Once upon a time (well, actually just about ten years ago), YouTube was the go-to home for rich media, and it largely consisted of video, Java, audio, and vector graphics. The phrase ‘rich media’ was not yet widely known or used, but its potential had already begun to catch the eye of marketers and advertisers.
Fast forward to today and rich media as we know it – like Pokémon – has evolved. It is travelling all over the nooks and crannies of the interwebs in a quest for bigger and better things. Like selfies, rich media has found a comfortable new home on social media and it is there that is screaming for attention to all who are willing to listen.
The marketing world has moved on from simple expanding banners viewable on clunky PCs. Rich media today is a truly interactive and personal experience inhabiting the device which is constantly glued to our hands – the smartphone screen.
Let’s face it; we have become best friends with our screens, and we’re not even sorry. We are addicted to interactions on our various apps, social media, games and we are now moving toward a new era where communication boundaries are no longer as relevant.
Rich media formats have evolved to a point where they are even adaptable by users themselves. You can upload your image/ avatar and have advertising completely tailored to you. Let’s take the Elf Yourself Christmas e-cards fad as an example. How many times were you sent one? Maybe you even created them yourself and emailed it to your friends and family. Just imagine if Facebook was available then! It would have driven us crazier than even the ice-bucket challenge!
More and more people are identifying as global citizens, and that’s because we’re all more connected than we’ve ever been before, thanks to social media – Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, WeChat and more.
In Australia, the average smartphone user opens a handful of apps every day to do things like text friends, check email, use social media and take pictures. In China, the average smartphone user goes for WeChat – which is all of those apps rolled into one. In fact, it is sometimes the only app Chinese consumers need to use, allowing users to do things like:
- Pay bills and manage their bank accounts
- Order food
- Buy clothes and movie tickets
- Book cabs
- Make doctor’s appointments
- Post to social media
- Send money to friends
- Check in for flights
- Read news
WeChat is an unstoppable phenomenon and is really a fantastic way for brands to interact with Chinese and Australian-Chinese alike. Read more about WeChat here.
The media landscape is becoming more rich media centric and thanks to social media and its power there has never been a more exciting and more cost effective way to communicate your product or service to millions and millions of people. The journey has just begun.
Don’t have a company WeChat account? Get in touch with us today.
This blog was written by Marija Kovacevic, MultiConnexions’ Media Director.
Image: Inprogresspokemon