Synergy & Cross-Media Convergence Essay
Synergy and Cross Media Convergence (CMC) are very important marketing tools utilised by institutions such as the Big 5 - Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros. - to establish a wide audience, attracting people to watch their films. Synergy is when two different companies come together to market a brand/product, maximising their exposure to profit. CMC is a form of synergy, but the film is promoted through another form of media.
Ownership plays a major role in the success of cross-media convergence and synergetic marketing strategies. The oligopolistic Big 5 have a monopoly over the film industry, enabling them to hold between 74% to 84% of the market share in the United States. This is mainly achieved through the subsidiaries of these conglomerates, which were acquired through horizontal and vertical integration, utilising their skills in a specific area of production. For example, a film studio could own marketing and distribution subsidiaries, an example of vertical integration, using them to their advantage when marketing a movie. Since the Big 5 have access to such companies, they are able to use these services at the cheapest rate possible than if they were to outsource it, as they own the businesses. These marketing campaigns are rather effective, and focus on attracting audiences to watch the films. As is the case with all Hollywood Blockbusters, the studios’ main goal is to generate the highest opening weekend sales through these marketing campaigns, as this will be the highest paying weekend, the sales slowly dropping after. Thus, they put a lot of time and money into these campaigns.
The 2018 Black Panther movie is a good example of synergetic marketing, the movie selling the rights to lego to produce lego sets based on the hero. In addition to this, the film partnered with Kendrick Lamar, who produced a soundtrack for the film, making fans of Lamar want to watch the film, and gives audience members an introduction to his music, potentially becoming fans after having a look at some of his other work. In the end, the film ended up making 1.3 billion USD, highlighting the fact that the synergetic marketing strategies were rather effective, allowing the film to become the highest grossing film in the United States in 2018. Another film with great examples of synergy and CMC is the 2022 Avatar: Way of Water film, which ended up making 2.3 billion USD in box office revenue. The film partnered with Mercedes-Benz, creating the Vision AVTR car, inspired by elements of the Avatar world, as a part of the company's campaign to become fully electric in the near future. An example of CMC for this particular film is their partnership with Snapchat, releasing a filter which enables the user to see what they would look like as a Na'vi, making fans of the film want to try it out, increasing traffic on the Snapchat app, and potentially earning it more downloads.
Indie films, on the other hand, have a much harder time when it comes to marketing, as they do not have big budgets like Big 5 films will have. For example, New Zealand Indie film What We Do In The Shadows (2014) only had a budget of 1.6 million USD, whereas films like Black Panther, and Avatar: The Way of Water, had budgets of 200 and 250 million USD respectively. This budget is crucial, as it has to cover all of the costs of all the stages of production, as well as things like salaries. Thus, when an Indie film has completed its production, it is likely that it will not have much money left to spend on marketing. This forces them to be creative in their approach, as can be seen with WWDITS, which employed various different campaigns, attracting attention to the film. For example, the Wellington sign in New Zealand was temporarily changed to ‘Vellington’, as the film was set there, the filmmakers as well making a TradeMe account (delicious_necks) which sold items from the house featuring in the film, and some of the actors made dating profiles as their characters on dating site FindSomeone. In the end, the film only made 7 million dollars, enjoying modest success. However, the film was a hit in New Zealand, with a spin-off show with the same name being made.
This last point illustrates that it is not impossible for an Indie film to do well without a big marketing budget. Platforms such as YouTube, established in 2005, levels the playing field for movies, as it is not owned by any of the Big 5, and it is the viewers who decide what becomes popular. Today, YouTube is the second most clicked on site ever, with 122 million active users per day, meaning that it is a very effective tool which can be used in cross-media convergence. In addition to this, it is completely free to upload to, which is a big bonus for Indie films with low marketing budgets. As part of their campaign, WWDITS uploaded a trailer for their film through the channel Madman Films, receiving 7.2 million views and 50k likes as of June 2023. However, it is not just Indie films which utilise YouTube. For example, Avatar has their own official YouTube channel, uploading trailers, teasters, interviews, as well as behind-the-scenes content, amassing 440k subscribers. The enormity of this film can be seen in the amount of views generated, the first official trailer receiving 56 million views, 7 times more than that on WWDITS.
It is not just platforms such as YouTube which level the playing field, but the emergence of the Web 2.0, allowing audiences to interact with the web. Globally, there were 4.4 billion people connected to the internet in 2019. It is these people who decide what content to engage with, and what goes viral. Thus, Indie films have a higher chance of doing well in this era of technology, as they can market to audiences globally, not just in certain countries or cities, meaning that there is a higher chance that their advertising will pull in people, establishing a decent fanbase. These small companies no longer have to rely on word-of-mouth to spread the popularity of their films, or rely on film festivals alone to attract attention to their films.
In addition to this, social media is a good platform to utilise in cross-media convergence, as i-Gens, the current generation, like the interact with influencers and content, as stated in Shirky's theory. i-Gens are more likely to watch a film if recommended by an influencer, which is an area where the Big 5 have an advantage, as their movies are more mainstream, and are more likely to be recommended by influences than an Indie film.
Indie films are able to raise a higher budget for their films and thus advertising, through things like crowdfunding or grants which are provided by companies such as the NZFC, who fund films that tell New Zealand stories, thus promoting the country, and giving smaller films the opportunity to spend more on synergetic marketing, attracting audiences to watch their films. In addition to this, since the NZFC is owned by the New Zealand government, the government can promote these films through companies which they own. This occurred in 2014, when a Hobbit-themed Air New Zealand in-flight safety video was released, celebrating the release of the last film in the trilogy. The short video received 22 million views on YouTube, featuring several of the cast members, along with iconography from the films.