The Phenomenon of Non-Advertising Advertisement

It has become universally understood that, as a North American society, the individual is constantly bombarded with advertisements. Flipping through television channels one is bound to see plenty of products flash before their eyes, billboards on busy streets provide one with images and information, and radio commercials, which have been around since the early 1900’s continue to persuade the listener into the purchasing of a specific product. The ability to reach an audience is found in an expanding number of places, but with the help of technology, it seems as though the consumers themselves are becoming the strongest advertising agents. This phenomenon of non-advertisement advertising has been recognized before, most widely understood is the concept that by wearing branded clothing on the body, one is further promoting the product. To discover how and why this appears to be branching out further and becoming a more powerful form of advertising, there are a few things that need to be looked into. Firstly, the strength of word-of-mouth and electronic word-of-mouth sharing has grown with the development of the widespread reach of social media sources. Along with this, consumer created content has grown in several related but distinguishable ways, inclusive of the strengthening of brand imaging by their inclusion in consumer created content, such as logo quizzes increasingly popular on smartphones, as well as by the skyrocketing of consumer generated advertising, where billion dollar companies directly ask the consumer to get involved.

Due to “rapid growth in the popularity of social media platforms”, the question as to “whether this phenomenon has reduced marketers’ control of branding” has been continually raised. As social me...

... middle of paper ...

...-how-an-icelandic-game-became-an-overnight-success/>.

Schivinski, Bruno, and Dariusz Dąbrowski. "The Effect of Social Media Communication on Consumer Perception of Brands." Faculty of Management and Economics 12 (2013): n. pag. Gdansk University of Technology. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.

Thompson, Debora. "Risks and Rewards of Consumer Generated Ads." McDonough School of Business. N.p., 15 July 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. .

Turow, Joseph, and Matthew P. McAllister. The advertising and consumer culture reader. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print.

Wagstaff, Keith. "Does QuizUp have all the answers? Social trivia game nets a million fans in a week." NBC News. NBC, 19 Nov. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. .