Technology and PR advertising
Technology is always evolving, changing the lives we live and society as a whole. As such, technology will change the way we do public relations advertising. Technology will not only change the tools and methods we use to connect with our audiences, but also increase the knowledge we have about our audience.
In just a few years, we have seen movies come to life before our eyes with the ever so popular 3D movies. Now you can take the experience home with you and watch shows or movies in 3D. In 2009, Super Bowl officials launched a response to the 3D fad and encouraged organizations to create 3D ads. Organizations such as Mitsubishi and Samsung formed the 3D@Home Consortium to speed the adoption of 3D into the population’s homes.
The 3D fad will soon hit public relations advertising and significantly change the way we connect with our audience. The concept of 3D can involve an audience so much more than regular 2D. If, and when, this fad hits public relations advertising, public relations practitioners will have to learn how to utilize this tool to raise awareness, promote a cause or organization, or collect funds.
Just picture an intense scene of a child being rushed to the hospital, with 3D cars rushing past your head. The child arrives safe and sound at the Ottawa Hospital. Simple awareness ads like this one involves the audience and helps them experience the true cause of an organization.
Another aspect of technology growing in society is the increase in knowledge about users. A simple IP address – a unique number which identifies a computer and its location on the internet – can tell you the user’s location and their internet habits. Public relations advertising on the web can target a very specific audience based on data collected from an IP address.
Imagine making a video ad to post on GlobalTV.com. Global is visited by people all over the World. Due to an IP address, when a user from Ottawa with a history of visiting cooking sites visits GlobalTV.com, an ad about a new cooking class in Ottawa will pop up. Public relations practitioners need to utilize this tool as it is an easy way to connect with a very narrow and specific audience.
Technology is inevitable, public relations practitioners should start researching and utilizing technology as a tool to engage with their audience.
Social actions are powerful because they act as trusted referrals and reinforce the fact that people influence people. It’s no longer just about messages that are broadcasted out by companies, but increasingly about information that is shared between friends. So we set out to use these social actions to build a new kind of ad system.—Mark Zuckerberg