I still go to book stores to buy books even though I don’t really enjoy the journey. I’m not a digital reader type of person so I have to get hard copies. I always wondered what if feels like reading a whole book online?
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Great blog, Mariama. A lot has changed in the way businesses promote their products. Through media marketing, customers even have the opportunity to interact with companies. I think that’s great. It wasn’t possible with traditional media like tv marketing.
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