Homework- Tuesday 13th cross media convergence & synergy

Question One- (institutions&audiences) Cross Media Convergence & Synergy are vital processes in the successful marketing of media products to audiences. To what extent do you agree with this statement in relation to film?

Both Cross Media Convergence and Synergy are an important process to help create success from the marketing of film to audiences and institutions. 

- Cross media convergence

The combining of two or more mediums (media products) Such as, the release of a film and a sound track, therefore the music industry & the film industry work together. For example: When Adele released a sound track for the film Skyfall at the same time as the film was released.

- Synergy 

The release of two or more products to promote each other. Meaning they have a beneficial relationship, known as symbiotic. For example: the film promotes the sound track, which promotes the DVD, which promotes the game Ect.  

- Marketing 

The advertising process of the film, this is done by the distributors to raise awareness of up coming films. For example: trailers, teaser trailers, posters, interviews, pop ups, posts via social networks & merchandise. 

For the majority of films the marketing process is the most important part & sometimes more money is spent on marketing the films than actually making it. Cross media convergence & synergy are both used to help promote the film to a wider level, therefore creating a bigger audience as more people are likely to see the advertisement because some people might listen to the sound track and others might watch the trailer. This affects the audience in a positive way because it allows them to be more aware of new up coming films, whereas in earlier years the only way you would know what films were coming out was by going to the cinema. Cross media convergence & synergy also affects institutions because although they may end up spending more money on marketing they will make a bigger profit in the end due to the fact that the use of synergy, having two products released to promote each other have a beneficial relationship, meaning more money is likely to be made because they have more products to make money from. For example: cinema ticket sales & sound track sales. For example: Skyfall made a total profit of over 1 billion dollars. 

Referring back to my case study, Skyfall, released in 2012 used cross media convergence within the marketing process as they released Adele's sound track along with the release of the film. This is beneficial for both institutions and audiences because it allows institutions to gain a bigger audience and helps them compete with competition from other films but also allows the audience to interact with the film as they could be familiar with the sound track before they watch the film. The release of a sound track also benefits institutions as if the audience like the film they will buy the soundtrack or if they like the sound track they will go watch the film. 

Disney uses both synergy and cross media convergence for their marketing of films. For example: the Disney channel, Disney store, Disney land & Disney characters Ect. This helps promote new films and benefits the institutions because the Disney characters appeal to the target audience of young children, therefore making them want to watch the Tim because they like the characters. This also creates massive profit for Disney as they have a number of different platforms that they can make money from. This also has a positive impact for the audiences as it creates a buzz. 

Ill manors, a British film with a low budget of £100,000 which was directed and written by Plan B. Synergy was used as a famous singer was used to write & direct the film along with the release of the film, therefore the famous director will benefit the release of the film because part of the audience will like Plan B, meaning they will want to watch his film. Also cross media convergence was used with the release of the film and Plan B's sound track. This was beneficial for the institutions as it allowed them to gain a bigger audience, meaning more money.