The Future of Advertisement

As technology evolves advertisement evolves with it. The introduction of more TV channels and services meant that TV advertisement is currently the most popular form of advertisement. As a result it is the most expensive. As technology keeps on improving will TV be replaced as the main advertisement form.

Over the last few years DVR's, Digital Video Recorders, have rapidly become part of the British home. Sky+, the most popular form of DVR, allows programmes to be recorded to suit the modern lifestyle. When a programme is recorded the user can define the parts of the programme they want to watch. This often leads to fast forwarding the advert breaks to save time. Aware of this knowledge TV companies have launched On Demand services in which viewers can catch up with programmes on the Internet. These services mean the viewer has no control over the adverts and is therefore forced to watch them. 

The rise of social media has meant that advertising companies have had to change their strategy. Sites such as twitter and Facebook are funded by the revenue from advertising on the site. Facebook advertisement works on a pay per click system where the cost is determined by how effective the advert is. YouTube also has a form of advertisement on its site. These range from pop up adverts whilst watching a video to full adverts, some of which cannot be skipped, when watching videos posted by certain companies like channel 4s on demand service or the music video service VEVO. It is reckoned that TV adverts are far more effective when the user has seen the brand before. As social media sites are where most young people (16-34) spend most of their time, apart from watching TV, this seems a logical addition to an advertising campaign. 

Internet advertising has many advantages. Adverts can now be tailored to your browsing history therefore the advertisement is customised to the consumers interests. This means that the advert is more likely to achieve its target audience rather than on the TV. The Internet is the fastest growing form of media interaction. Therefore an advert reach a high number of people for a fraction of the cost of TV advertisement. 

However the effectiveness of Internet advertisement is unknown. It is unlikely that Internet advertisement will replace TV advertisement as the main form in a campaign. Despite the advances in technology TV advertisement is still as effective as it was 15 years ago. The future for advertisement is likely to be the cross media campaigns in which TV ads are supported online meaning that the consumer is in contact with advertisement for the largest possible time.