1. What is the best approach to integrate
Traditional Media and Social Media into a
single strategy?
By Carine Esteves -Supervised Jessica LICHY
MBA- MDEI
2009-2010

2. ACKNOWLEGMENT
This research could not have taken its present shape without the help of my
friends, supervisor and colleagues, whom I wish to thank all for contributing in
some way to this work.
I am grateful to Ms Jessica Lichy Reader, under whose able guidance and
supervision this study has been undertaken. I am thankful to her for providing
me guidance and support for this study.
I would also like to thank Markus Pfeiffer who has been always very prompt in
replying to all my online queries and providing me guidance from time to time.
I am sincerely grateful to all the other academicians who have lent me support
and permitted me to cite their publications.
I express my deep sense of gratitude to Mr Kamel Touzaline for his constant
support and encouragement.
This research would not have been possible without the support of Barbara K.
Kaye, Antony Mayfield Andrew T. Stephen, Anton Koekemoer and the WSI team
who spared their precious time to fill in the questionnaires and providing
valuable information for this study.
I express my sincere gratitude to Charlotte Malaurie for her overwhelming
support during the various stages of this research.
A special thanks goes out for all of them.
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3. ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to provide business with a roadmap to developing
and implementing an effective media strategy. The goal is to find the best
allocation of traditional media and social media, by exploring the social media
as a vehicle to listen, educate, support and market to customers and potential
customers. With a user base of nearly 600 million worldwide, online networkers
provide business with a global audience and a good reason to learn about what
Internet-based social networks are and to use them to reach a target audience.
Social networks can help businesses to connect and market themselves to
consumers.
Through an exploratory research, this study shows that social media as vehicle
for advertisement have great potential. Book, articles, blogs and websites
analysis bring us to two confronting ideas: (1) traditional and social media are in
competition and (2) traditional and social media complement each other.
Indeed, as time allocated to media has remained the same, consumers can‘t be
receptive to traditional media and to social media. Consumers are either,
passive with traditional media, or active, with social networking thanks to
Internet-based activities. A time displacement, referring to the idea of having a
new form of activity replacing an older one, is caused by new activities usually
technology-based such as the Internet as regards of television. Indeed, both
technologies are in competition and one causes decline of usage to the other. A
social networker user may spend time on social networks using it as a
substitute for other activities that served similar function such as watching
television, listening to radio or reading printed media. In that, they appear as
competitors.
On the other hand, this study also approaches the social media from a
marketing point of view, by analyzing the effectiveness of the usage of Internet
as a media for advertising products. As a result of this analysis the study shows
that the effectiveness of such media depends on the characteristics of the
product advertised and the degree of involvement of the customer in the
purchase decisions.
2

4. Showing that Internet, through social media advertising, is efficient for one type
of products – high involvement product as car, life insurance, while traditional
media advertising is efficient for another type of products – low involvement
products as toothpaste, vitamins. In that, they do complement each other.
In addition, six interviews with professional and professors acting in the social
world, stresses that both traditional and social media do not compete. Instead
they do complement each other. The study highlights that people do believe in
the complementary role of traditional and social media in marketing and
advertisement. Multiple media channels have become the dominant strategy;
and, actually, to some professionals, the convergence of both media has
already begun. To some point, they are going converge to form one single
media.
As a result of this research analysis, suggestions of media allocation time are
developed focusing on three main marketing objectives: marketing objectives:
increasing sales, educating consumers or increasing product and image
awareness.
Depending on these objectives the time allocated to one media has to be
emphasized. With an objective of increasing sale, social media turns out to me
less effective than traditional media. Indeed the media to be emphasized is the
traditional one, while social media marketing is the most effective for brand
awareness. However, the suggestion of time allocation to reach the objective of
educating consumer is even.
3

5. TABLE OF CONTENT
1. INTRODUCTION 6
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 7
2.1. UNDERSTANDING MAIN CONCEPTS 7
2.1.1. WHAT ARE TRADITIONAL MEDIA? 8
Publishing 8
Broadcast 10
2.1.2. WHAT IS THE INTERNET? 11
2.1.3. WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA? 11
2.1.4. FORMS OF SOCIAL NETWORK SITES 13
2.2. ANALYZING FACTORS OF MEDIA CHOICE AND EFFECTIVENESS 15
2.2.1.1. Time displacement 16
2.2.2. FACTORS AFFECTING THE CHOICE OF MEDIA 20
2.2.3. FROM ONLINE TO OFFLINE 28
2.2.4. OBAMA'08 34
Public Engagement Model 37
2.3. FORMULATING HYPOTHESIS 43
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 45
3.1. INTRODUCTION 45
3.2. METHODOLOGY SELECTION 45
3.2.1. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 45
Survey Methods 46
3.3. PROBLEM DEFINITION 46
Research question 46
3.3.2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 47
Interviews 47
4. FIELDWORK 49
4.1. VERIFYING HYPOTHESES 49
4.1.1. H1: TRADITIONAL MARKETING, AS A STAND-ALONE STRATEGY, IS NO LONGER
ENOUGH 49
4.1.2. H2 : SOCIAL MEDIA ARE CREDIBLE AND TRUSTWHORTHY 51
4.1.3. H3: SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING, CAN‘T STAND ALONE 53
4.1.4. H4: SOCIAL MEDIA AND TRADITIONAL MEDIA CONVERGE. 55
4

6. 5. RECOMMANDATIONS 57
5.1. SUGGESTION OF TIME ALLOCATION 57
5.1.1. INCREASING SALE 61
5.1.2. EDUCATE CONSUMER 63
5.1.3. BRAND AWARENESS 65
6. CONCLUSIONS 70
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY 71
8. APPENDIX 78
APPENDIX 1 :THE FCB GRID 78
APPENDIX 2 : INTERVIEWS 79
5

7. 1. INTRODUCTION
Whether you call it Web 2.0, the social Web or any other neologism, the new
network economy is about communities, collaboration, peer production, user-
generated content and co-creation. The customer, more commonly called the
user, is directly involved into the personalization of the product or service and
shares it widely through the Web. It is now known as the place to be to connect
with customers since consumers behavior has changed.
The advance in social media technology has heavily impacted traditional media.
Internet marketing strategies have emerged from it and many businesses are
now wondering how to implement web 2.0 tools into their media strategy. The
social media influence traditional media as a competitive replacement: it has
reduced the use of traditional media since consumers‘ media consumption
generally keeps constant. The time allocated to traditional media has
dramatically dropped- in most cases by over 50% since 1989. Obviously, using
traditional media only is no longer enough to inform the customer. The impact of
the online media on the use of the traditional media has caused a rapid decline
of television audience as a result of the increasing popularity of the Internet and
other social-networking activities.
Used for a wide variety of purposes, social media help people in communicating
with friends and family, meeting new people, acquiring information about news,
health, and other topics, entertainment, and commerce. Indeed friends‘
recommendations on restaurants or movies are heavily influencing consumers.
However, new social media is still not heavily trusted and sometimes
misunderstood in marketing management. This study sets out to analyze the
extent to which these new media can be integrated alongside traditional media.
6

8. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, we will start by defining the main concepts of media
communication from traditional media to social media, which are also defined as
outbound and inbound marketing.
2.1. UNDERSTANDING MAIN CONCEPTS
Before engaging into an analysis, it is helpful to define the main related
concepts. The most important concept to understand is that all media is profit-
centered. Media is business. ―Whether we believe a media product to be purely
entertainment informational or even altruistic in its intent, the goal of all media is
ultimately to make money‖ and ―the method used to generate profit involves
carefully crafted messages delivered to the public through various forms of
media products. ― (Beth Lane., 2010 ).
The core concepts of media are that all delivered messages are constructed,
using a creative language with its own rules in order to gain profit and/or power.
It is important to know that different people experience the same messages
differently. (Seth Ashley, 2010)
Inbound marketing is defined as marketing strategy that focuses on being found
by the customer by publishing helpful information on a blog, social media
website, etc. In contrast outbound marketing strategy (or traditional marketing)
focuses on finding customers by building brand awareness
through advertising and promotion. (B. Halligan, D. Shah, 2010)
Seth Godin related inbound marketing to ―permission marketing‖ (2001) while
outbound is named "interruption marketing".
The term ―permission marketing‖ is used because marketers obtain permission
before advancing to the next step in the purchasing process. They ask
permission to send email newsletters to prospective customers. In other words,
it is online advertising through websites and social medias
7

9. 2.1.1. What are traditional media?
Defining traditional media is no longer clear. The explosion of digital
communication technology and the fast growing use of Internet are leading to
confusion on the subject. Traditional media are used to vehicle a message
created by a person or a group of people sent through a transmitting device (a
medium) to a large audience or market (Beth Lane 2007)
By definition, traditional media, also referred as 'old media', is any medium used
to transmit mass communication (Beth Lane, 2007). It includes exclusively
media introduced before the use and advent of the Internet. Until recently
traditional media were clearly defined and were comprised of the five mass
media industries such as movies, recordings, radio and television broadcasts
and most print publications like magazines, books, newspapers (Wikipedia,
2010). To get a better understanding of what these media are, we will try to
define each of them. .
Traditional media are classified under categories as defined here after:
 Printing, including magazines and newspapers and even highway billboards
and transit posters from the late 1400s
 Broadcasting, in the narrow sense, for radio (from about 1910 ) and television
(from about 1950)
More specifically these categories are described as following:
Publishing
Publishing is the industry concerned with the production of literature or
information (The Future of Publishing, 2007) – the activity of making information
available for wide public view. (Wikipedia, 2007)‖
Traditionally the term refers to the distribution of printed works such as books
and newspapers. (Michael R. Peres, 2007).
The printing media is the oldest form of media (Converging Media Trends,
2010) With a business point of view, publishing includes the development,
8

10. marketing, production, and distribution of newspapers, magazines, books,
literary works and other works dealing with information (Wikipedia, 2010).
Magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication containing
a variety of articles, generally financed by
advertising and/or purchase by readers.
Published weekly, monthly or quarterly, they are
often printed in color on coated paper, and are
bound with a soft cover.
There are two categories of magazines:
consumer magazines and business magazines.
They can be classified as:
- General interest magazines
- Special interest magazines
(women's, sports, business,
etc)
Figure A: The media Evolution (Extract from : Online Media and
Search: The New Opportunity, 2007)
9

11. Newspaper
A newspaper is a publication folded sheets that is issued daily or weekly and
includes local and international, news stories, advertisements, announcements,
opinions, cartoons, sports news and television listings (n.d, 2008). Usually they
are printed on low-cost paper. Such as magazines are, newspapers may be of
general or special interest, most often published daily or weekly.
Broadcast
Broadcast is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience
via radio or television. (Wikipedia, 2010)
Television and radio programs are distributed through radio broadcasting over
frequency bands. (New World Encyclopedia, 2010) Both are communication
technologies vital that have revolutionized the lives of billions of people around
the world.
Radio
Being the second-oldest form of media after printing media (Converging Media
Trends, 2010), radio advertising is now seen as a complementary medium to
television. Before the advent of Internet, it was the most interactive medium.
Listeners could call and comment on a program while it was in progress
(Converging Media Trends, 2010). Radio allows for those in remote areas to
stay in communication with the rest of the world.
Television
Combining aspects of print and radio with the clarity of video, television is now
the most dominant form of media. Television remains one of the fastest and
most global ways for news to reach a great deal of people
10

12. 2.1.2. What is the Internet?
The Internet is defined by Carr and Snyder (1997, p. 368) as ―an information
infrastructure comprised of thousands of computers connected by thousands of
paths - a global network of networks, or a Metanetwork‖. While Tetzeli (1994)
would describe it ―as a loosely configured web of corporate, educational and
research computer networks around the world. In any case, Internet is a widely
spread technology which connects the world‖.
2.1.3. What is social media?
Social media is the production, consumption and exchange of information
through online social interactions and platforms. Social network sites are ―web-
based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile
within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a
connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by
others within the system‖ (Boyd & Ellison, 2007).
According to Antony Mayfield (2010), a good way to think about social media is
that all of it is about ―sharing ideas, cooperating and collaborating to create art,
thinking and commerce, vigorous debate and discourse, finding people‖.
―Social media is best understood as a group of new kinds of online media,
which share most, and sometimes all, of the characteristics listed here after:‖
That said, in the online world, social media relate to any online application that
engages two or more people together. In the age of the social Internet, it refers
to the tools and content that are created by people using these interactive
technologies as ‗social media.
Antony Mayfield; in it‘s eBook, identifies five key elements of the social media :
Participation
Social media encourage contributions and feedback from everyone who is
interested. It blurs the line between media and audience.
11

13. Openness
Most social media services are open to feedback and participation. They
encourage voting, comments and the sharing of information. There are rarely
any barriers to access and make use of content – password-protected content
is frowned on.
Conversation
While traditional media is broadcasted and transmitted to its audience without
allowing any conversation, social media is two-way interactive street allowing
users to share what they have on mind. It promotes communication between
like-minded people (Yes That‘s What Social Media is All About!, 2010)
Community
Social media allows
communities to form
quickly and communicate
effectively. Communities
share common interests,
such as a love of
photography, a political
issue or a favorite TV
show…
Connectedness
Social media websites
make use of links to other
sites, resources and
people (Mayfield, 2008)
Figure B : Social media key elements,
(extract form the Purchase funnel, 2010).
12

14. 2.1.4. Forms of Social Network Sites
Social networks are defined by Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007) as ―web-
based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public
profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom
they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and
those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these
connections may vary from site to site.‖
The size of the network reflects the active participation of the audience.
 The real value of a network is measured by the frequency of engagement of
the participants. For marketers, consumers‘ endorsement, in the form of
friending/following/subscribing, validates their efforts and activates a viral
distribution of their brand across channels. (Ryan Walker, 2008)
Blog, shorthand term that means ―Web log‖—is an online, chronological
collection of personal commentaries and links. It is a type of Web site used by
individuals, groups or business entities to publish opinions and commentary on
various topics. Content can be focused on very niche topics or can cover
current events, popular themes, or even take the shape of a personal diary.
―Blog posts are listed in reverse chronological order and also allow reader to
post comments. Posts can be in the form of text, image, video, that is to say
rich-media formats. In addition, blogging platforms allow for rapid syndication of
content to interested audiences using opt-in protocols such as Really Simple
Syndication (RSS)‖ (Ryan Walker, 2008)
 For advertisers, it offers interactive channel to reach engaged and
enthusiastic consumers. Additionally, because of their conversational nature
and affinity with readers, blogs provide media planners with additional insight
about consumer behavior and intent. With blogs, it is possible to map elements
of engagement to traditional consumer demographic profiles.
13

15. Micro blogging is the practice of posting, online and through the mobile phone
network, small pieces of digital content (‗updates‘), which could be text,
pictures, links, short videos, or other media. Twitter is the clear leader in this
field.
 It has become an extremely popular channel for both professional and
personal pursuits. Friends use it to keep in touch, business associates use it to
coordinate meetings or share useful resources, and celebrities and politicians
(or their publicists) microblog about concert dates, lectures, book releases, or
tour schedules (7 Things You Should Know About Microblogging , 2009).
Wikis are Web page that can be viewed and modified by anybody with an
Internet access. Any visitor to the wiki can change its content if they want. While
the potential for mischief exists, wikis can be surprisingly robust, open-ended,
collaborative group sites. (7 things you should know about Wikis, 2005)
 It permits asynchronous communication and group collaboration across the
Internet and provide users with both author and editor privileges. Sounds,
movies, and pictures can be integrated in wikis (7 things you should know about
Wikis, 2005). The most popular wiki is Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia,
which has over 2 million English language articles.
Podcasts, are series of portable digital audio or video files that allow users to
download music from their computer directly to the device for later listening.
They are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication.
These media files are available by subscription through services like Apple
iTunes. The term was initially inspired by the Apple Computer Corporation‘s
iPod. (7 things you should know about Podcasting, 2005)
 It permits automatic downloading of files (most commonly in MP3 format) for
listening at the user‘s convenience. Unlike traditional radio or other Web-based
streaming media, podcasts give listeners control over when they hear the
recording.
14

16. Forums are online discussions site where people can hold conversations in the
form of posted messages, often around specific topics and interests. Forums
came about before the term ―social media‖ and are a powerful and popular
element of online communities. (Antony Mayfield, 2010)
Content communities organize and share particular kinds of content. The
most popular content communities tend to form around photos (Flickr and
vi.sualize.us), bookmarked links (del.icio.us), music (hypem) and videos
(YouTube).
The approach to social media marketing is by no means definitive.
2.2. ANALYZING FACTORS OF MEDIA CHOICE AND EFFECTIVENESS
The large and growing media choices and more specialized target markets
have led to the increased importance of linking media and target-market
characteristics (Cannon, 1993).
The question whether old media are driven out of existence by new media has
been a long concern by research but has received no definitive answer (An
Nguyen, Mark Western, 2006).. One of the most frequently heard predictions is
that television as we know it today will soon be largely replaced by computer-
based activities, such as surfing the web (Negroponte, 1995). Even though
users, of both old and new media claimed that the time they spent on traditional
media had stayed the same, trend indicates that those Internet users whose
media patterns have changed are abandoning traditional media at a much
greater rate than they are increasing their use (Kaye and Johnson, 2003).
15

17. Nie and Ebring (2000) reported that the Internet reduced newspaper reading.
Coffey and Stipp, (1997) added that television usage among PC users is
already declining and predict large reductions in TV usage. The discussion
about the relationship between the traditional media and the new media has
been dominated by one main aspect: computer and Internet usage will reduce
the TV viewing.
Moreover this fear keeps growing as the Internet audience is constantly
increasing together with the use of social media.
Very little attention was given to the factors that could somehow explain these
changes of media usage while going online. According to Flanagin & Metzger
(2001), people seem to go online with similar motivations as they use traditional
media but the amount of time available to use either traditional or new media
has become an important aspect. Indeed, people do not have infinite amount of
time to devote to the usage of traditional media and therefore distribute their
time availability as suitable for them but when a new technology, such as the
Internet is introduced, people must redistribute the time allocated to other
activities and establish new patterns of behavior (Vitalari, Venkatesh, &
Gronhaug, 1995).
2.2.1.1. Time displacement
The major focus of displacement effects of new media studies usually involves
time and functional displacement. Whenever a new medium is introduced in
society, there are always concerns about its displacement effects on existing
media and, since people only have fixed amounts of time to spend, if they
spend more on one medium, then they will spend less on others (Paul S.N. Lee
& Louis Leung, 2006).
16

18. Most of the time, the new medium is viewed as more desirable than the old
medium, and consequently people will reduce the time devoted to traditional
media that are functionally similar (Dimmick, Kline, & Stafford, 2000; Kang &
Atkin, 1999).
As the Internet and television share many similar functions, researches have
centered their studies on the time taken away from television because it is
structurally similar to the Internet (Kaye & Medoff, 2001). It was found that 25%
of Internet users watch less television, while 11% of them read fewer magazines
and newspapers (The Interactive Advertising Bureau, 2002).
The Internet and other new media will displace functionally similar traditional
media if people perceive that the new media have superior content and are
more convenient (Lin, 2001a). Indeed the new media benefits from the novelty
effect., it offers more entertainment and can displace television.
Kayany and Yelsma (2000) reported that when people went online, television
viewing experienced the most time displacement. Many researchers proposed
that a new medium would displace an existing medium when it can serve the
function of the existing medium in a better and more effective manner: that is,
when it provides a functional alternative (Himmelweit et al., 1958; Schramm et
al., 1961; DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach, 1982).
Lin (2001a, 2001b) assumes that a new medium is less likely to reduce time
spent with media that are functionally dissimilar and therefore might supplement
or complement the existing medium.
People may be motivated to use the Internet for the same reasons they turn
their television on: entertainment. But television does not satisfy social
interaction needs that the internet offers (D'Ambra & Rice, 2001; Kaye, 1998).
Different components of the Internet are functionally different than the TV and
from each other so they may gratify different needs. For example, modes of
communicating such as Chat Forums where users "converse" in real time (Kaye
& Medoff, 2001) does satisfy the social interaction need.
17

19. Paul S.N. Lee & Louis Leung (2006) introduced two main approaches to the
issue of the effect of media displacement: the ―User-centric‖ approach and the
‗‗Medium-centric‘‘.
One is centered on the medium and its attributes and supports a displacement
and replacement (absolute displacement) hypothesis; the other is focused on
users' needs and often results in proposing a complementary effect of the new
on the old.
„Medium-centric‟‟
This approach leans toward a technological-deterministic stand.
Media richness theory (Daft and Lengel, 1984; Rice, 1992, 1993), which is a
variant of the ―medium-centric‖ approach, assumes that users tend to choose
media according to attributes such as speed of feedback, social presence, and
richness of language.
To be more specific Short et al. (1976) considers e-mail as a less rich medium
than the telephone because it has lower ‗‗social presence‘‘ features.
Grounded on ― media richness theory‖; the more time a user spends on a new
medium as a consequence of new features, the less time the user will spend on
old media
“User-centric”
This approach stresses on ‗‗transcendental needs‘‘ aspect and social influences
in the use of media assuming that they select media to meet their needs.
This approach conceives that no new medium can be a substitute for all of the
uses and gratification of existing media.
In opposition to the ―Medium-centric‖ approach, the substitution occurs only if
the media satisfaction fails in meeting the users‘ needs. Indeed, if a traditional
media keeps satisfying specific needs of users, then
the new media will not be able to be its substitute.
Grounded on these considerations, needs are better served by multiple media
18

20. rather than a single media and therefore, the more time Internet users spend on
news and information, the more time they spend on the functionally similar
traditional media (e.g., newspapers, radio, and magazine) for their news and
information needs. (Paul S.N. Lee & Louis Leung, 2006)
However, there is a basic difference in both approaches. The ―medium-centric‖
tends to emphasize how the technological advantage of a new medium serves
people‘s needs, while the ―user-centric‖ tends to emphasize the predominant
influence of needs across different media (Paul S.N. Lee & Louis Leung, 2006).
With respect to the Internet's impact Waldfogel‘s (2002) comprehensive study
finds very modest evidence of substitutability between just a few different
media.
He finds that people who use media of one type tend to use more total media in
general.
Surprisingly, empirical evidence regarding substitutability between various
media (e.g. television, radio, Internet, newspaper) for media consumers is low.
As a conclusion of the ―Media Substitution Theory‖, perhaps we can admit that
the internet may be taking time away from traditional media. As the Internet is
widely adopted and trusted, it is expected that traditional media use will keep
changing. From an historical perspective, whenever a new medium reaches
critical mass it threatens to displace existing media to some degree.
Whenever a new medium emerges, old media use patterns are altered until
eventually the old and new media fill different niches and learn to exist side by
side (Kaye & Johnson, 2003) and show interaction between the media.
19

21. 2.2.2. Factors affecting the choice of media
This section aims at comparing the differences in media characteristics between
the internet and traditional media, then determine product characteristics that
are the most influential in the choice of internet advertising, and, finally, identify
product-related factors responsible for media use (Yoon and Kim, 2001).
Internet advertising like sponsor links or banner ads differs from traditional
media advertising in many ways. One of the most significant differences may be
the interactivity. It confers the media audience with the ability to "choose and
respond" to a particular advertisement of their liking.
Since the Internet has been widely adopted as a new medium breaking the
traditional boundaries of media advertising, very few studies have looked into
the motives of using Internet advertisements (Clawson, 1993; Park et al., 1997).
However few authors took into consideration that Internet advertising may differ
from traditional advertising in its effectiveness for certain kinds of consumers
and for certain kinds of advertisements. For example, Bezjian-Avery et al.
(1998), in their attempt to differentiate traditional media and Internet, they
highlighted the fact that Internet should include a broader base of
understanding media audiences' needs and preferences, and by arguing that ―a
cognitive matching" is necessary between system properties (i.e., being visual
or verbal) and the consumer's preferential needs (i.e., preferring visual or verbal
presentation) in order to ensure maximum persuasion‖.
In addition to the idea of effectiveness, the product should be also taken into
consideration to determinate the best fit between media choice. This approach
is called ―product-media matching‖. It was first approached by Yoon and Kim
(2001), whom have looked online advertising‘s impact on traditional advertising
for specific products.
With support of conceptual frames based on Katz's functional attitude theory
(1960) together with the FCB Grid (Appendix 1), Yoon and Kim (2001) tried to
determinate which product characteristics would influence the choice of media.
20

22. Based on FCB Grid four product categories were used to discover the product
related factor responsible for media use.
Figure C : FCD Grind (extract from Wikipedia, 2010)
This 'integrative model' divides goods and services into four categories, along
two axes: the Think/Feel axis and the High Involvement/Low Involvement axis
was first approached by Krugman (1965).
The issue of product characteristics as potential determinants of media
selection was approached within the context of consumer behavior. The most
appropriated concept as regards of this issue is the concept of product
involvement since it affects the way information is processed by the consumers.
The theory of involvement into advertising by Krugman (1965), reports that
process of receiving advertising information by consumers is very different in
high consumer involvement situations as opposed to low-involvement ones. On
the other hand, when attention is once given to advertising, consumers either
try to interpret its meaning according to their goals or they get interested in
secondary elements (headlines, logos, and illustrations) Finn (1988).
Richard Vaughn, creator of the FDB Grid, stated that 'if there were a proven
theory of advertising effectiveness it would help in strategy planning, response
measurement and sales prediction. But there is no such theory.' However he
21

23. developed the FCB Grid, which helps creative strategy and media strategy as it
clarifies how consumers approach the buying process for different products.
It is important to understand that the type of product drives the process, so
product analysis is the first step. According to R. Vaughn, people evaluate
different products depending on where they are positioned within their product
evaluation cycle.
Yoon and Kim (2001) came to the conclusion that internet advertising was
perceived as the best medium in terms of media preference , however not as
effective as TV in terms of advertising. The factors affecting internet advertising
as a media was more related to two dimension of the product characteristics :
involvement and affective/rational orientation.
Meaning that the high involvement products were more adapted to internet
adverting. In opposition, TV is more suitable for low-involvement product.
The phenomenal growth of consumers and businesses connecting to the
Internet indicates a viable audience for advertising for many companies
(Margherio, Henry, Cooke, and Montes, 1998). Numerous businesses have
already integrated the internet into their media strategy, however many
organizations are uncertain or divided on how effective Internet marketing is to
their organizations (Bush, Bush, and Harris, 1998).
Considered as one powerful advertising tool and the substitute of traditional
media, the internet is obviously compared with the relative effectiveness of the
other advertising media. Despite its capability of opening new advertising
opportunities the researchers are now focusing on how it is perceived by
internet manager and evaluating its effectiveness in relation with the main
traditional media (email being considered as one traditional media) on key
attributes considered to be important.
By discovering how advertisers perceive the internet relative to other media on
dimensions they consider important in making their medium decisions, Hoffiman
and Novak (1996) first place the internet in an intermediate position, neither
22

24. personal nor impersonal, dynamic nor static. .
Elaine K.F. Leong, Xueli Huagan and P.J. Stanmers' (1998) findings delineate
the effective features of the Web site vis-a-vis traditional media.
With the aims of exploring the perceived position of the Internet‘s effectiveness
as an advertising tool compared with several traditional media from the
perspective of business managers, the authors developed a two-dimension
perceptual mapping based on marketing media and their attributes.
Based on the two-dimensional aspects they first came up with the dendrogram
Figure 1, in which the relationship of media in terms of their attributes are
examined.
Figure D : Dendrogram of Advertising Media and Their Attributes.
(extract from Factors affecting the choice of media, 1997)
Print Media and the Internet have traditionally been regarded as "strong" and
"very strong" in conveying detailed information by some advertising media
consultants (Merchant and Partners Perth, 1992).
23

25. Given this ability, it is not surprising to see that print media such as Magazine
and Press are located close to Internet.
Given this ability it is not surprising to see that print media such as Magazine
and Press are located close the Internet.
Figure E : Perceptual Mapping of Marketing Media and Their Attributes
(extract from Factors affecting the choice of media, 1997)
The following attribute-based perceptual map shows the relative proximity of the
two-dimension described previously: marketing media and their attributes.
The horizontal axis differentiates the medium attributes that have more
emotional content from those with more rational content while the vertical axis
24

26. mainly differentiates short-term promotional objectives from long-term
promotional objectives.
The Internet is located in the intermediate position and is perceived to be very
distinctive from most of the other media (Elaine K.F. Leong, Xueli Huagan, P.J.
Stanmers 1998).
It is perceived to be a rational medium, effective for both short- and long-term
promotional objectives such as brand/product/corporate awareness,
communicating product/brand image, and communicating corporate image.
However the internet ability to stimulate emotions is not as effective as
television. Indeed, as Neilsen (1997) pointed out, the Web is "mainly a cognitive
medium, whereas TV is mainly an emotional medium.‖ Therefore, Internet is
less effective to convey emotional content.
Also it is perceived to be less effective in changing attitudes. Findings indicated
that Television and Outdoor are more effective than the Internet coming to the
conclusion that the Internet is more distinctive and complements the other
media in many ways.
Therefore, the Internet should be integrated into the media strategy to help
achieve the company's marketing and communication objectives.
“A key reason the Internet has been such a success is because it is the most
open network in history”
Industry commenters frequently claim that the Internet is leading to a substantial
decline in the use of traditional news media implying that online news sources
must be serving as substitutes for traditional print, broadcast, and cable media.
(Mark Cooper)
Studies have shown contradictory and inconsistent findings, which may be due
to the fact that erroneous and mistaken measures of traditional media use were
studied (Paul S.N. Lee, Louis Leung 2008). Also most studies that examined the
Internet‘s impact have ignored its diversity of use, treating aggregate Internet
25

27. usage as the independent variable by comparing users versus non-users,
heavy versus light users, or early versus late adopters.
Researchers have used cross-sectional data, thereby confounding the
characteristics of Internet users with the consequences of using the Internet.
When looking at the question of substitutability, there are not any statistically
significant and/or materially substantial terms. It is quite obvious that the use of
the Internet does displace traditional media use of television, newspapers, and
radio. The Internet performs a substitutive.
However findings suggest that even if a displacement effect takes place, there
will be no absolute displacement. (Paul S.N. Lee, Louis Leung 2008) Instead of
replacement, the data show interactions between the media. Indeed checking
e-mail, reading news, playing games, and visiting friends‘ blogs became the
daily routine but traditional media will still exist to complement the Internet in
serving human beings' news and information needs.(An Nguyen, Mark Western,
2006)
Paul S.N. Lee, Louis Leung (2008) research suggests that media attributes
have to ‗‗interact‘‘ with user needs, as well as other psychological attributes
such as lifestyles and personalities, in shaping media choices. Assuming that
such choices may be a result of both user needs and media attributes, it leads
to different conclusions and that the precise ways that we use the media matter.
We can assert that no medium can be seen as an absolute functional
alternative to another: each medium has its distinctive features to serve different
human beings in different contexts and thus complements other media in
satisfying their diverse media-related needs.(An Nguyen, Mark Western, 2006).
Knowing that there is no absolute displacement, it leads us to the assumption of
the complementary relationship between both old and new media. So far,
studies previously stated in this paper, assumed that traditional media were
competing with new media but we come to the conclusion that this theory has to
be reconsidered. Indeed, using both simultaneously instead of using one as a
single unit medium can bring much more benefits and reach a wide target.
Studies have shown that there is no relative effectiveness of the internet being
26

28. used as a single medium and that the choice of medium has be considered
according to the product to sales, so why not mixing both advertising strategy?
Investigation of synergies between online and traditional media advertising
found that online advertising's share in the media mix can have a significant
increase in the effectiveness of an overall advertising campaign.
Indeed, the also known as Multi-charnnel Marketing, enables firms to build
lasting customer relationships by simultaneously offering their customers and
prospects information, products, services, and support (or any combination of
these) through two or more synchronized channels (Rangaswamy & Bruggen,
2005).
Many advertisers are now aware of the complementary effects of new media
usage with traditional media and are, therefore increasingly integrating Internet
advertising into their campaigns and we can expect online advertising budgets
to experience major increases in the coming years.
― A brand's success often is driven by many different communication
channels—online and offline—at the same time.‖
There are two approaches of the synergy :
 integrating traditional media with new media
 integrating new media with traditional media
That is what Markus Pferifer and Markus Zinnbauer (2009) tried to differentiate
by postulating that a factor which seems to have a major impact on the need for
cross-media campaigns combining Internet and non-Internet advertising means
is the type of company (pure-play Internet vs. Classic "brick-and-mortar").
Indeed, Pure-Plays, organizations originated and doing business purely through
the internet and Brick-and-mortar, company that possesses buildings or store
for operations do not have the same business model and therefore the
strategies may differ from one to another.
27

29. 2.2.3. From Online to Offline
Amazon.com, one of the largest online
retailer, is considered as a pure-play and is
a good example of a company that built its brand notoriety exclusively through
the Internet and it actually works.
Many practitioners believe that commercial pure-plays need to rely on classic
channels—especially TV—to overcome the limitations of online advertising to
create awareness for the brand and support of their online marketing activities
(McMains and Morrissey,2009)
Ebay.com; a virtual marketplace for the sale of
goods and services for and by individuals,
integrated offline marketing into its strategy with a
campaign called "Shop Victoriously"? This campaign features television,
Internet and movie-theatre advertising, relationship marketing, and public
relations (eBay's Fall Campaign Includes TV Ads, 2007).
The aim of this strategy was to reach a target-market not yet aware of such a
market place. Indeed, multiple media play a collaborative role in the firm‘s
communication mix (Prasad A. Naik & Kay Peters, 2007). By improving
awareness, Ebay‘s intention was to improve its web traffic.
28

30. Google Using Traditional Advertising
―Google, which makes virtually all of its money off advertising still hardly seems
to spend at all on traditional ads.‖ (Google Does TV Ads, To Push Chrome
Browser In Commercials, 2009).
Google notorious for not advertising itself to
consumers (Google Airs TV Ad During Super Bowl –
But Why?, 2010), has always been reluctant to use
traditional advertising (Google Operating System, 2007). However it has been
advertising itself the old style doing traditional moves; from billboards to radio
ads and from taxi ads to TV. Here are some of the few offline Google ads:
In 2005, to promote its
non-traditional local voice
search offer Google is
using a very traditional ad
medium in the city of San
Francisco: billboards
and taxi ads.
Google ran radio ads to promote its innovative program, AdSense, which helps
website owners earn money by displaying text and image ads on their websites
targeted ―finance site owners‖.
These two campaigns were Google‘s first advertising campaigns promoting its
own product directly addressed to the final user. But Google also started new
traditional advertising activities providing more possibilities to its advertisers.
In 2006, after the acquisition of ―dMarc Broadcasting‖, a radio advertising
company directly connecting advertisers to radio stations through automated
advertising platform, Google integrated the radio advertisement into its business
by creating a new radio ad distribution channel for Google advertisers. Google
took over this dMarc to enhance Adword giving the option to its customer to buy
radio advertisement in addition to Web ads.
29

31. In addition to the radio business Google started a TV business activity called
Google TV Ads. Like the radio it is an extension to its already existing Adwords
platform enabling advertisers to advertise on TV in order to reach new users on
TV.
Other than integrating radio and Tv activities into its business and offering them
to its customer, Google has never done any TV advertising to promote its
products before.
But during 2006's Superbowl, Google started to air TV ads promoting its best-
known products even though they didn‘t have any marketing problem.
The ads, a series of short videos, were not created especially for the Superbowl
(Google Airs TV Ad During Super Bowl – But Why?, 2010). Indeed, the videos
were on YouTube for months and Google decided to share them with a wider
audience since it had positive reactions online. Google claims the videos were
about the products and the users, and how they interact more than real ads to
attract uses.
Also in 2009, it has launched its first TV
commercial to promote its browser
―Chrome‖ a replacement for the browser
―Internet Explorer‖ developed by
Microsoft.
As regards of Newspapers, Google is
now applying its technology and ad
network to make money from ads in print
publications. Its first newspapers ad
targeted college students. The aim was
to attract them to its Internet application:
Gmail.
30

32. Google has been using its own advertising system to promote its system and
actually never had to advertise its search engine to be popular. Its popularity
came from word of mouth. Indeed, users started to like tools and recommended
them to others. Even though Google has never felt the need to put across its
core product (Google Airs TV Ad During Super Bowl – But Why?, 2010), using
traditional media to promote its tools, application and services is a strategy of
expansion. Indeed, what Google wants is to expand into all forms of advertising.
J. G. Sandon, postulated that "you can't build a brand simply on the Internet” to
what Freeman added “you have to go offline” (1999).
According to Markus Pferifer and Markus Zinnbauer, for online brands, the
decision to rely only on online marketing (Search Engine Marketing, Search
Engine Optimiesation, and banner advertising) or to invest in traditional,
communication channels (TV, print, outdoor, and radio) often is solved by
management experience and intuition.
Prasad A. Naik & Kay Peters (2009) by studying how online and offline can be
combined to create synergistic effects demonstrated not only the existence of
online-offline synergy, but also the importance of collaborative role of multiple
media in the firm‘s communication mix.
In addition, Markus Pferifer and Markus Zinnbauer have analyzed the
combination of both conventional media and online media and measured the
effectiveness of a brand and its strategy efficiency.
Their objective was to examine the business impact of various communication
channels and the role of other external factors on a web site. They came up
with the conclusion that classical advertising with a clear focus on TV clearly
pays off and outperforms pure search-engine marketing with regards to
generating new registrations. Indeed TV campaigns tend to strongly affect the
success of a website's traffic; in contrast, print and poster both show weak
efficiency levels and cannot significantly increase a Web site's traffic.
weak efficiency levels and cannot significantly increase a Web site's traffic.
31

33. Online pure-play can effectively rely on online marketing once it has gained a
reasonable awareness, however classic advertising remains a necessity to build
a brand strength.
On the other hand, the second approach, which consists in integrating online
media to traditional media, is the most expanded approach.
Changes in consumer behavior, driven by technology advance and supported
by new business models (Online Media and Search: The New Opportunity,
2007), have forced business owners to wonder whether or not going online. For
various businesses, the decision of expanding online has become an obligation.
Effectiveness of the Multimedia Marketing has been proved. Old media and new
media are not competitors, nor incompatible. Combined media strategy has,
obviously, better impact on potential consumers and most of offline businesses
have now integrated the Internet marketing into their strategy.
Examples of businesses, which choose to go online, are numerous but still they
are using different methods. Online marketing includes banner ads on specific
websites, direct e-mail marketing, affiliate programs, online sponsorships,
couponing, and referrals have become everyday tools for online marketers
For those who can afford it, the first option while going online is the website. It
provides an environmentally friendly way of do business.
It provides with many advantages and if carefully planned, it is an invaluable
tool that provides a business with increased exposure, sales, and reduces the
amount of time spent on administration.
32

34. But first it is interesting to add that researchers found that online advertising
significantly increases offline visits only in the presence of offline advertising via
magazines, newspapers, radio, and television, which makes prospective
customers aware and receptive to online exposures. This confirms that the
combination is required.
One certainty is that it allows businesses to reach consumers who were not
reachable through other media channels such as TV or print due to various
media consumption habits. Generation Y are considered as a target-market
reachable mainly online. Generation Y users have easier facilitation of
communication through technology and are very common with the internet and
very comfortable with new media and advertisement through websites like
YouTube and social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. They
are peer-oriented.
The Generation Y members (18 to 35 year old) are more receptive to online
marketing than their counterparts. Compared to members of generation X, they
are more likely to use tools as instant messaging, social networking and text
messages as primary tool for personal communications.
A great example of how receptive Gen Y members are is Barak Obama's 2008
presidential campaign. Indeed, they have been Obama's biggest supporters
thought the USA.
From a communication perspective, Obama and his campaign experts
understood how to involve and motivate members, part of an emerging new
―tribe‖ in the society.
Obama also understood that the youth vote was the most powerful place to
seed the ‗change‗ idea and building a popular community organization through
the internet was the way to build a movement that superseded politics (Tepper
Marlin John, 2001
33

35. 2.2.4. Obama'08
The Obama campaign‘s social network also ―married community organizing to
the Internet‖ by applying two-way (perhaps more accurately multi-way)
communication processes on a major scale (Feek, 2008).
The key to Obama‘s success was his instinct for marketing.
It would not be too much to say that Barack Obama‘s presidential campaign is a
case study in marketing excellence (Quelch John, 2008)
Obama saw that technology could offer the tools to create real change and
understood that all available technologies should be used to create
transparency, which was one key value of the Obama‘s Administration.
Toward this end, he deployed the most modern communication infrastructures
and changed the way business was conducted.
Obama has used web 2.0 as a central platform and turned it into a major force.
Thanks to his communication plan, Barack Obama converted everyday people
into engaged advocates through social networks, email, text messaging and
online video.
By combining social media and micro-targeting in the manner that he did, the
campaign revealed force and leveraged all the tools of social media to give
ordinary Americans access to resources usually reserved for campaign
professionals .
During his campaign, he has used technology with the intention to engage
those who have not been able to participate in prior presidential campaigns.
He understood that the value social media could bring to the campaign was
growing exponentially if online presence was raised to the highest levels and
integrated into all elements of the communication.
Its communication plan was revolutionary in the way he employed the same
34

36. tools as the former presidential candidates. He used the exact same tools as
competitors but in a better way by prioritizing and tracking prospective voters.
From a better-coordinated effort, he has built advantages from social
networking friends, web site and video viewers. Obama staffers monitored the
exchanges as a way to help make their own communications with supporters as
timely and personal as possible.( Lowry, 2008)
By Election Day, Obama had nearly five times more Facebook supporters than
McCain -over 3 millions cumulated friends on Facebook- and 20 times more
Twitter followers (Scott, David Meerman., 2009) . In addition he has over 13
million members‘ emails and 3 million mobile subscribers.
Compared to McCain, this is twice as more website traffic to ten times more
Figure F : Obama Vs McCain
(extract from : The Social Pulpit Barack Obama‘s Social Media Toolkit, 2009)
His campaign was built on the power of public engagement instead of relying
only on the traditional one-way communication.
Another aspect of transparency is citizen dialogue (Borins, 2009). By first
launching a web site, Change.gov, a website exclusively designed to let people
express their thoughts and opinion during the campaign he enabled people to
share about issues.
By giving average Americans the chance to propose opinions and information
on important policy issues he collected 15,000 policy ideas, which had been
submitted through the web site
At the end of the first month of the website opening, more than two million
people had visited the web site and 500,000 comments were posted. Indeed,
there were discussions with thousands of comments about topics such as
35

37. health care reform and the citizen‘s briefing book. (Borins, 2009)
It demonstrates a ―social majority‖ on each and every issue faced by giving to
people; the possibility demonstrates their support for its campaign and policy
with enthusiasm.
―Obama also took a nearly moribund tradition—the President‘s Saturday-
morning radio address, a weekly discussion of current events in the United
States —and instantly transformed it for the Net Generation into a weekly video
post on YouTube‖ (Borins, 2009). Indeed, since relatively few people listened to
the radio and therefore to the President's Weekly Address. Issuing its own
President Elect Weekly Channel on YouTube was a way to regain the radio‘s
lost audience by gibing the possibility to the video to be shared and commented
on easily.
More than 280,000 accounts were created on barackobama.com., whose
members have organically created over 6,500 grassroots volunteer groups and
organized more than 13,000 off-line events using the site. Barack Obama was
present in no fewer than 16 social media sites.
His staff sought to ensure that the Obama social network would mirror the off-
line world, because supporters would foster more meaningful connections by
attending neighborhood meetings and calling on people who were part of their
daily lives (Stelter, 2008).
By December, many volunteers were holding house parties to discuss and
figure out how the connection could be channeled to improve Obama's
campaign more support.
They clearly understood that social media could give people voice, connection
to people with like minds and improve Barack Obama notoriety.
―The underplay between online engagement and offline activities was a real
success.‖
36

38. Barack Obama had his team sending emails to million of people and, in some
way, had people spreading ―the message‖ for him, putting these ―super-
volunteers‖ to work in ways that they use their skills, connections and time. (n.d)
“The campaign’s technology activities demonstrate the positive role technology
has played, opening up the closed practices of governance to greater citizen
engagement and participation.”
Barack Obama knew. Social-networking technologies had matured and more
Americans were comfortable with them so he took advantage of it.
He had 3 million online donors during the election and 2 million people were
passionate enough to create profiles on my.barackobama.com.(n.d, 2009)
Public Engagement Model
Figure G : Sphere of Cross Influence (extract from: The Social Pulpit Barack
Obama‘s Social Media Toolkit, 2009)
His campaign was such a success that businesses can learn from Obama's
Social Media Strategy.
37

39. Such as developed by Michael Krempasky in his article ―The Social Pulpit :
Barack Obama’s Social Media Toolkit” , ten key learning points can be
extracted from the social media program implemented by Obama.
―
 Laddering support through tiers of engagement
 Empowering super users
 Providing source materials for user-generated content
 Going where the people are
 Using tools people are familiar with
 Ensuring that people can find your content
 Mobilizing supporters through mobile devices
 Harnessing analytics to constantly improve engagement activities
 Building the online operation to scale
 Choosing the right team ―
The 4 first points are the main points a business should focus on.
 Laddering support through tiers of engagement
Obama figured out that it was fundamental to offer a variety of ways to get
people involved in its campaign, by providing with taking into consideration the
level of engagement. His approach was to provide escalating levels of
engagement
―Like a the rungs of a ladder, each higher engagement level requires more work
and holds fewer people, but it ideally also creates more value for the campaign
or cause‖ (n.d http://www.epolitics.com/2009/12/03/winning-in-2010-online-
fundraising-and-mobilization/).
That way, the higher one moves up the ladder, more committed he gets and the
better value he creates.
The commitment being to start as a casual list-member to convert into a donor,
which will then convert into a volunteer and finally become a precinct leader.
38

40. ―Keeping the most casual supporters working at a basic level, while also
providing more strenuous outlets for the smaller core of true activists‖ (Winning
in 2010: Online Fundraising and Mobilization, 2009)
One starts by sending a casual email, which does not require much
involvement; then makes phone calls that requires a little more commitment and
then makes personal visits.
There are 3 engagements on the ladder to the campaign supporters.
Advocate
Recruit others t
Host an event
Create a group
Social
Post pictures/videos
Write a blog post
Join a group
Personal
Create a profile
Post a comment
Sign-up for e-mail/SMS Friend
on social networks
Getting people to recruit ten friends via email, for instance, is an easy way for
them to participate (n.d).
39

41.  Empowering super users
―The first time you visited his site you were asked to join his mailing list. Once
you subscribed you would start receiving high value emails from him driving you
back to his website to take action‖ (―Lessons We Can Learn from Barack
Obama‘s Online Marketing Strategy‖).
By offering different level of commitment, he offers the opportunity for the most
casual supporters to stay involved and also giving the possibility to drive up
commitment while creating value.
Most involved and reliable supporters were identified and were offered the
opportunity to use tools to attract others. Called the super users, these engaged
volunteers were then collecting funds by creating groups and organizing events
on the community website. They also were given the possibility to access the
database of Barack Obama to make phone calls to collect funds.
 Providing source materials for user-generated content
Through his web site, content such as video and up to date news are posted
and therefore available for the supporters to reuse on their own by sharing them
with their contacts, posting them on their blogs or facebook pages.
 Going where the people are
As trend may show, 6 Americans
out of 10 is currently using a social network. The main idea was reach each
and every member on any social network.
The objective was to make sure that each supporter has a connection with
Obama no matter where they are.
Barack Obama was member of 15 social networks reaching several
communities from Asian to Africans.
40

42. ―Obama was the first presidential candidate to have profiles on AsianAve.com,
MiGente.com, and BlackPlanet.com.‖
These social profiles were kind of a path to drive the supporters back to Obama
community site. The website's activity was then focused on raising funds.
Figure H : Driving Innovation
Obama had also developed a mobile-device presence qualified as the largest
mobile marketing event in the U.S by Nielsen Mobile.
The Obama campaign used mobile advertising to target youngsters. Even a
iPhone application was created, to give up-to date information
41

43. Obama segmented his market by combining several segmentation variables
rather than relying on a single segmentation base. While the key demographic
segmentation variables were age and race, the key segments Obama targeted
were young and minority voters.
Obama targeted all-important demographic and psychographic segments by
brilliantly exploiting a mix of traditional media and modern technologies
(Tempolral Paul, 2008)
Figure I : Obama Campaign‘s Hub and Spoke Model (extract from: The Social
Pulpit Barack Obama‘s Social Media Toolkit, 2009)
The campaign has succeeded to get people to act offline using online and to
facilitate offline activities. Online and offline were both well combined. Sharing
the experience in the online space maximized the offline activity.Obama‘s
campaign does proves that both totally complement each other.
―The Obama campaign did experiment with social networks, online video,
mobile test messages, etc. and scaled up what they found was valuable‖.
42

44. 2.3. FORMULATING HYPOTHESIS
As exposed earlier, Internet usage has changed and is now part of everyone‘s'
life. Traditional media usage has evolved. Saying that it has decreased is a true
affirmation but it is still part of business strategy. The evolution related to the
technologies leads us to the following hypothesis
H1: Traditional marketing, as a stand-alone strategy, is no longer enough
Today's ultra-competitive environment makes it difficult to be successful with
just great products, services and traditional marketing alone.
Gaining awareness requires great communication skills , in this sense getting
the customer to be notified about one company's product or service makes it
obvious that using new technologies help to make them informed purchasers.
H2: Social Media are credible and trustworthy
Non-traditional approaches, like buzz marketing, have proven to be very
effective. Communities of people forming direct, one-to-one relationships with
brands are the new way products are advertised.
H3: Social media marketing, can’t stand alone
Social media had shown great results and successful stories for many
companies and we believe they are here to stay. It brings great potential but
social media are constantly changing. However fast-growing and ever-changing
social media scene makes it difficult to consider it as a relevant tool.
In opposite traditional media have been around for years and have shown no
real signs of weakness before the arrival of the Internet. It does not seem to be
disappearing.
43

45. H4: Social Media and Traditional Media converge.
Social media marketing is a valuable resource for both internet-based and brick
and mortar businesses. Incorporating a mix of online marketing and traditional
marketing techniques might exert synergistic effect by reinforcing both online
and offline ads
A diverse repertoire of marketing tools could give wider reach and better results.
44

46. 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1. INTRODUCTION
This chapter deals with the methodology adopted in undertaking this research
and begins with the description of the method adopted in this survey.
It follows the four steps sequences: methodology selection, survey method,
problem definition, and research objectives.
3.2. METHODOLOGY SELECTION
3.2.1. Qualitative research
To gain a deeper understanding and to gather an in-depth understanding this
theses will be driven by a qualitative research methodology on accordance with
exploratory research type.
Exploratory data analysis
We find ourselves in a context where we seek to understand a phenomenon of
substance, for which a qualitative study proves to be the best solution.
The quantitative study did not seem relevant in this context, because the
phenomenon in question seems difficult to quantify or generalize. Beyond the
explanatory function that is the qualitative study, it will help to develop
knowledge about issues that have little or no research so far been treated.
Therefore, it will have an important exploratory function in order to better
understand the phenomenon on which it is directed.
45

47. As this study relies on secondary research such as reviewing available literature
and/or data and more formal approaches through in-depth interviews the
exploratory research approach is the most appropriate.
These data have been analyzed for the purpose of formulating hypotheses.
We will identify patterns and relationships thanks to literature review and
interview of specialized people of the social world.
Problem > Data > Analysis > Model > Conclusions
Survey Methods
Telephone interview, personal interview and mail interview were employed to
conduct this survey. Telephonic interviews were appropriate for upscale
respondents who are accustomed to telephonic business transactions.
3.3. PROBLEM DEFINITION
As developed previously in the literature review marketers used to rely solely on
what has been working for them in the past using ―industry standard‖
approaches, unwilling to explore new options.
Many researchers have first seen the new media, social media included, as a
competitor to traditional media rather than considering them as a
complementary media that could enhance mutual growth across multiple media
by building cross-media synergies.
Research question
“ What is the best approach to integrate Traditional Media and Social Media into
a single strategy?
46

48. 3.3.2. Research Objectives
This study aims at understanding what the stakes of having a social network-
oriented strategy and the impact of implementing it into an already existing
traditional media strategy are.
In light of the previous literature analysis, the objective will be to set up a
marketing strategy combining both social-media and traditional marketing.
Interviews
The people being interviewed were actors of the social world, daily evolving in
this context or having written articles in relation to the new media. Interviewees
are mainly professionals, which helped us to have a better understanding of the
challenges they face.
These administrated interviews are semi-structured as the interview is flexible,
allowing new questions to be brought up during the interview as a result of what
the interviewee says. Also it allows re-centering and giving more precision to
what the interviewee is expressing.
47

49. Interviewee Position Company/School
Markus Pfeiffer Managing. Director. Vivaldi Partners' Can Old Media Enhance New Media? How Traditional
Munich and London Advertising Pays off for an Online Social Network.
offices
Barbara K. Kaye Assistant Director Master's Degree in Author of: From Here to Obscurity?: Media Substitution
Communication - Theory and Traditional Media in an On-Line World.
The Johns Hopkins
University
Andrew T. Stephen, Assistant Professor INSEAD Business The Complementary Roles of Traditional and Social Media in
Ph.D of Marketing School Driving Marketing Performance
Antony Mayfield Vice President, iCrossing, a search Author of: Me & My Web Shadow: How to Manage Your
Head of Social and social media-led Reputation Online
Media digital company www.antonymayfield.com
Anton Koekemoer & Internet Marketing WSI Professional blogger, developer, web technology consultant
WSI OMS‘s Team Consultant and a marketing strategist with an emphasis on Web 2.0
technologies.
Jacquelyn Cyr Chief Executive Chief Executive Author: What the F**K is Social Media: One Year Later
Officer Officer brandinfiltration.com
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50. 4. FIELDWORK
In the following chapter, we are testing the hypotheses stated at the light of the
literature conclusions. The tests lean upon the questions of the 7 interviewees
and the general trend that comes out of the questionnaire provided to them.
The answer to the hypotheses will be the result of their answers and will be
either approved or disproved in accordance with the general opinion of the
interviewees.
4.1. VERIFYING HYPOTHESES
4.1.1. H1: Traditional marketing, as a stand-alone strategy, is no
longer enough
The traditional media as we know it today has shown a great sign of power and
has gained a lot of credibility during the last decades. However, online media,
as a result of the innovation and technology, is now taking part of our daily lives
and people start to rely on what is found on the Internet. Actually they
complement the audience‘s opinion by improving awareness and brand image.
As pointed out by Mr Markus Pferifer, traditional media and social media do not
communicate the same way. Indeed, we are used to see commercials about
brands and products everywhere, from TV to newspaper, and those
commercials actually advertise the product by emphasizing on the benefits of
the products and giving competitive advantages about a brand, while social
media can enhance the product or the brand image, not by doing advertisement
about the product itself but by communicating on the company image.
The communication of a product launch has first to be carried out upstream
through traditional media getting people to know about the new product and
then communicating on social media to create brand awareness, increase
affinity, drive traffic to a website and at the least position, increase sales.
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51. Figure J : Social Media effectiveness by objectives (extract from Marketing
Sherpa)
The previous graph shows that companies do use social media to improve their
reputation and increase their brand awareness.
The way a business uses social media is different from the way it uses a
traditional media. Because both types of media are used for different purposes
and because company do not communicate on the same content it
demonstrates that traditional media are compulsory to have a relevant
marketing strategy but it cannot be efficient by itself. Using social media adds
depth to the message and meaning to the brand.
According to Mr Andrew T. Stephen ―traditional is still broad-reaching and still a
major part of marketing plan‖.
✓Traditional marketing strategy is not enough
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52. 4.1.2. H2 : Social Media are credible and trustwhorthy
Ms Barbara K. Kaye stressed the fact that ― user-generated content sources are
way too often factually incorrect‖ and that ―no matter how the content is
delivered, traditional media is the expert in information coverage and keep its
image of real media‖. What she intends to say is that social media information is
misused since it is provided by anyone on the web. Indeed, spreading an
erroneous message can be done by anybody and could reach a wide audience
even if the message is totally wrong. According to Ms Kaye, media audience
should strictly entrust the traditional media with the information provided on TV,
on radio and newspaper and not take any social media message into
consideration. According to her, majority of people thinks that the Internet ―
complements the newspapers source of information as it brings a different type
of information‖. A minority of people still thinks that the Internet is not a
trustworthy source of information and traditional media remains the best type of
media.
On the other hand, Mr Mayfield sees it
as a ubiquitous way of doing business
and socializing with people that became
almost ―invisible‖.
Mr Markus Pferifer pointed out that social
media have been adopted naturally within
a couple of year and the users do trust
social media. Indeed, 70% of the
purchase decisions today, in many
product categories, are actually driven by
social media and this is thanks to the
possibility to access a wide range of
recommendation through the web,
especially social networks and now also
the mobile web making social network
access a powerful tool.
Figure K: In friend We Trust (extract from The Economist)
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53. So Yes, internet users do trust a brand, like Mercedes, but when comes to a
purchase decision, it is mainly driven by recommendations, opinions of other
people through the social networks, both relatives and strangers. It‘s because
consumers rarely trust marketing messages. Consumers today trust other
people even if they don‘t know the person much more than a brand. That is
what is called Word-Of-Mouth on the web, a consumer-to-consumer
communication with no economic incentives, here considered as an online
strategy through social media.
Consumers are now seeking for a second opinion and tend to value opinions
expressed directly to them. They are turning to online influencers to confirm
their opinions before making purchase decisions
Today, word-of-mouth operates on a one-to-many basis:
- Product reviews are posted online
- Opinions disseminated through social networks.
Consumers discuss bad customer experiences and place them in context.
Concerns and dissatisfaction are more loudly expressed through social media,
even Web sites or blogs are created to praise or punish brands. Peer
recommendation appears to be relevant when consumers intend to buy a
product for the first time and particularly when the product is expensive.
✓Social media are credible and trustworthy
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54. In the light of what has been developed in the previous hypothesis about the
efficiency of a traditional media strategy as unique strategy makes the following
hypothesis more relevant.
4.1.3. H3: Social media marketing, can‟t stand alone
Social media turns out to be a powerful tool to communicate and spread widely
an image or communicate over a message.
As a matter of fact, it has reached more people that one could ever imagine.
The general trend that comes out of the interviews is that the social media is a
―revolution‖.
The Social Media show a few signs of weaknesses due to the newness of this
type of marketing. First and foremost, the usage Social Media is not widely
spread and therefore, launching a marketing plan only using Social Media
would not reach a large audience.
As stated by Mr Anton Koekemoer ―Social media has created a highly involved
audience that engages and interacts around focused topics … The internet
viewing public has shifted to social media and many search engines have
incorporated it onto their complex algorithms to make use of this world wide
phenomena.‖
The hypothesis about whether or not social media can stand alone is answered
by a pertinent sentences quoted by Mr Markus Pferifer : ―Just putting up a
Facebook fan page of a new toothpaste would not be relevant.‖ Indeed, he
stresses the fact that using social media by itself to promote a new product
does not make any sense, as the communication up streaming did not occur.
Mr Anton Koekemoer adds to this idea the fact that Social Media Marketing is
about sharing and publishing valuable content, building trust and relationships.
It is never about selling directly.
Social networks are not able to provide instantaneous success to a product or
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55. service when used as a single marketing strategy. Even though a few
companies had succeed to become famous within a couple of days by creating
a ―buzz‖ chances to reach 1 million people with a buzz are still low because
there are many companies which are trying to do so in the jungle of social
media.
Social media bring various benefits to a business and offer tremendous new
marketing opportunities, however social media cannot be used as a single
strategy.
Mr. Antony Mayfield emphasizes that idea by stating, ―focusing exclusively on
social media would be to ignore how customers get their information and
entertainment – via a mix of media.‖ Indeed, using Social Media as a substitute
to formal marketing strategy is considered as ineffective by a majority of
respondents, if used as a stand-alone strategy.
✗ -alone
 It has to be integrated
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56. 4.1.4. H4: Social Media and Traditional Media converge.
Taking into consideration how social media have advanced since the past years
show how relevant social media are. They become increasingly powerful and
show a great sign for the future.
Opinions as regards of the future of both traditional media and social media are
quite unanimous: traditional media and social media (integrated into online
media) are gradually forming one product with the advantages of all of them.
Most of the interviewees do agree on the fact that traditional media may face
difficulties to overcome new media challenge but at the end they will get better
and will even ―be unrecognizable‖ (Antony Mayfield).
The social web is disrupting traditional media but why should companies
abandon something that have been a very broad-reaching media, working for
businesses for decades?
The question about whether or not social media will replace traditional media
has been of high concern for the last couple of years. Obviously, this concern is
no longer relevant. Dr Andrew T. Stephen thinks that social media will become
increasingly interconnected and integrated to traditional media. Indeed, today‘s
business marketing is about integration and interaction and it involves playing to
each type of media channel‘s strengths and using the others to compensate for
weaknesses.
Mr Mayfield states that as a result business models are failing but new ones are
being discovered. Also, by adding ―understanding media is about understanding
how people use it – and that means a combination of different formats,
platforms, technologies‖.
Convergence is of all types. The convergence has first been introduced by
internet-enabled gaming consoles. The Wii console is a great example of
features gathered in one single device because it allowed gamer to access web
browser and therefore social networks playing and sharing with anyone
connected to the Wii.
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57. In Mr Markus Pferifer‘s opinion the media industry is now being converged with
the mobile phone industry. Numerous devices have voice recorders, digital
cameras and mp3 players are now integrated into mobile phone, to what an
Apple introduced mobile-web navigation with the iPhone.
The idea is also extended to the television-web convergence with the example
of Google TV. Google combines the TV with the freedom and power of the
Internet by allowing navigation to television channels, websites, apps, shows
and movies.
The power of the Internet is brought out of the computer into TV and onto
mobile devices; the reach is maximized.
It reaches even more massive media audiences than ever before, allows
interaction and even generate media content. Audiences have now the control
of when, where and how they access and relate to information of all kinds.
✓Social Media and Traditional Media converge.
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58. 5. RECOMMANDATIONS
5.1. SUGGESTION OF TIME ALLOCATION
This section summarizes data from the previous the conducted interview with
the 7 interviewees and compiles their results into recommendations for an
objective-oriented converged media-marketing plan to optimize marketing
impact and return on investment. Mixing social media with traditional
advertising improve both. The challenge is about finding the best balance of
mixed media to use it in a coordinated program enabling the business to
develop conversations with its customers.
Online advertising's shares in the media mix can have a significant increase in
the effectiveness of an overall advertising campaign. social media have
penetrated the business world with great speed but, unfortunately, with mixed
results..
When effectively integrated, marketing budget can significantly raise brand
awareness, educate consumers and considerably increase sales altogether.
However the distribution between traditional media and social media has to be
adapted to the advertising goal.
Although the ultimate goal is to ensure the company‘s profitability and durability,
meaning that the objective is to make sales, advertising objectives are not
directly oriented to the increase of sales. Instead it is generally used to convey
customers to a business by leveraging the brand awareness and the company‘s
identity with the ultimate goal of increasing sales.
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59. First and foremost, before determining the best media mix to implement it is
essential to identify the main advertising objectives: increase sales, increase
image and brand awareness, educate consumer. The key objective will
determine the allocation of traditional and social media placement.
Two main orientations are identified:
- Brand / Image Equity
- Profitability
Figure K : The Media Balance
Then it is necessary to determine product‘s characteristics that are the most
significant in the choice of social media advertising, and, finally, identify product-
related factors responsible for media use, by using the following FCB Grid.
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60. - INVOLVEMENT + THINKING FEELING
IV. INFORMATIVE (THINKER) III. AFFECTIVE (FEELER)
Car, Life Insurrance, Hi-fi Fashion Apparel, Motorcycles
Social Media
II. HABIT FORMATION I. SELF-SATISFACTION
Household items Candy, Cigarettes
Traditional Media
Figure L: FCB Grid Remodelled
There are 2 dimensions with 4 different situations. The importance of the
product explains the involvement. High involvement products represent the
products for which it is needed to think or gather information about before the
consumers make a purchase decision, such as life insurance, cars, etc.
In opposition low involvement products are the products for which it is not
necessary to learn or think about before making any purchase decision such as
toothpaste, bread, etc. It is suggested that Internet advertising is relevant for
highly involved and rationally oriented consumers.
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61. Therefore online advertising using Social media has to be emphasized
whenever the product is of high involvement (figure C). The more the customer
is involved, the more social media has to be emphasized.
When the product is of low involvement, such as daily products, traditional
media is more suitable. Nevertheless, one media should not be putted aside.
The aim, here, is to use both media but by emphasizing one or the other,
depending on the goal to achieve.
Figure M: The balance between traditional and online media emphasis should
vary according to the marketing objectives.
In the following recommendations the traditional media methods include:
Television commercial
Radio
Print
Billboards / Bus Wraps
Newspaper
and social media methods include :
Social Networking. (Facebook, Twitter) Interact by adding friends, commenting
on profiles, joining groups and having discussions.
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62. Social Bookmarking. (Del.icio.us) Interact by tagging websites and searching
through websites bookmarked by other people.Social News. (Digg, Google
News) Interact by voting for articles and commenting on them.
Social Photo and Video Sharing. (YouTube,Flickr) Interact by sharing photos
or videos and commenting on user submissions.
Wikis. (Wikipedia) Interact by adding articles and editing existing articles.
5.1.1. Increasing sale
Each day we are exposed to a variety of media and marketing message that we
unconsciously absorb without paying attention to it.
Traditional media remain a broad-reaching media -especially TV ads and
billboards- as it still reaches a wide audience; yet this audience is not targeted
enough compared to social media. TV ads and billboards reach extensive
potential consumers. In that, traditional media is highly efficient in
communicating to non-targeted consumers at a local or national level.
Traditional media are used for all types of products, from low involvement to
high involvement products or services. But still, the traditional media – other
than TV commercials- are more suitable for special offer and promotional
advertising of low to high involvement products and services because they have
a local impact. It is more commonly used at a local level and sometimes
nationally but it barely reaches an international scale.
However, even at a local scale, it makes it possible to attract the attention of
those who may not consider making purchases in your business. For example,
if someone sees that a particular product is going to have a special offer it may
reconsider it purchase decision if the product turns out to be affordable.
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63. Billboards are a good example of how non-targeted the advertising type is.
Indeed, billboards are standing by the street sides are the message are
absorbed by drivers and their passenger.
On the other hand, TV advertisement is more targeted as a specific audience
views it at a specific time of the day.
Radio and print publication are even more targeted as they are intentionally
bought or listened by the reader or the listener, and therefore the audience pays
more attention to it.
Figure N : Media Targeting
Also, social media are not made to sell a product; only traditional media are
suitable for selling as they can deliver a message such as product specification
to the most receptive part of a market. These messages need to be controlled
and not left to a third party. Social media build the trust.
Social media bring more customers to the business and ultimately increase
sales and revenues, in that way traditional media have to be emphasized rather
than social media it the goal is to increase sales.
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64. It might be necessary to use social media, even a small scale, because it
makes Return on investment measurable. It can be used to guide traditional
efforts.
INCREASE SALES
Traditional Media Social Media
25%
75%
Figure O: Media Allocation for Brand Awareness Increase
5.1.2. Educate consumer
Consumer education is the process of showing consumers how to use a
product, emphasizing on information customized to the client‘s needs. It may be
considered as an advertising method, however the direct goal is not to increase
sales. Instead it increases the consumer knowledge of a product..
The advantage is that it targets the existing customers of a company such as
the consumer of a product but also non-customer a company yet. It has a wide
audience. As regards of non-customers of a company it educates him on the
pros, it directly increases customer knowledge of the company.
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