Reflective Post - Privacy

Privacy Online

McLean (1995) wrote

Privacy has always been important, but it has always been taken for granted. As a result, very few people have singled it out for attention. It did not seem worth it. This is changing. 

This was written over a decade ago and could not have been more accurate. With the influx in online activity; privacy has become an issue in its own right.  Before the twentieth century it differed according to class and culture; it was socially acceptable for a member of the upper class to meddle in the lives of the lower class, but severely frowned upon vice versa. (McLean 1995)

In terms of the studies surrounding the subject, this following paragraph sums up Privacy in relation to each academic discipline.

Philosophical approaches to the study of privacy have centered on the elucidation of the basic concept and the normative questions around whether privacy is a right, a good in itself, or an instrumental good. Economic approaches to the question have centered around the value, in economic terms, of privacy, both in its role in the information needed for efficient markets and in the value of information as a piece of property. Sociological approaches to the study of privacy have emphasized the ways in which the collection and use of personal information have reflected and reinforced the relations of power and influence between individuals, groups, and institutions within society. That there is such a multiplicity of legitimate intellectual approaches to the study of privacy suggests that no one discipline captures, or can capture, the richness and texture of its various nuances, and what appear at first to be very slight or subtle differences turn out to have deep implications in practice. (Waldo et al 2007)

As you can see the issue has been covered widely in recent years due to the increasing ease of invading ones privacy.

Through the years privacy has been increasingly compromised. Cast your mind to your every day life; filling in a census, bank details, a questionnaire, all of these instances involve you passing on private information to others. In the twenty first century it is so normal that sometimes these details aren’t even considered private any more.

Amongst my peers it is normal to share who one has voted for in the general election; whereas my parent’s generation are vigilant not to tell anyone. This illustrates a shift in preferences surrounding confidentiality within the generations.

These days the public are sometimes defeatist towards aspects of their privacy being invaded and take it as a price to pay for credit or governmental assistance. (McLean 1995) However, it is one of the moral panics of the information age, with the online world growing so rapidly people are worried about where it will end. Privacy online is an integral worry of the public, with adverts and offers targeting them left, right and centre. Marketers argue that targeted online advertising is helpful for consumers, many consumers fight back labelling it as invasion of privacy. Privacy rights often stand in the way of marketers, with consumers wanting their rights established, but marketers needing their details to target them successfully.

[Online] …allows information to flow freely between buyers and sellers, removes costs from business processes and increases customer choice. But privacy and security are becoming major issues for individuals and corporations. If we cannot guarantee our privacy, how much will we choose to share with companies online? Without the consent of their customers to use personal information, marketers cannot exploit the real benefits of online networks. (Rowan 2002)

A current issue surrounding this topic is the enabling of tracking cookies online. A new law; set to come into action on the 25^th of May 2011, which requires advertisers to seek consent from consumers before using tracking devices on their online behaviour; is being discussed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. (bbc.co.uk)

Behavioural advertising is a burgeoning industry for advertisers and, potentially, a very lucrative one. But it relies heavily on being able to track online behaviour via cookies - small text files placed on a user's computer. (bbc.co.uk)

There are numerous issues with the pending law at the moment, with opposing sides battling for what will benefit them most. The main priority is not to affect the browsing experience, which could be ruined if consent was needed for every page viewed.

This government movement is being negatively received by advertising officials stating that the new law

‘is potentially detrimental to consumers, business and the UK digital economy. It raises significant implementation challenges right across Europe’ (Nick Stringer IAB's director of regulatory affairs cited BBC)

Digital advertising has been swept along in the wave where consumers are no longer passive. Advertising communications now follow a multi way process with consumers having more of a voice than ever before. As a result of this empowerment; having the right to privacy seems to follow on fittingly.

In an effort to assess the entire issue I will evaluate another side to the subject matter. The government and campaigners talk of a human right to privacy, but do all consumers really want it? After all we are quite happy to exploit the privacy of celebrities, the royal family and reality TV stars. Is it even a valued concept these days?

Opinion is still largely split over this issue; with a large generational divide. Young people today are generally less worried by privacy as they have grown up in a world lacking it.

Even so, whether privacy is a particular worry to someone or not; marketers should be introducing transparency into how they deliver the consumer experience. If not then aren’t they just “admitting that success can only be achieved by keeping consumers in the dark?” (Pearse, 2007)

Word count: 957

References

2011. BBC News. Governments ‘not ready’ for new European Privacy Law. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12677534 [Accessed

6/4/11]

McLean, D.,1995.  Privacy and Its Invasion. London: Greenwood Press

Pearse,. 2007, New Media Age. Do consumers really want their privacy? Available from: http://www.nma.co.uk/opinion/do-consumers-really-want-their-privacy?/36193.article [Accessed 6/4/11]

Rowan, William., 2002 Digital Marketing : Using New Technologies to Get Closer to Your Customers.Milford, CT, USA: Kogan Page Ltd Available from: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/bournemouth/Doc?id=10023720&ppg=13 [Accessed 6/4/11]

Waldo, J., Millett, H., Lynette, I., 2007 Engaging Privacy and Information Technology in a Digital Age. Washington, DC: National Academies Press

Measuring Ad Success

“The easy days are over. Clients are no longer willing to blindly throw vast sums of money at brand campaigns that provide little or no measurable ROI. Fragmentation will demand far more complex multimedia solutions, and the media will have to be far more willing to demonstrate value for money.” Mike Jarvis, Media Director, Banner Group



Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage (Wikipedia)


Alongside technological advances, advertising measurement has become more important to companies than ever. They want reassurance that their money is being well spent. As a result companies such as BPA and ComScore have come along to fulfil this role.


“With online display ads yielding click-thru rates of less than 0.1 percent, advertisers can no longer rely on click-thrus to gauge online ad performance. Doing so fails to capture the impact of advertising impressions – or view-thru – on attitude and future behavior, which are essential metrics in assessing the complete return on an investment in online advertising.” Evan Neufeld, comScore vice president of advertising solutions (http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2008/11/Value_of_Online_Advertising)


These companies acknowledge that simply counting click thru rates and web traffic will not predict future behavior or attitudes regarding a brand. This encompasses the new stage we’re in with Ad measurement these days. At the same time, traditional methods are highly valued.


Gian Fulgoni, Chairman & Co-founder, ComScore explains how just because something can be measured doesn’t mean it is relevant.





Despite a surge in technology, it is largely the traditional measurement values which are still the most useful. “What we say to consumers, to how many and how often”; which is what those in the following clip would have concentrated on 50 years ago. We may not have the freedom of their big budgets with few measurement expectations but has the industry really changed that much...?

Regulation and Ethics online

The term ‘Web 2.0’ refers to ‘The second generation of the World Wide Web, especially the movement away from static web pages to dynamic and shareable content and social networking.’(http://en.wiktionary.org)

We are a world away from using the web solely for informational purposes. Web 2.0 is the start and end of everything. Ever been cut off for a few hours? It’s shameful to admit that it does impact your life a lot more than you’d like to believe.

With online being such a prominent source in our lives it makes sense that the same sort of ethical behaviour and expectations apply to it as in everything else in our lives. This however, is not the case. The majority of online material has only been included in CAP and ASA regulation in the last month. (http://www.asa.org.uk/Regulation-Explained/Online-remit.aspx) So, for a good 10 years when the internet has been popular it has been extremely difficult for anyone to have a complaint upheld or dealt with.

Twitter has come under scrutiny recently with certain companies using it as a portal for marketing through exploiting natural disasters. Microsoft was slated for using the tragedy in Japan to gain retweets….

“How you can #SupportJapan - http://binged.it/fEh7iT. For every retweet, @bing will give $1 to Japan quake victims, up to $100K.

Try Bing. A new way to search, explore, & decide”

After much anger and criticism, they apologised and donated a generous sum to Japan. Although hastily dealt with; this example goes to show how digital communications can be used badly in an effort to portray CSR, but just achieve the opposite effect. In this day in age, where everyone sees everything at the click of a button and can voice an opinion so quickly, it is dangerous to be so obviously ‘markety’ surrounding a disaster.

“We apologize the tweet was negatively perceived. Intent was to provide an easy way for people to help Japan. We have donated $100K.”

“Let's face it, any public statement made by a brand about something good it did is self-serving. Get over it. John D. Rockefeller once said "Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing." Good advice for any brand I'd say. There is nothing wrong with letting people know you are helping a good cause. But how a brand goes about this is very important.” (http://www.brandrants.com/2011/03/dont-forget-the-tact-in-your-online-fundraising-tactics.html)

Dataveilance is  ‘the systematic surveillance of all the electronic records of a person's activities, especially the usage of credit cards, mobile phones, email and the Internet’ (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dataveillance) and is an example of how privacy and ethics can be compromised online.

If you’ve ever tried ‘googling’ yourself, you most likely will have come across information you didn’t know was public; like your mobile number, email address, even wall posts you’ve written to people who aren’t vigilant with their privacy settings on Facebook.


 It is unnerving to know anyone can see this sort of thing and I believe; ethically wrong. There are strict rules regarding privacy in other areas of our lives so it seems fair that these should be extended to our increasingly digital lifestyles.

Activism in a Digital World.

'ac·tiv·ism  

n.

The use of direct, often confrontational action, such as a demonstration or strike, in opposition to or support of a cause.' (www.thefreedictionary.com)

Activism has existed for as long as any of us can remember, it is human nature to stand up for what you believe in with a group of like minded people. An example of Student activism is evident in the following video taken of the Tuition Fees protests in 2010. Nick Clegg infamously went back on his promise to dramatically reduce / cut tuition fees, and supported David Cameron in doing the complete opposite.

“Other campaigns have been run by activists using Facebook, Twitter, Second Life and blogs. These range from virtual Union protests against IBM in Second Life to organisation of real world demonstrations. The student protests against tuition fee increases and government cuts were organised on social networking sites. Even the X-Factor’s dominance over the Christmas number one slot has been challenged by digital activism” (http://www.infobo.com/blog/34-news/79-digital-activism-comes-of-age)

My first experience of ‘activism’ was at the age of 13. I was told that I could take the afternoon off school if I joined the march against war in Iraq in Exeter city centre; all I needed was parental permission. Aged 13 I understood very little of the situation and endured about half an hour of the march then scurried off to enjoy an afternoon’s shopping and revel hysterically in rumours about being bombed. Despite my limited involvement I do remember the excitement and buzz in the crowd at standing up for something, the shocking passion with which participants chant and shout their point of view across the hustle and bustle.

This would have been 2003 and to my knowledge was organised mainly through word of mouth. Social media did exist but was not widely recognised or used. This was probably one of the last examples of Activism involving young people where the internet wasn’t heavily utilised.   Having searched Google, the local Exeter paper websites and Youtube I can’t find any material on the event; this just goes to show how undigitalised and recorded events like this were just 8 years ago.

The online world has opened up a myriad of opportunities for anyone to get involved in just about anything. This can be a threat and cause difficult situations for governments an example would be ‘Wikileaks’. The government certainly has a lot to contend with as “censorship and monitoring of the internet and social networking tools opens western governments up to accusations of hypocrisy, given the criticism of censorship in countries like China and Iran.”

‘Slacktivism’ (Feder, 2002) “is an apt term to describe feel-good online activism that has zero political or social impact....” "Slacktivism" is the ideal type of activism for a lazy generation: why bother with sit-ins and the risk of arrest, police brutality, or torture if one can be as loud campaigning in the virtual space? Given the media's fixation on all things digital -- from blogging to social networking to Twitter -- every click of your mouse is almost guaranteed to receive immediate media attention, as long as it's geared towards the noble causes. That media attention doesn't always translate into campaign effectiveness is only of secondary importance.”http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/05/19/the_brave_new_world_of_slacktivism

This phenomenon is definitely evident and I do believe it means there is less real activism occurring.  People are adapting to the online world and the ease of just about EVERYTHING is normality. However it’s important to remember that through history there have always been people who have chosen not to get involved, these people are possibly the ones ‘lazily’ involving themselves through online activity today. 


 Online activity does enable lazy involvement but without it organisation and planning would be much more time consuming and it would be difficult to get people together. Take the recent happenings in Egypt for example, technology played a huge role in this.

 As a result, there is a negative side to Digital Activism but I believe it helps more than it hinders. 

Privacy; moral panic of the information age

In this rapidly changing technological context, individuals, institutions, and governments will be forced to re-examine core values, beliefs, laws, and social structures if their understandings of autonomy, privacy, justice, community, and democracy are to continue to have meaning” (Engaging Privacy and Information Technology in a Digital Age Waldo, Lin, Millett 2007)


Privacy is one of the most talked about moral panics of the information age...


“How do you know that?” “Because it’s all over facebook!”. In the past few years the majority of our knowledge about other people and events has come from online and social media.

Privacy is a thing of the past, with the youth of today unaware that it was ever normality. As Mark Zuckerberg said in January 2010 “People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people” (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/6966628/Facebooks-Mark-Zuckerberg-says-privacy-is-no-longer-a-social-norm.html)

 Digitalisation has revolutionised many professions; Journalism is an example of a job that social media had changed immensely. No longer is it imperative to be the first one on the scene, instead computer skills are needed to weed out any information available on social networking sites.


“Whether it is the latest celebrity gossip, candid shots or getting pictures of the latest car crash victim, journalists in newsrooms around the world are now scouring social networking sites for their stories. But questions are being raised about whether the increasingly standard practice of Facebook journalism is an ethical one.


Facebook places the responsibility for privacy firmly on their users by allowing users to determine who can see what information they list on their profile. Facebook’s privacy policy warns users to be aware of what information they post on Facebook as “this information may become publicly available”. (http://www.newsphobia.net/?p=25)


As always there are two sides to this debate, one enables the journalist but compromises the subjects’ privacy while the other means a less detailed but fairer story.

A tragic scenario that I recall, where this debate is particularly relevant, was that of an Exeter uni student dying after excessive drinking in a bar crawl in 2006. He had just started university and was taking part in the night as part of an initiation to the golf society.


“Gavin Britton's body, dressed in fancy dress, was found slumped in a street”


(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-419496/Student-drunk-death-pub-crawl.html#ixzz1GZn1OG5O)


Around the time of this tragic event; Facebook privacy settings were less strict and as a result journalists pounced on his pictures and wall posts. As a student myself I am aware that drinking is a very normal part of the university experience, I am also aware that the pictures one has on their Facebook, Myspace and Bebo pages do NOT reflect reality as they are nearly all taken on nights out or special events.


Journalists on this case failed to acknowledge this though; plastering pictures of the teen downing shots across the press and online; labeling him as a drunk, party animal and referencing a quote from his Myspace “If you’re not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space", (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-419496/Student-drunk-death-pub-crawl.html) most likely done in a bid to create more public uproar surrounding binge drinking. We all know no one writes “I love staying in and studying” on their profiles. Yes, this was a horrific occurrence which could have been avoided but the same activities are happening all over the world every night. This example illustrates how an undoubtedly wholesome normal teenager’s life was taken away due to alcohol; but far worse than that – as a result of journalism, he will always be remembered as dying in an undignified manner.

 “Death amongst teenagers has also been caught up in social networking debates. The copycat suicides of seven young people in a Welsh town have sparked fears of an internet death cult.” (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/20080641301942) In 2008 7 people from the same area in Wales all connected via Bebo, hung themselves in a copycat suicide mission. “Internet memorial sites for the dead have also been created, leading police to fear they wanted to achieve "fame".


Social networking sites increasingly stay active after the owner dies; kept going with tribute wall posts and tags. I personally think this is disrespectful and cheapens the death in a way. However I have recently learned that although you can shut down your Facebook account it never goes for good...so without knowing it, we’re all destined to live through our Facebook profiles forever?

PP

“In order to exist, a brand must be known; not necessarily by everyone, but in every event by those who are likely to buy its products. For this to occur, it must be placed in all the strategic locations that will enable it to connect with this potential audience.” (Lehu, 2007)

The 28^th of February saw the lift of the ban on Product Placement in the UK.

Edouard Manet - Une bar un Folies-Bergere (1881) oil painting is one of the first examples of product 

placement. Although it was never explicitly stated; the bottles on the bar are replicas of ‘Bass Beer’.

Product Placement as a marketing tool has come a long way since then and has been legal in many countries for some time.

 Britain has stayed out of it but has recently made a u- turn; lifting the ban in order to “throw a lifeline to struggling ITV and other independent broadcasters who would be able to boost their advertising revenues” (Telegraph)

Ben Bradshaw (Culture Secretary) spoke when the plans were announced, stating; "To the critics of our regulatory structure I ask the simple question: if regulation were a problem in itself, how is it our media market is amongst the most successful in the world? It is because we have got the right balance between public and private. We have stayed ahead of the game and, as our Digital Britain plans show, we are determined to maximise the future potential of the broadcasting industry."

It seems the government believe Product Placement will bring a boost to our broadcasting industry that it clearly needs to enable it to fund better programmes.

I think when product placement is done properly it can work well in associating positive connotations to a product and subtly creating brand awareness. However when it’s overdone it can reflect negatively on the products and the programme it’s shown in.

Gossip Girl is an example of a US series which uses extensive product placement.

The most obvious deals I’ve noticed are with Vitamin Water, Microsoft, Blackberry, Bing and Samsung. In one episode recently a character actually said “just bing it”, which I think sounded very unnatural and 

obviously paid for.

Music videos are another medium in which a huge amount of paid for placement is used. See how many products you can spot in the first minute of this one?!

I’m not sure whether I find these instances so obvious becuase I study Advertising; so on a subconscious level am looking for them. However I do feel that when Product Placement is overdone it does have a tendency to ruin the credibility of films/soaps,dramas/music videos when it feels so set up.hOhO

All we can do now is watch and wait to see how it works out for us in Britain....

Fat Face – a brand without seams...

Seamless branding is almost expected of companies these days. The public expect continuous branding to run through all media; owned, earned and paid for. Limiting any effort on their part to work out which brand they are consuming/reading about etc.

 When we see these distinctive letters it takes milliseconds to register whatever it is falls under Google's umbrella.

'Fat Face' is an active lifestyle brand; generally targeting families, selling practical yet fashionable clothing, footwear and jewellery.  They are a key example of a brand which has maintained a very strong and consistent brand personality since their birth in 1988. The story began with two friends in the pursuit of adventure but lacking funds. They began selling t-shirts on the ski slopes to fund their exciting lifestyle and this grew beyond belief; arriving at the brand we all know today. Its launch was the complete opposite to a large corporate company's would be. I believe this is one of the main reasons their brand values and personality has stayed so strong and constant.

Fat Face is a rarity, in that they do not partake in any paid for advertising, instead they immerse themselves in sponsoring events like night surfs. This has worked well for them so far and is in keeping with their relaxed un-commercial image.

According to Campaign (2009) “Fat Face has worked with a small number of agencies on a project-by-project basis in the past, producing small-scale viral campaigns.

In 2006, it appointed Inbox Digital to create a viral game aimed at raising awareness of its website. The game, which involved racing a mountain bike while collecting Fat Face logos, gave users the chance to win a mountain bike.

Blue Barracuda produced another viral game for the brand in 2007, promoting Fat Face's winter collection. It challenged players to shoot targets with a squirrel.” (http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/905757/Fat-Face-calls-agency-pitch-first-UK-ad-push/)

As a brand with limited communication outlets, Fat Face stands out to me as a seamless brand. The atmosphere in store is consistent to their brand values with a beachy outdoor look.

 Their catalogue, website, bags and in – store posters all have a young, rebellious, outdoorsy theme. This is pioneered by their slogan ‘Life is out there...’; a classic example of a slogan that is so simple, articulating a fact that we seem to forget frequently in our fast paced lifestyles.

Yes, I suppose as a brand it can be viewed as cheesy and try hard, but people revel in familiarity and a feel – good, adventurous theme running across all touch points isn't such a bad thing. It seems to be working well in this case anyway.