Advertising, Internet Based Networking Websites (IBNWs) and New Ventures

Abstract: With the explosion of technology we are finding that our methods of communication are  changing rapidly year to year. The way that we interact with each other from personal  levels to more formal business is all being affected. With the birth of the internet we have  seen continuous growth  of communication methods via this medium and most recently is  the boom of the Internet Based Networking Websites (IBNWs) that allow the, over  300million, users to interact with each other. Websites like Facebook, Linkedin, and  Twitter are very good examples of IBNWs that provide great platforms for communicating  messages and advertising companies regardless of where in the world they are. Geography  is quickly becoming an obstacle of the past as IBNWs allow business to reach people based  on their demographic rather then location. Through the use of IBNWs people can target,  segment, and filter according to the people they wish to advertise to, all for free. This in  turn is now having a huge impact on the advertising industry as ad agencies are being  pressured to change their more traditional marketing structures to fit the modern  environment, as people, especially young entrepreneurs, are finding a plethora of ways to  advertise online for free.    Because of this huge reshape of the advertising industry we have chosen to look in to how  this all affects the entrepreneur and therefore have taken on the task of answering the  question:    How do IBNWs affect the process of advertising in the development of new ventures?    In this thesis we delve in to the topic of modern advertising in relation to traditional forms  of advertising (T.V, Radio, Print) to see how and in what ways IBNWs are having an  impact of company start-ups. With the use of many authors and concepts we build a  theoretical perspective to help us analyze the data retrieved from 10 entrepreneurs from  around the world. The theoretical perspective is made of four key elements: Cost, Clutter,  Interactivity, and Objectives of advertising. With a qualitative interpretivist approach we  have constructed an in-depth case study that explores the development of 10 different  ventures from the perspective of the entrepreneurs running them. However to aid us in our  analysis and understanding of the industry of advertising and business development we  interviewed the Chief Creative officer at Ogilvy&Mathers, and an Manager at International  Venture Club.     The final goal of the study is to generate an original framework for entrepreneurs in modern  advertising. What we found was that due to the lack of resources by the entrepreneurs  IBNWs provide a great cost effective method of reaching a large and relevant audience.  Among other findings we found that IBNWs are a great starting point for all entrepreneurs  in their process of advertising due to its cheap and easy to use platform. In conclusion we  found that IBNWs do have a huge impact on the process of advertising in the development  of new ventures.     Keywords: IBNWs, Advertising, Cost, Clutter, Interactivity, Advertising Objectives