Media producers use multiple media platforms to promote media texts in order to generate interest and awareness, develop brand loyalty, and encourage viral marketing. They employ both traditional promotional methods as well as newer digital technologies. The Dark Knight marketing campaign utilized various websites, trailers, promotional partnerships, and real-world interactive games to engage audiences across multiple platforms before the film's release. By experiencing media texts through different forms and platforms, audiences now have a broader experience that media institutions seek to capitalize on for maximum promotional success.

1. Media Studies
www.curriculum-press.co.uk Number 037
Cross Media Case Studies
Introduction Activity
Traditional ways of analysing the media have treated them as Identify how the various elements in this cycle benefit from the
individualised products but a media text is no longer a standalone PR campaign
artefact. In modern Media Studies, texts have been considered within • The star gains a higher profile which makes the actor more
their wider social contexts but in the past few years technological financially viable
changes and alterations in the behaviours of audiences mean that • The designer becomes associated with the glamour and
approaches to analysis need to change. Most media texts produced desirability of the Hollywood lifestyle
today are part of a wider media construction which include • The newspapers and magazines generate public interest in
contemporary (and still developing) e-technologies and the creative the star
use of longer standing technological methods of print and broadcast. • The newspapers and magazines create an awareness of the
film
• _____________________________________________
• _____________________________________________
Emedia Print
• _____________________________________________
• _____________________________________________
Broadcast The stores, newspapers and magazines make more profit, the
film received free publicity and the star becomes more well-
known. Here, the various media platforms are used to maximise
success for each other.
The aims of this Factsheet are to: AQA/WJEC/OCR
• Consider the way media institutions use multiple media All awarding bodies require that students consider the
platforms to produce, distribute and promote texts institutional context of media texts and the relationships between
• Consider the changing behaviours of audiences and how they institution, text and audience in both AS and A2 written exams.
relate to new technologies This material would also support the planning and preparation
• To demonstrate with examples of recent media practice how for AS coursework productions.
multiple media platforms create additional marketing
opportunities and encourage audience engagement
Since the late 1990s another media platform, e-media, has provided
The idea of multiple platforms being used to create related media new opportunities for media producers to raise awareness of their
texts is not a new one. In the early days of Hollywood a film would products, create positive audience reactions and in turn maximise
use moving image media (the film itself) as well as paper based their potential for success. The contemporary media landscape now
media (posters and advertising, promotional features etc.). PR (public means that a text exists in multiple formats across many media
relations) campaigns were around as early as the 1920s when platforms and all these elements combine to draw the audience in
symbiotic marketing would be used to promote a range of products. and provide different audience gratifications. In addition, the web
allows audience members to get involved and user generated
For example: content can also play a part in the way the audience accesses a text.
• The star of a recent film would be photographed in a designer Add to this the increase in downloading media texts, watching texts
outfit at the film’s premiere on new hardware such as mobile phones, streaming video, the rise
• The photographs would be published in newspapers as public in on-demand services and even DVD, it is clear that in the last few
interest stories years the way audiences access media texts and the way they
• Newsreels would show footage of red carpet events as soft interact with them has changed enormously.
news features
• The photographs would be used in magazines which focussed
Combining ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Technologies
on fashion and celebrity
It is perhaps unsurprising that media institutions are using e-media
• Retail outlets would advertise in the magazines
more and more effectively as a marketing medium. The audience
• The designers clothing (or similar versions of the clothes seen)
interactivity that is possible with web based technologies is being
would be available in the retail outlets
harnessed to promote media products in combination with traditional
marketing methods.
In this way, a cycle of related promotional activity was built which
benefited all those involved.
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2. 037. Cross Media Case Studies Media Studies
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Newspapers and Magazines Paper based media in its traditional form was largely a one-way
Hard copy newspaper sales have declined recently and this is, at communication process with audience members simply reading the
least in part, due to the increase of on-line reporting. Established content provided. Many on-line media texts actively encourage
newspapers and magazines will now have a web edition in addition text and email contributions from audience members and this has
to the traditionally published format. Audiences have free access also spread to paper based forms extending the audience input into
to web content as web sites generate their income via advertising. publications.
Some web magazines have subscription services which provide
additional content and/or interactive services. These web sites are The use of e-technologies is enabling the audience to interact with,
in direct competition with traditional paper based media as they can comment on and, in some cases, construct content rather than simply
offer more up to date information and provide the content in ways read it. The use of e-media is allowing traditional publishing
which are convenient for different audience activities. companies to compete with online publishers and also helps to
promote their paper based products. For example, some web editions
An Example:The Guardian online offers a daily email which have limited content but offers audiences the chance to receive all
provides the day’s headlines for all media related stories in all the information if they go to the newsagents to buy the traditional
British Newspapers. In addition it has hyperlinks direct to The paper based product.
Guardian’s own stories which saves the audience member time
reading through the paper based edition. Film and TV
Have used a range of traditional methods of advertising and e-
On-line newspapers also offer a response service where readers media has provided ways for them to broaden the accessibility to
can comment on a story and their comments are published below the marketing and provided new ways to generate interest in
the article itself. Compared to the traditional type of publishing, this products.
makes the newspaper more dynamic, allows immediate audience
feedback and extends the article. Traditional articles were ‘complete’ Trailers and E-Media
artefacts with a beginning, middle and (most importantly) an end. In Traditionally film trailers were seen by cinema audiences and then,
e-media form, the article becomes the starting point for discussion as the film was released, television audiences. Trailers for TV
and debate and the writer him/herself has the means to return back programmes were limited to broadcasts in carefully selected
to add further comments as the discussion develops. Newspapers television slots. The introduction of home video and, more recently,
actively recruit audience activity from requesting comments and DVD gave promoters another outlet for trailers which act to increase
feedback to using photos and videos sent in by audience members the number of viewers reached. DVD technology went one better
to create visual impact for current stories. than video. It was possible for the video viewer to fast-forward
through a set of trailers to get straight to the feature film. Some
Web editions of magazines use audience interactivity this way too. DVDs, however, are coded so this is not possible. This effectively
Anyone with a mobile phone can be a ‘published paparazzi’ if they forces the viewing of the trailers. It is now common for a television
have images of celebrities to submit and forums are created to allow series to be bought and viewed as a box set so television production
audience members to discuss and debate issues and exchange companies have a new outlet for the promotion of other television
opinions on topics of interest. Some magazines create elite programming. E-media also allows trailers to reach more people.
subgroups of the audience by providing specific group forums
which audience members can join on subscription. Again, a magazine Trailers are often released via official websites and community sites
web edition can respond quickly to updates on stories, provide such as MySpace and YouTube have also been used to release
video as well as still illustration and is a cheaper and often more trailers to the public. Many major films now have long running
convenient platform for audiences to access the text. media campaigns where several trailers are released over a period of
time with each trailer acting to raise and maintain interest in the
forthcoming film.
Activity
Identify the different ways the web edition of Cosmopolitan encourages audience activity and how it provides different types of
entertainment for the readers.
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3. 037. Cross Media Case Studies Media Studies
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Posters and E-media Viral Marketing
Where in the past, audience access to posters was limited to the Viral marketing is not a new technique for advertising. It has been
physical locations where the posters had been placed, e-media used for several decades but the advances in interactivity via web
allows different ways to let the audience view this promotional tool. based media have allowed it to be used more by media institutions.
Google image searches for a film or television programme allows The idea behind viral marketing is that ‘word of mouth’ promotion
audience members to find posters and these can then be of a product is encouraged by creating activities for the audience to
downloaded. Official web sites will often offer posters to be participate in that then encourage them to spread the word to other
downloaded, sometimes in the form of computer desktop images. potential audience members. This was practiced by promoters
before the internet but increasing access to the web and the recent
Use of Magazines and Newspapers and E-media rise in popularity of social networking and user generated content
Film and TV promotions companies can buy space in newspapers facilities recently has allowed media producers to develop the use
and magazines to run adverts for their products. In addition, they of e-media to create a platform for viral marketing.
can attempt to generate interest so that magazines and newspapers
will run editorial content as ‘news’ or ‘commentary’ in feature articles. In addition other communication technologies such as e-mail and
mobile phones are now also used to extend the marketing mix.
This is now extended into e-media. A soft news story has many more Audience members are encouraged to pass on marketing information
outlets on-line than in traditional media. Internet publishers need with a range of different incentives.
much more content as there is a fast turnover of stories on-line and
so, in one respect, it’s easier to become newsworthy. The internet An Example : The Cloverfield (2008) web site offered
has the added advantage that it has communication potentials and downloadable software which could be embedded within
so, generating internet chatter is a very effective way to raise homepages, myspace profile pages, blog pages etc. The widget
awareness and interest in a product. In addition, promoters can buy allowed exclusive footage of the film to be shown within the
advertising space on web sites which can contain audio and video audience member’s own web areas and then encouraged viewers
materials which can be hyperlinked directly to official web sites to to go to the web site and download the widget for themselves.
make it as easy as possible to draw the audience into the marketing Everyone who downloaded this piece of software registered their
of the product. details and the number of new downloaders who had come via
their widget was counted. A competition was set up and the user
Use of Web Sites who generated the most new downloads was offered a trip to
The official web sites for films and TV programmes are able to offer New York.
audiences so much more than traditional advertising. A poster or
advert has to rely on a visual hook (the image) and the use of
Exam Hint:- When discussing how institutions make use of a
written language to inform the audience as to how they can access
range of platforms, consider the benefits that the institution
the text (e.g. ‘… at a cinema near you, now’). Even trailers were
receives from creating multiple texts. Also, consider how the
simple one way communication formats and, whilst carefully selected different formats of texts allow audience to access the texts and
moments of moving image could be combined with sound, interact with them in different ways.
advertisers were limited to simply informing audiences about the
text and showing selected extracts. On-line marketing provides many
more ways to engage the audience, mostly through elements of The web offers many additional ways to create interest and
interactivity. Getting the audience involved, even in something as encourage others to pass the word on: MySpace profiles, fictional
simple as downloading a desktop image, helps to create a feeling web sites, information send via SMS and email, additional video
that the audience member is involved with the text and, therefore, material posted on YouTube, competitions, ‘unofficial’ web sites
has more of a connection with it. This raises awareness, encourages which add to the narrative of the film/programme… the list goes on.
a personal attachment and, therefore, increases the possibility that Marketers are often keen to encourage a feeling of spontaneity
at the appropriate time, the audience member will be prepared to within viral marketing so that the success of a text appears to be
spend money on the text. generated by the user (UGC or User Generated Content) rather
than controlled by large profit seeking institutions.
There are a whole host of methods available using e-technologies.
One method that is being used in increasingly sophisticated ways
is viral marketing.
Activity
• How do you access additional information on your favourite film and/or TV programme? Which aspects of the texts could be
seen to constitute viral marketing?
• Perhaps you have been actively involved at some point in viral marketing.
o In what ways have you been part of the promotion of a media text?
o Have you used to technology to inform other people about a media text?
• Identify the different benefits the different platforms offer you.
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Case Study: Dark Knight (C Nolan: 2008) • The Ha Ha Ha Times
During the summer of 2008 it would have been difficult to avoid the o The Joker’s own newspaper website
second of the most recent interpretations of the Batman franchise. • Rory’s Death Kiss
As a Hollywood blockbuster, the film was heavily marketed via o A site that enabled fans to upload images of themselves in
traditional methods with the publication of posters, television slots, Joker costumes
media and newspaper advertising, the support for feature articles
and promotional activities aimed at making the film newsworthy. • The Gotham Times
Even in these traditional areas, the marketers of the film used e- o A newspaper web site
media to increase the impact of a traditional marketing campaign. from the fictional
These are just some of the marketing activities that preceded the Gotham city – later
release of Dark Knight. ‘vandalised’ by The
Joker. The newspaper
contained links to a
number of other web
sites
• A teaser trailer was released and shown before I am Legend in
cinemas
• A first scene of the film was shown at IMAX screenings of I am
Legend
• A trailer was released that had been
• Whysoserious.com – the Joker’s web site
‘vandalised’ by The Joker
• Subscribers received text messages from
Whysoserious.com to provide information for
online games
• Exclusive footage of the new film was released
with the Blu-Ray release of Batman Begins
• A related collection of animations was
released straight to DVD
• The ‘Dentmobile’ tour
• IbelieveinHarveyDent.com o A touring election campaign bus for
the character Harvey Dent
• A Dark Knight themed roller coaster
ride opened in theme parks
• Action figures were made available
before the film’s release
• The Dark Knight logo was used on a Formula One car
• IbelieveinHarveyDenttoo.com – a ‘vandalised version of the
Harvey Dent site
• Scavenger Hunts
o A number of virtual and real-world scavenger hunts were
Summary
created which gave out clues for audience members to
Media texts exist within a number of media platforms. Each platform
follow which would lead to a ‘reward’ of some kind:
provides its own unique benefits and gratifications for the audience
exclusive trailers and pictures
and audience members are free to choose how they wish to engage
were revealed on-line to
with a media text from a range of options. Media producers can use
scavenger hunt winners;
these platforms to arouse interest, create awareness, develop brand
special cakes were available in
loyalty and generate viral marketing. Audiences now experience a
bakeries in selected American
media text in a number of ways, in different forms and across different
cities for those that followed the
platforms. This makes the audience member’s experience of a text
clues; the Batman logo was
much broader and institutions are keen to tap into these new
revealed in Times Square and
audience behaviours.
scavenger hunt game players
were given the time and location Acknowledgements: This Media Studies Factsheet was researched and written by Steph
Hendry
in advance; free gifts (which Curriculum Press. Bank House, 105 King Street, Wellington, TF1 1NU. Media Factsheets
included a bowling ball and a mobile phone) were won by may be copied free of charge by teaching staff or students, provided that their school is a
audience members following clues from the fictional ‘Clown registered subscriber. No part of these Factsheets may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any other form or by any other means, without the prior permission
Travel Agency’ to specific bowling alleys in the US; of the publisher. ISSN 1351-5136
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