Experts state that the task of determining what is popular in the current century belongs to the advertising industry, and that advertising is developed by taking cultural dynamics into account more than produced messages, commercial rules, and conditions. Emphasizing that it is inevitable for brands to exhibit high-level performance incorporating technology, Dr. Cihan Becan points out that the Metaverse is also expected to shape the near future in the context of advertising and marketing.
Metaverse will shape the near future in advertising and marketing
Asst. Prof. Dr. Cihan Becan from Üsküdar University Faculty of Communication, Department of Advertising, made evaluations regarding the opportunities digital advertising offers to brands.
Advertising developed with cultural dynamics
Dr. Cihan Becan stated that advertising, throughout its history, has been developed more by considering cultural dynamics rather than produced messages, commercial rules, or conditions. “Culture, essentially, reveals the daily life form of the individual and society, as well as containing the essence of the way business is done and the factors playing a role in its transformation. Technology is also an extension of culture and points to an instrumentality that creates culture.” he said.
The task of determining what is popular belongs to the advertising industry
Dr. Cihan Becan said, ‘The technology of the current century serves message production and distribution processes related to popular culture engineering, which has long established its existence,’ and continued his words as follows:
“In this process, the task of determining what is popular falls to the advertising industry. In today's technological communication environment, referred to as 'digital,' which we can see as an unlimited media space, brand stories are skillfully told, countless contents are produced in favor of global brands, and digital content that strengthens the bond with consumers comes to the forefront. It is also possible to say that complex, dynamic, and network-based environments are capturing more and more of an individual's time every day. To access the minds of individuals in a state of hyper-connectivity, social media has also increased interest in advertising, and the development of digital strategies has virtually become a necessity.”
Brands' task became more difficult
Dr. Cihan Becan, drawing attention to the increasingly difficult task for brands, stated, “It has become inevitable for brands to exhibit high-level performance incorporating technology, beyond their long-standing traditional promotion activities. It is possible to state that social media, when compared to traditional media, is free from many limitations with its ease, low cost, variety, and open and innovative structure. The most fundamental characteristic of digital advertisements is that they enable the instant recording of experiences on platforms where consumers and brands interact. When we look at the structure of digital advertisements, it is necessary to emphasize that they can be customized, adapt to time and place, spread rapidly from one person to different people simultaneously, and have immersive and high-value-added content.”
Digital advertisements offer an interactive environment
Dr. Cihan Becan stated that the biggest contribution provided by digital advertisements is offering an interactive environment, “For brands, this interactive communication environment allows them to send their messages to target audiences determined by analysis, while also providing the opportunity to re-create their own work based on the feedback received from them. Furthermore, consumers openly and sincerely commenting on every activity related to brands, and the realistic presentation of messages, significantly increases interaction, leading to messages from social media and similar platforms being perceived as more reliable. Therefore, it is clear that digital advertisements differ from traditional media by providing the opportunity for effective and efficient measurement, in addition to enabling interaction. This always further increases interest in social media.” he said.
Social media transformed into a display area
Dr. Cihan Becan emphasized that social media has ceased to be an environment brought about by digitalization and has transformed into a display area, and continued his words as follows:
“Today, social media use is one of the most preferred leisure activities. Thanks to social media, individuals can socialize, acquire information, play games, and most importantly, relax from the day's fatigue and have a pleasant time. However, due to the inherent surveillance and display functions of social media, this medium has become one of the most suitable environments for today's conspicuous consumption. The identities individuals project through social media platforms allow them to present themselves as they wish. If an individual wants to define themselves in a certain way, they direct this effort of representation through the symbolic meanings held by brands. Social media content produced by people for the purpose of conspicuous consumption under the effort of representation turns into digital footprints. Brands, in turn, can easily present themselves to consumers with content that will make them more comfortable and unique, by evaluating these efforts of individuals, that is, the footprints they leave.”
Metaverse can be used for sales generation
Dr. Cihan Becan, stating that the 'metaverse,' expected to shape the near future in the context of advertising and marketing, can be defined as a three-dimensional virtual space where users can spend time, said, “The Metaverse can be used for brand-related content and sales generation. The concept of Metaverse may need to be evaluated in two ways. Firstly, the Metaverse can be seen as a unique marketing communication tool, just like mobile applications and social media assets. Secondly, it can be considered a new environment for storytelling. In addition to advertisements opened on social media applications like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, it can offer immersive advertising experiences that tell a brand's story. Today, experts say they believe that the metaverse approach can provide better social experiences than anything currently available.”
Unlimited potential seen in digital advertising
Dr. Cihan Becan stated that unlimited potential is seen in the future of digital advertising with artificial intelligence and machine learning, “Parallel to the advancements in computer systems, we can observe a transformation in digital advertising applications. Artificial intelligence has started to feed the digital advertising sector to offer consumer experience-oriented brand solutions. In digital advertising, advertisers want to see how their advertising campaigns perform according to important metrics such as viewability and brand safety rates. From this perspective, we can say that it promises a lot for advertisers to get more efficiency from their advertising campaigns and achieve their goals in the near future.” he said.