A commentary on marketers' use of disguised forms of product promotion to compensate for the loss of traditional advertising's effectiveness

Abstract

Marketers are responding to a loss of traditional media advertising effectiveness by employing camouflaged promotion techniques to achieve their communications objectives. These covert techniques include advertorials, editorial supplements, infomercials, video news releases, product placement in films and television shows and commercial messages embedded in interactive electronic media. There are four major reasons for the loss of traditional advertising's power. They are the proliferation of advertising-supported media, the increasing volume of commercial messages, the apparent lack of relevance of advertising messages and the rising consciousness and scepticism of the consumer about advertisers' claims. It is acknowledged that the use of such hidden media methods helps consumer marketing companies to compensate for the diminishing power of traditional media advertising in the short term. However, it is possible that the growing use of such methods may cause previously loyal purchasers of branded products and services to become alienated towards the companies pursuing these disguised promotional programmes and ultimately motivate consumers to buy alternative brands.