WEEK 5 : Technology and the Impact on Consumption

The set reading for Week 5 speaks about the convergence of media, which means when 2 industries in the media come together and work as one. This is a great marketing strategy as they will be able to reach a wider audience through, as Everett and Cadwell put is as an ‘integration and seamless convergence of old and new media.’[1] (Everett & Caldwell 2003) They use the phrases old and new media to show us that old media platforms, such as film and TV, convergence with new media, such as internet and social media, to boost their reach and therefore their audience. An example of an old media platform that uses convergence in media is The Simpsons, although they may already have a huge reach and with almost everyone knowing about them they still are able to reach even wider by their ‘networks and studios use of convergence initiatives’[2] (Everett & Caldwell 2003).

‘Convergence initiatives’ when it comes to The Simpsons would be the show alongside the use of the internet, gaming, social network and even working their selves in to the film industry, furthering their industry. Another strategy that The Simpsons use to further their market by converging in media is through the use of ‘openly mocking online culture’[3] (Everett & Caldwell 2003) which then becomes a big thing on the internet, get spoken about by a lot of people and they end up in getting their own free advertising.

There is a clear link between television and film companies furthering themselves by converging in to other media platforms as being a big step for people to come across the show. In my own experiences, I have taken a lot of advice and reviews from the internet, specifically social networking sites, and then gone on to watch the film/TV show myself and becoming a fan. The Walking Dead is an example of one of these as many of the people I was following were a fan of it and retweeted stuff from their official twitter, so I therefore went on to watch it, and fall in love with it.

A possible question that you could take from this research is although positive feedback from a television show or film is great advertising, could negative feedback also be a way for companies to reach out, as it leads to a lot of people talking about it and looking in to it.