an interdisciplinary assay upon internet and social advertising ...

Today web as the new media also took the traditional media in its own realm. Files sized with
thousands of megabytes are transferred from one corner of the world onto another, in very
short times. Motion, interactivity, the idea of staying connected to the whole world
simultaneously and audio are the main elements that make the web so special. When compared
with the traditional media, another difference that comes to mind is the broadcasting costs. It is
free to broadcast on a social network, blog or photo and video sharing site on the Internet. That
is why the Internet is the most appropriate medium for social advertising, which doesn’t have
any king of revenue expectation. Because of the global financial crisis, Internet has become the
primary tool to carry on a campaign unlike in the past, where the Internet was usually a
secondary vehicle to support the traditional media.
5.2.1. Viral Film
Considering the fact that motion is a method used to increase Internet advertising’s appeal, it is
unavoidable that video becomes a tool serving that same purpose. As the Internet technologies
advanced, video applications started to be used for Internet advertising and examples of
experimental videos emerged as a way to avoid the ordinary. The video’s appeal is the primary
factor in increasing its sharing by bloggers and social networks. The name viral (viral
expansion) is based on this definition. Viral films, as part of their nature, are predicted to be the
fastest tool to circulate social ads. In order for this to happen, it is highly needed to have an
authentic and creative idea that is executed via an effective visualization.
5.2.2. Guerilla applications and blogs
The word “Guerilla” has its roots from Spanish. When the Spanish people showed resistance
against Napoleon between 1807 and 1814. Guerilla, meaning the war of the gangs, can be seen
as the weapon of the poor and the weak. It was first used by Jay Conrad Levinson in 1984 to
define unconventional advertising methods like theatrical street performances, brochures, direct
mailing, methods that were mainly used by amateur agencies as an alternative to mediadependant
advertising strategies. However, in the past years, bigger companies have noticed
the effects of these tactical advertising methods and transformed this strategy into something
more grandiose. Ironically, the tactics called “guerilla” were mainly designed for start-up, lowbudget
ad agencies that wouldn’t be able to allocate high budgets for a 30-seconds long spot to
be broadcasted on national media channels. The advertising work produced through the use of
guerilla tactics communicate with the viewer right on the moment they are executed and via the
transfer onto the Internet. Because they involve unconventional ideas and more eye-catching
executions than the traditional media, their viral circulation rate on the Internet is quite high.
This characteristic of guerilla tactics, has caused them to be an important step in Internet
advertising campaigns.
Unlike web sites that require knowledge of programming, domain names and web designs,
blogs that are available to anyone for free, have become another media for Internet advertising.
Especially after the economic crisis, blogs have provided substantial income for their writers.
Blogs that have the fulfill the required hit and visitor count, can use applications like “adsense”
without even interacting with the advertiser on a one to one basis or they can use text-style ads
called “adwords.” Besides these, blogs are also used in “blogadvertising,” as a supporting
medium within the ad campaign to write news about the brand, to spread the viral films and to
announce the campaign.
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