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TV ads, debates, posters and leaflets used to be the only means for politicians to get their message across. Nowadays, unless you are a fanatic follower of American news channels or papers, it is most likely you heard most of what you know about the 2016 election race through social media.

US political advertising is forecasted to hit a record of $11.4 billion in 2016. This is 20% more compared to the last presidential election year in 2012. Digital media, including social media, is likely to break the $1 billion barrier for the first time (Borrell Associates, 2015). The decisive factor in the use of social media is simple; it is a platform through which the vast majority of voters can be reached, and that is half the battle if you are in politics. It enables them to use images and video, which tend to attract more views and stay in people’s memories for a longer time. More importantly, it allows politicians to present themselves in a more authentic way, which in this age is an important means of differentiating yourself. With the crowd now watching politicians’ every move the question is no longer ‘Who is using social media?’ but rather ‘Who is using social media the most effectively’?

Politicians are mostly using the digital media to reach the Millennials (25 – 34 years old). This is the largest voting demographic but until today they have the lowest voting turnout (McMahon, 2016). Winning over this huge part of the American population could be the key to winning the elections and engaging on social media just might be the way to do it.

So how do politicians know what to post in order to be most effective? It will come as no surprise, but they are backed by agencies that use, of course, Big Data. These companies use analytical tools that analyze all 190 million registered voters and use data such as browsing history to send them personalized messages (Ayyar, 2016).

 

But it is not only politicians that are showing interest in social media. Facebook, Google, Twitter and Snapchat are also making their efforts to get politicians on their side. Twitter, for instance, shut down two sites that tracked tweets by politicians that were deleted and even hosted a breakfast in Washington to engage election candidates. Snapchat offers special filters and 10 second video ads specifically for political campaigns and even hired ex-Google frontman Rob Saliterman, who was in charge of political ad sales during the George W. Bush administration. Google however is the absolute winner of the 2016 elections. From sponsored links, YouTube video ads and display ads on publishing websites such as New York Times, presidential candidates have ample opportunity to present themselves through digital media (Ayyar, 2016).

 

Stray (2016) compared the polls with mentions, however positive or negative, of candidates in social media. Maybe not surprisingly, the two line up almost perfectly. Solely looking at the social media buzz, there seems to be a clear winner of the 2016 elections; Mr. Donald Trump. Do you think a follower equals a vote or is social media popularity still separated from becoming the White House’s next resident?

 

 

References

Customized image from Adobe Stock

Ayyar, R. (2016). Here’s How Social Media Will Impact the 2016 Presidential Election, SocialTimes

Borrell Associates (2015). 2015 to 2016 Political Outlook

McMahon, S. (2016). Can social media impact the 2016 presidential election as much as Obama’s 2012 campaign?, Social Media Week

Stray, J. (2016). How much influence does the media really have over elections? Digging into the data, NiemanLab

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In this blog, we will discuss two examples of innovations in the book industry. You might think that the book industry didn’t change a lot over time but books have made a remarkable evolution in the past thousand years.

It started in Mesopotamia with symbols etched into clay tablets, went on to papyrus in Egypt and to wax tablets in Roman and Greek times. The first book was printed on paper in China in 868. In 1439, Johannes Gutenberg, a German goldsmith, developed the “hand mould”, which made it possible to produce cheap copies of printed books. This is often regarded as the most important invention of the second millennium.
At the end of the 20th century, Amazon became the first online bookseller and in the beginning of the 21st century, ebooks became available (SF Book, n.d.).

 

The ebook
An ebook is a book distributed in digital form. It can be read on for instance an e-reader, a small-hand electronic device used to store and read books. A well known example being Amazon’s Kindle. The consumer experience of reading books was now no longer limited to paperbacks and hardcovers. Ebooks provided a new, environmentally friendly and often less expensive way to read books (Bookmasters, n.d.).
From 2008 until 2010, remarkable improvement were made in e-readers, which led to a 1160% increase in sales (Nuska, 2015). Although the forecast predicted that ebooks would have taken over traditional books by 2015, this didn’t happen. In fact, the sales of ebooks declined in 2015 and consumers are shifting away from ebooks back to print (Graham, 2016).

 

Printing on demand
Instead of traditional printing – printing a huge number of books published by major players in the industry – printing on demand offers a new approach. Authors distribute their work through designated online platforms at little cost or even for free. An example is Amazon’s CreateSpace. Having to find a publisher or an investor is unnecessary and the initial risks of publishing are diminished. POD is a great way for unknown or independent authors to publish their work.
With POD, books are only printed upon order. Instead of ending up with remaining unsold copies that have wasted paper and contribute to other production- and transportation-related pollution, POD won’t waste any paper because of the on-demand nature of this innovation.

 

Comparing ebooks to POD
From a retailer’s point-of-view, ebooks have higher fixed costs, but low variable costs. The cost of production is clearly dominated by “first-copy costs”; additional copies cost essentially nothing. For POD, fixed cost are turned into variable costs, only incurred upon sale.
Both ebooks and POD save room in your warehouses, saving money and providing the retailer with the option to possibly store and sell other goods. A big upside of ebooks, is that there are no shipping costs incurred for the product.
Both ebooks and POD reduce the environmental footprint, because of less or even no printing of books. Another important factor, is that both ebooks and POD can reach niche markets. The costs of producing and reproducing a book are reduced in both cases and therefore it is easier to enter the market, even for unknown authors or books that belong in niche markets.

From a consumer’s point-of-view, other factors are involved. An ebook has the clear advantage of being able to carry any book on one e-reader, which is highly convenient. Also, when an ebook is purchased, it is directly at the consumer’s disposal, without any shipping costs.

For some people however, reading a book is just not the same on an e-reader. Going to a bookstore, experiencing the mass of the book shifting from left to right as you get closer to the end, building up a personal library and yes, smelling books to some people are experiences that are essential to reading books.

 

The future
For the first time in four years, book sales have gone up by 0.4% as ebooks sales fell by 1.6% (Sweney, 2016). “Digital continues to be an incredibly important part of the industry, but it would appear there remains a special place in the consumer’s heart for aesthetic pleasure that only printed books can bring” (Steve Lotinga, Pusblishers Association chief executive). All this might be an indication that we are moving to a bi-literate society and will continue to read both digital and in print.

Group 43
Vishal Ganpat
Anouk Maaskant
Arezoo Taghi Poor
Bas Vos

Watch the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DuZi7VL3Y4&feature=youtu.be

References
Image
Bookmasters (n.d.). Print book vs. Ebook
Graham, L. (2016). Book sales are in decline but audio books are thriving, CNBC
Nuska, A. (2015). Print books are far from dead. But they’re definitely on the decline, Fortune
Shapiro, C., and Varian, H. (1998). Pricing Information In Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press
SF Book (n.d.). The Evolution of the Book
Sweney, M. (2016). Printed book sales rise for the first time in four years as ebooks decline, The Guardian