Convergence Defined:
Past, Present, and Future

Christine Leseman | ADV391K | Spring 2007

Convergence in the future is not only going to capitalize on these “multi-directional conversations” (Barton) made by and between consumers and advertisers through mixed media, but according to Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, it is also going to encompass merging medias all together, possibly extinguishing current traditional ones.  More specifically, he goes on to state that all news media will converge onto the Internet.  Right now, traditional forms of news media are still being used, such as newspaper, television, radio, in collaboration with websites.  However, Gates proposed that these mediums will convert themselves completely into either a text only news site, e.g. newspaper homepage, an audio and video site, e.g. television, or just audio site, e.g. radio website. They would ultimately be competing against each other in a way that they hadn’t had to worry about before the onset of the Internet (Boriss).

Bill Gates' Prediction

So, does advertising itself have the same fate of extinction within these mediums? Worth pondering. But as of right now, it seems that consumers of the advertising industry will be even more segmented, targeted individually (Kanellos), calling for more one-on-one conversations with brands, through convergence media and consumer-generated content.  It becomes cyclical, one causing the other, again, like an ongoing conversation.  This is key.  The more we target, the “less likely they will want to skip the ad” (Kanellos), the more likely they will want to actively engage with the product, reciprocating feedback through ads and PR.  Hence, it increases the likelihood that they will want to buy the brand and potentially begin a loyal relationship with the brand.