What is convergence in public relations?

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PR and marketing: name a more iconic duo? We’ll wait…

These two disciplines, once quite distinct and differentiated, are now virtually synonymous in many contexts. The main catalyst? The growth of digital and social media over the past decade.

But does it really matter? Surely brands don’t care what these tools, techniques and tactics are called – they want results. Increasingly, they also expect public relations to have the same immediate impact as advertising.

But what does that mean? And can (and should) PR be able to do the same job?

Definitions

Let’s begin with definitions. Traditionally, PR is seen as the business of managing reputations, maintaining relationships and engaging stakeholders. It creates, commissions and curates content and ensures clear and consistent communications through various channels to influence or achieve a desired outcome.

Marketing (or more strictly ‘marketing communications’) is similar, although more focused on direct revenue: it relates to sales. Marketing is often perceived as an investment by businesses who like to feel they are receiving something tangible – such as digital assets, collateral and/or advertising.

Advertising is (arguably) the tip of the marketing spear. Big budgets may be required, but immediate responses are also expected. PR, however, is a longer-term brand-building tool to heighten awareness and shape perception.

In the wider commercial arena, PR is thought of as a subset of marketing, in the same way that marketing lays claim to be the umbrella discipline over branding, direct marketing and a host of other services and skills. The counter-argument is simple. Marketing and advertising focus on selling products or services to customers or clients: PR does that, too – but it also engages with every other stakeholder, in the medium and long term.

To converge or not to converge?

Some companies have chosen to prioritise either a PR or a marketing focus. In the past five years, there has been a dramatic shift in the way communications agencies and in-house teams conduct their business. Many successful operations now have a seamless and fully converged proposition.

There is greater interdisciplinary interdependence than ever. Success is often predicated on the efforts of other specialists, working together in concert. For your sales to skyrocket, your PR must be focused, engaging and unique. For your brand to be known you must invest significantly in marcoms. The disciplines are increasingly mutually dependent.

An old advertising model – AIDA – is instructive to try to delineate functions and purposes:

1. Awareness 2. Interest 3. Desire

4. Action

PR has often only focused on the top elements of the funnel; awareness and interest. Advertising focuses on the last two: desire and action. To illustrate: some brands say ‘that’s great – everyone knows about us but too few people are buying’ or alternatively ‘okay we’re making sales but no one cares about the brand, we have a terrible reputation.’ The former might indicate a lack of a compelling call to action, the latter might be due to a more fundamental flaw.

To be successful, communications professionals need to integrate these disciplines, not think of them as separate entities. Put simply, we all must help connect brands (products, people and services) with their audiences and stakeholders, through the most effective and cost-effective means possible.

Digital influence: here to stay

Third party endorsement is at the soul of PR. The rise of social media influencers has been exponential, especially over the past three years, with influencer marketing becoming the number one service many consumer brands are looking for.

Engaging with influencers can be a superb way to reach a highly targeted consumer audience on a mass scale, and powerful, relevant, authentic endorsements drive audience interest, leading to brand loyalty and revenue.

Once perceived as a tactical tool to increase brand awareness, social media marketing is now a must-have as part of a wider communications strategy. Employed wisely, it is an efficient way to generate leads, converting visitors to customers – another seamless example of the way in which PR and marketing are converging, or have already converged…

Curzon PR is a London-based PR firm working with clients globally. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our business development consultant Jimi Suarez

Media convergence is now. Even established brands like Singtel are struggling to find ways to position themselves in the transformed landscape better. As communications, computing, and content intertwine in the Internet Age, the world of marketing and PR has also been affected.

Altimeter published a study, coining the term “converged media” to describe a media strategy that would come to be crucial for marketing in the digital age.

But, what is converged media, and what does it have to do with your brand strategy? In this article, we run through the essentials you need to know to get started.

What is converged media?

To begin with, let us learn about the types of media. There are three types of media in marketing: Owned, paid, and earned. Owned media refers to corporate content that your brand owns. This includes the website copy, logo, blog posts, and infographics. This is where content marketing strategy comes in.

Learn about content resources that every startup should use.

Secondly, there is the paid content, such as advertising and sponsorships. Lastly, publicity gained through promotional efforts other than paid advertising comes under earned media. This includes word-of-mouth, press coverage, and social media shares.

Converged media is a media strategy that combines the above to deliver a clear and cohesive message across all channels for your brand. 

Why care about converged media?

Today, consumers are growing savvier about how they get information instead of just relying on what advertisers feed them.

Facebook is a stark example of this sort of convergence. On Facebook, we can see owned media, like a brand’s self-curated Facebook page. Secondly, there is paid media, like ads and boosted posts. And, finally, there is earned media– the unpaid-for posts, shares, and reviews. 

Learn about the evolution of how consumers digest content.

Now, consumers are less likely to take any message on a single channel as the gospel truth. They can easily cross-check it with other available references. Hence, focusing on one type of media alone at the expense of others could result in inconsistent messaging, and loss of consumer trust. Conversely, employing a converged media strategy can build consumer trust and advocacy, and amplify your reach. 

Read about what consistency means for successful branding.

Where to begin? 

Here are some simple, quick tips on how to start with converged media that don’t require a suite of tools:  

First, align all your channels to deliver a consistent message. The social team is at the nexus of media convergence. They are often the first to catalyze the change towards a converged media strategy. Ensure that teams working on other channels are aware of the content strategy. All sides need to have a clear idea of the brand message. 

Moving forward, get your audience involved. One of the most effective forms of advertising is word-of-mouth. People are more likely to trust another person than a distant and impersonal “brand”. And, in the world of converged media, the opinions of other people are right at their fingertips. Boost your reach by producing engaging content and earn grab attention by getting your audience to share your paid, earned and owned media. 

Recap: Letting customers do the marketing for you

What’s next?

Converged media is just the beginning. The marketing and PR industry will continue to evolve. 

If you’re curious to learn more about public relations or want to speak to a SYNC consultant about starting your brand’s PR journey, contact us at [email protected] 

Last updated 2 June 2020

Communication across the world has evolved with the advent of technology and media. There are now several ways to exhibit your work, voice your opinions on issues and spread knowledge and information globally. Related to these, is a phenomenon called Media Convergence. This has emerged due to the immense digitalization and the widespread use of the internet. Industries and organizations across the world have started transforming their methods and have merged the many types of media for better functioning and growth. In this blog, we will go through the various characteristics of media convergence, examples, advantages, and more.

Media Convergence simply refers to the merging of different types of mass media such as Traditional Media, Print Media, Broadcast Media, New Media and the Internet as well as portable and highly interactive technologies through digital media platforms. This results in the combination of 3Cs, i.e. Communication, Computing and Content as all three are integrated through technology. The most relevant example of media convergence is a Smartphone that blends together various media, i.e. print media (e-books, news apps), broadcast media (streaming websites, radio, music apps) as well as new media (the internet) into a single device that performs various functions from calling and texting to photography, videography, gaming and so much more.

Examples

The most popular examples of Media Convergence are:

• Smartphones (converging camera, music, the internet, books, and all other media together)
• Online Radio (converging radio with the Internet)
• E-books (converging paperbacks with the digital technology)
• News Websites and Apps

Advantages

Media convergence has proved to be beneficial in the digital era which is filled with content seeking our attention continuously. Here are the most important advantages of Media Convergence:

• The instant availability of news and moment-based content is one of the top advantages of media convergence between traditional media and new media.
• The content producers can specifically target the best audience or group they are aiming towards by publishing customized content.
• With media convergence, the audience has also become the creator themselves. From memes to social media posts, media convergence has truly been beneficial to integrate audience on a global level.
• Another important benefit of media convergence that it has broadened the limitations of traditional media by blending it with new media, thus providing instant and latest content on an international level.
• With the media convergence between traditional media and new media, the cost of digital marketing has also become economical thus making this process beneficial and affordable.

Media convergence is an umbrella term that can be defined in the context of technological, industrial, social, textual, and political terms.

The three main types of Media Convergence are:

• Technological Convergence
• Economic Convergence
• Cultural Convergence 

Technological Convergence

Technological convergence is a term that describes the layers of abstraction which enables different technologies to interoperate efficiently as a convergent system. It is when new technologies are created and take over from past technologies and perform the same task in a more efficient manner. Technological convergence is the combination of computing, communication, and content around networked digital media platforms. It further aims to convert existing media into a digital form of technology, for example, viewing a book online (E-books, Kindle). We have compiled some of the basic fundamentals of Technological convergence below: 

• Technologies convergence is when new technologies are created that mostly take over or get upgraded from past technologies and perform the same task but in a more advance manner, for example, people used to listen to music using the radio but now technological convergence but now the convergence has evolved majority use smartphones.
• Technological convergence is the tendency that as technology sometimes evolves towards performing a similar task.

Economic Convergence

Just like the general definition of Economic convergence which suggests that countries with lower GDPs are going to grow faster than countries with higher GDP, the Economic media convergence allows a single company to target larger interest groups through various kinds of media. Some of its key features are: 

• In Economic convergence large companies use old and new media to their advantage by selling merchandise or the rights of the product. 
• It is the horizontal integration of the entertainment industry companies such as Sony, AOL, Time Warner now has an interest in film, TV books, games, and the internet, music real estate, etc.

Cultural Convergence 

This concept of media convergence occurs when two or more cultures adopt each other’s traits and become more alike. Those  Increasing similarities between cultures are not limited to beliefs of consumer brands and media. Some of the major forms of cultural media convergence are: 

• Acculturation: When weaker among two cultures adopt traits from more dominant culture e.g Indians mostly speaking the English language. 
• Assimilation: When original traits of weaker culture are completely erased and replaced by traces of more dominant culture e.g war immigrants no longer speak the native language.  

Wondering why media convergence is important? It is important because it blends together content, communication technologies and computer networks thus leading to the immediate transformation of many established industries, services as well as work practices and through all this, new forms of content are born.

Here are the key points why Media Convergence is important:

• It transforms the modes of communication, news reporting, and journalism. For example, Media journalism.
• It led to cross-media since a huge amount of content is now being accessed through portable devices. For instance, news organizations no longer simply rely on print or AV transmission.
• Many new media forms are born like news portals, podcasts, news feeds, blogging, websites and mobile applications.
• The newly converged media platforms provide online access to the archives, and endless opportunities for users to comment on the story or provide links to relevant material.

The 3Cs of Media Convergence are Computing, Communications, and Content. Media Convergence unites these 3Cs of Computing, Communications and Content and is an immediate result of digitization and promotion of the Internet. To put it even more simply, the convergence of Content with Communication technologies and Computer Networks is what leads to Media Convergence.

While the advantages of this form of convergence focus on content integration, faster access and international reach, disadvantages highlight the impact of convergence on consumers as well as technology. Here are the major disadvantages of media convergence:

• Difficulty in assessing consumer responses and reactions scattered across diverse converged platforms.
• More competition for consumer’s time and attention with various media platforms in one device.
• Audiences often feel overwhelmed with massive amounts of information overload.
• The older generation and the disabled sections of the community find it hard to learn the digital skills to use different types of media
• Highly relied on technology and the internet thus the areas deprived of these two aspects can face issues with using online information.
• Prone to cyber-attacks and malfunctioning.

Universalization

Universalization is another lesser-known aspect of mass media that has been highlighted with convergence. Media convergence has led to the promotion of diversity and inclusion in our world as we get to know about various cultures, their traditions and values and further learn to imbibe a respect for every culture. Globalisation has played a central role in universalization of cultures through media as the world is striving to become more inclusive of everyone, irrespective of their culture, religion, gender, etc. Here’s how media convergence has led to universalization of popular culture:

• By providing open access to cultures around the world
• Increased cross-cultural consumption through digital media
• Promotion of pop culture on the Internet
• Diversity and inclusion in media (be it through the content we consume or content creators)
• The internet is an hybridization of cultures and identities as we consume content from around the world and learn about diverse cultures.

Careers

Media Convergence is known broadly as the coming together of computing, telecommunication, and media in a digital environment. In 1978, the term Convergence was first coined by Nicholas Negroponte which stated that modern devices in combination with technology, social media, and the internet form the basic structure of Convergence in media. It brings together the “3 C’s”,i.e communication, computing, and content which is a direct result of the digitization of media content and high usage of the Internet.

Now if you are interested in making your career in Media and got a media-related degree, you can make your career in the following fields:

• Editors
• Reporters
• Travel Journalism
• Columnists
• Correspondents
• Staff or Freelance Writers
• Photojournalists
• Proofreaders
• News Analysts
• Critics
• Cartoonists
• Illustrator

Find out which one is a better course through our blog Journalism vs Mass Communication!

FAQs

What does media convergence mean?

Media Convergence means the interconnection of communication technologies, computer networks, media content and information. It is constituted of 3Cs, i.e. Computing, Communication and Content and is a result of digital media content and the inception of the internet.

What is an example of media convergence?

The best examples of media convergence are Smartphones, laptops and ipads that converge different types of digital media like radio, camera, TV, music, content and more in a simple single device.

What are the types of media convergence?

There are three main types of media convergence:
1. Technological Convergence
2. Economic Convergence
3. Cultural Convergence

How does media convergence affect society?

Media Convergence has proven beneficial for small and large businesses both as well as have provided us with the rapid accessibility and availability of information and content at the touch of our screen. Media convergence has also made communication better thus making our society more globalised though it has resulted in our unhealthy addiction to our devices too.

Hopefully, this blog helped you acquire the basic knowledge of Media convergence. \If you are passionate about making your career in this field and are confused about how to go about it, then get in touch with experts at Leverage Edu. We will help you in choosing the Top Mass Communication Colleges but also will help you to choose the right career path!