Homework - Tuesday 13th

Cross media convergence and synergy are vital processes in the successful marketing of media products...

Cross media convergence - is when different media's are released at the same time to increase advertising and make more profit. An example of synergy is Disney released high school musical on DvD, a round track and a game.

Synergy - is where different things work together in order to make the biggest profit possible. For example Disney will not only release a film but will also release merchandise, games and clothes etc to match the film and to surround the audience.


Cross media convergence is important in the marketing of a film for many different reasons. Firstly this allows the companies to create the largest profit possible as by releasing related media products gives them more things to actually sell. Another reason cross media convergence is important is because it helps to advertise the film. For example if a person repeatedly hears a song and likes it they are likely to be influenced by this and would go and see the film.
An example from my case study is how for the film 'ill manors' the sound track was released before the film in order to advertise the film and to build up a fan base and craze for the film before it comes out. The theme of the film quite direct to a British based audience due to the lack of traditional English features that would be expected by wider American audiences. This also meant that the music was likely to appeal to the intended audience. Another example of cross media convergence is with the company Disney which released the film high school musical and then later released a video game with the theme of film and a soundtrack from the film. This means even when the film has finished being  exhibited in the cinema and DVD sales slow the company will still be making money from the other products on sale.
By releasing the film on many different platforms for example on Internet film sites such as Netflix and love film or on DVD and Blue ray this gains a wider audience as with the proliferation of DVD and Blue Ray players most people will have access to the film even if they cannot make it to the cinema during this exhibition.

Cross media convergence is also important when it comes to marketing a film. Firstly this allows even people who do not have any way to view the film to have access to the related merchandise from the film. This firstly means that they will be making money from people buying the merchandise but they will also gain free advertising if they release t-shirts and other clothing items as if people walk around in them the would once again surround more audience with images and logs from the film.