What has led to this research being necessary

What has led to this research being necessary?

To begin with, old media has been described in the writings by Huang et al (2016) as the traditional means of communication that existed before the launch of the internet as a medium of communication. Examples of old media include televisions, radios, newspapers, sound recording, film, magazines, and books. On the other hand, new media is described as the means

of communication that primarily rely on digital technologies that are supported by the internet. Examples of new media include websites, computer games, computer multimedia DVDs, and CD-ROMS

Old media has for the longest time provided a medium through which private and public institutions, as well as private individuals, could advertise to the mass audience, however, its popularity as a medium of marketing communication has been increasingly on the decline due to the rising popularity of new media (Asdemir et al. 2012). Pundits were of the opinion that increased popularity of new media especially social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube could mean an end to old media, however, that is not the case since the number of old mediums is equally getting higher through the launch of newer television stations, radio stations, newspaper , and other hard copy publications, which means there is still viable business opportunity from advertisements that are key source of income for media companies (Wolff, 2015). Cumulatively, this means that old media is still perceived to be effective as a marketing tool despite the popularity of new media.

One would envision, new media having obvious advantages against old media in respect to advertising, however, it is astonishing to note that old media advertising has remained to be pertinent in the same way it was before the internet era although new media has taken up a big chunk of the market share from old media (Rust & Oliver, 1994; Stewart & McGann, 1992). In the writings by Richard (2009), he states that new media should be favored against old media since it provides a cheaper alternative to advertising. For example, new media such as Facebook and Twitter charge for advertisements based on the number of people it targets to reach and the

number of days the advert will be running on their platform whilst old media such as television and radio stations charge on the duration of advertisements from seconds to hours. An advert on Facebook could be as low as £1 while the cheapest advert on a television station could be £20,000 and £50 for newspaper adverts. Ogilvy (2013) further added that the cost of adverts on new media is unlikely to be affected by events thereby making its prices to be fairly stable unlike adverts on old media which increase in price when there is a high demand. For example, during World Sporting Events such as FIFA World-Cup a 30-second television advert can cost a minimum of £1million and during crucial publications such as schools ranking, the minimum cost of advertising on a newspaper could be £10,000 (Asdemir et al. 2012).

Another facet of new media that makes it a better alternative to old media is the scope of its reach. Old media equally serve mass audience but the most common, readily available and affordable options i.e. national television, radio, and newspapers usually cover only specified borders/territory whereas new media cover all corners of the earth where there is internet connection (Stafford and Faber, 2015). For example, an advert placed on a YouTube video can be viewed by people watching the same video in the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United States, India, and South Korea at the same time. However, an advert on The Telegraph is likely only to be viewed by people living in the UK in areas where the Telegraph publications are regularly supplied or delivered. Albeit, it is important to note that newspaper publications such as the US’ Financial Times and magazines such as Forbes have global distribution, which is restricted to English-speaking countries whereas a user on Facebook can share an advert with another user in a different country speaking a foreign language and s/he will still be able to read the advert by clicking on the translation button so that it is converted to his/her preferred language.

Evidently, there are valid reasons to prove the efficacy of new media as a preferred means of advertising against old media but Landry (1999) states that the reason why the old media is still preferred by some as a means of marketing communication is because it is considered to be more effective in reaching the right people at the right time. For example, running an advert for a new sports drink on television when sports programmes are being aired is likely to reach sports lovers who are the target market at the correct time that the company intended unlike placing a similar advert on Facebook where the targeted user may fail to log in during the period the advert is running or s/he may skip the advert if it is on YouTube. In essence, with old media, there are high chances the target audience will see the advert at the correct time whereas in new media this high probability of viewership cannot be guaranteed. In the case example of a newspaper publication, adverts targeting prospective buyers of real estates can be placed when the newspaper is also publishing a report on the country’s housing market, and hence there will be very high chances the targeted audience will purchase a copy of the newspaper, thus getting to see the adverts (Wolff, 2015).

Practical problems to be addressed by research

Small and Medium Enterprises with limited marketing budget tend to be confused on which media of communication to use when seeking to place an advertisement. The fact that they have limited budget means they would want to spend on a media platform that will reach a higher percentage of the target population at the correct time. Therefore, this proposed study will seek to

establish whether old media remains to be a viable option in this digital era where new media is increasing becoming more popular. From a broader perspective, the study will inform small and medium enterprise which between old media and new media is effective in advertising i.e. likely to yield the expected result/outcome.

Primary objective

To establish the extent to which old media is still an effective medium of advertising.

Secondary objectives

To establish which between old and new media is likely to reach a high percentage of the target audience at the correct time

To establish which between old and new media resonates well with the target audience and it is able to effectively pass the marketing communication.

Research methodology to be followed

Research Approach:The proposed study will apply both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Qualitative research method has been selected because the study is exploratory in nature i.e. it will be aiming at gaining an understanding of the extent to which old media is still effective as a medium of advertising in this prevailing digital era. Consequently, the study will be based on the grounded theory, which means at the concluding stage it will present a theory on the efficacy of old media in advertising in the current digital era (Godwill, 2015). The study will also apply the use of quantitative research method since data that will be gathered will be quantified using statistical methods (Campbell, 2012).

Research methods: Both primary and secondary research methods will be applied when carrying out the study. The secondary method will be particularly applied when collecting secondary data from existing sources such as books from the school library and Google books, Journal Articles from databases such as ProQuest, EBSCO, and other credible websites. Primary method will be applied when collecting data from that is non-existing sources i.e. from a few selected participants.

Data Collection: Secondary data will be collected from the aforementioned sources while primary data will be collected from participants who are deemed knowledgeable about the research topic. In order to recruit research participants, the researcher will apply the purposive sampling method, which entails selecting participants on a judgmental basis (Bryant, 2015). Under this sampling method, the researcher will recruit marketing managers from small and medium enterprises that he already has knowledge about their marketing initiatives both on old and new media. The researcher will also seek to collect data from the management of two advertising agencies. Thirdly, the researcher will also recruit frequent users of social media as well as frequent readers of newspapers and magazines. The table below is a summary of the targeted study population.

number	number
SME’s marketing managers	5
Management of Two Advertising Agencies	2
General Manager	2
Head of Advertising	2
name	5

Value of your study

This research study will seek to gain an understanding of why old media is still being used for advertisements despite new media providing a cheaper alternative for advertising that is equally capable of reaching a large portion of the target audience. Based on this understanding, the study will be able to establish whether old media still remains to be an effective medium of advertising or its efficacy has been outweighed by new media and whether advertisers should put emphasis on new media rather than old media.

By comparing the two mediums of advertising, the study will equally be highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. Based on this information it can be deduced on ways of jointly using the two mediums to complement the weakness of one another with the intent of optimizing the efficacy of adverts so as to produce the desired outcome.

Lastly, the study will equally inform advertiser or marketers on ways through which they can enhance their advertisements on both the old and new media to have the advantage that can be gained from advertising via the two alternatives (old and new media).

References

Asdemir, K., Kumar, N., & Jacob, V. S. (2012). Pricing models for online advertising: CPM vs.

CPC. Information Systems Research, 23(3), 804-822,844-845.

Bryant, L. (2015). Critical and Creative Research Methodologies in Social Work. Farnham, Surrey: Routledge.

Campbell, D. (2012) Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in Research. Teaching History: A Journal of Methods, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 40-42.

Godwill, E. (2015) Fundamentals of Research Methodology: A Holistic Guide for Research Completion, Management, Validation and Ethics. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Landry, M. (1999). Advertising by radio / radio in advertising. Journal of Macromarketing, 19(2), 171-174.

Huang, Y., Yang, C., Baek, H., & Lee, S. (2016). Revisiting media selection in the digital era: Adoption and usage. Service Business, 10(1), 239-260.

Ogilvy, D. (2013). Ogilvy on advertising. Canada: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Richard, L. (2009). The paradox of ROI and decreased spending in the ad industry. American Journal of Business, 24(2), 11-14,66

Rust, R. T., & Oliver, R. W. (1994). The death of advertising. Journal of Advertising, 23(4), 71.

Stafford, M. & Faber. R. (2015) Advertising, Promotion, and New Media. London: Routledge

Stewart, D. W., & McGann, A. F. (1992). Speculations on the future of advertising research; comment. Journal of Advertising, 21(3), 1.

Wolff, M. (2015). Television is the new television: The unexpected triumph of old media in the digital age. New York: Portfolio/Penguin

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