This document discusses the importance of synergy between different media forms used to promote a single media product. It notes that when promotional materials like posters, album covers, etc. reinforce and link to the main product, it helps form a stronger brand identity that audiences can associate with. The document then provides examples from a specific music video, album, and digital pack (digipak) to illustrate how similar conventions, themes, imagery and styles were used across formats to portray the artist's narrative and message in a coherent way.

1. How effective is the combination of your
main product and ancillary texts?
Joe Hardy

2. Importance of having a synergy between
different forms of media
It is beneficial when increasing the profile of a media product if the media production
company uses appropriate advertising through other media forms such as a digital pack,
album cover and song/film posters when advertising a product such as a music video or
movie trailer. When promotional media forms are used alongside the main product it is
essential that all of the products can link to each other and reinforce what it is portraying in
other to form a symbiotic/mutual benefit to one another.
When a media companies engage in synergy between their products there are able to form a
stronger brand identity which their targeted audience will be able to associate to, this can
help deliver a clearer message of what the product/service is offering or showing which is
important when attempting to attract the desired audience to watching the media product.
Through creating a an identity through branding our products in a similar way I will be able
to differentiate from other media products while using similar conventions to keep it within
the same genre as similar products.
I was able to use similar conventions between the music video, album cover and digital
pack(digipak) in order to make these ideas stand out more to the audience.

3. Portraying ideas which the audience can relate to
By exemplifying ways of showing the artist being hurt from love
and then moving on from the girl I was able to build a rapport
with the audience as this is a common theme of may popular
music videos which people can relate to. I was able to combine
these ideas through different methods of representing the idea
of love and the destruction it has caused for the artist. All the
moments being shown in the video can be linked to the first
page of the digipak. In the first moment it shows the female
protagonist in the video being faded out while sitting next to
the artist, this idea can work alongside the digipak as it
conforms to the illustration of them being ripped apart on the
digipak, also the caption above the photo stating “oh were
gonna fall” which was taken from lyrics in the song can
represent them being in an unstable relationship, the audience
may be able to conform to these ideas therefore making the
ideas representative of a real life situation. In a more focused
context the word “fall” can be linked to the moment of the
artist dropping the rose after it has been burnt by the artist. In
addition the similar shots of the main protagonist from the
video in the ancillary tasks to represent the realism through
both pieces, this help make the product more confirmative to
the genre which strengthen the synergy between the products.

4. Portraying ideas which the audience can relate to
(continued)
The representation of the rose in the video can symbolise love
therefore the idea of the artist burning the rose shows the
audience how he is moving on from the situation, when the rose
is dropped is can portray the idea of the protagonists “falling”,
the ideas of this may be conflicted by the image on the digipak
as it conveys the protagonists looking into each others eyes
which can often be a representation of trust and affection,
although this can further represent the relationship being
unpredictable. In the moment where the artist is smoking it can
relate to the digipak by him overcoming and attempting to forget
about the relationship, often smoking is representative of people
who are getting over something which has greatly affected them
which again can represent the image being ripped into two, the
mise-en-scene of this image can link to this also as the moment
of the artist standing in front of a wall which says “I love no one”
can epitomise the artist being heartbroken as the image shows
him in a disinterested state and against the idea of love which is
backed by the portrayal of drugs later on in the video. In addition
in many scenes I used monochrome overlays to match the
graphics on the digipack which helped portray the pessimistic
nature of the video. In addition I repeated the use of the male
and female protagonists looking at each other to effectively
present the narrative of a relationship.

5. Representing the idea of anonymity through the
different media forms
Consistently throughout the video there is reference to the
artist hiding his identity behind a gold and silver mask, This
convention is used also in the digipak which further
reinforces the idea if the artist concealing his true identity. In
the moment where to versions of the artist wearing the
different coloured masks in the same shot can link to the
digipak cd cover as it exemplifies the idea of the artist having
an alter ego, in this moment it shows the artist walking away
and also looking a photo, this can represent the idea of the
artist being constantly being drawn to opposing feelings. In
the bottom extract from the start of the video is apparent
that the artist is again wearing the gold mask in front of a
screen on smoke. This can portray how the artist is also
hiding his selfhood from both his fans and other characters in
the video, this makes the artists true persona a mystery
which can often attract the audience into finding out more
out the artist and what he has to offer, For this reason I have
added images of the artist onto the digipak of his face partly
and fully covered therefore reinforcing the idea of him not
wanting people to know his true self. The smoke has also
been used on the music video poster as it is a convention
which has been used from the video which underlines the
idea of the artist being hidden from society, as well as tis the
smoke is a known stereotype of the genre which is used to
attract the desired audience.

6. Using the same house style and features on
promotional products
It is evident that I have used the same house style in
all of the ancillary tasks as this is s good way for all
the products to be relevant to each other and to give
the same impression to the audience. I have
consistently used the black and dark red colour
scheme which reinforce the idea if love through the
connotation of dark red colour which is often
associated with the rose. I have used the bold white
text over the album cover and music video poster
which is a common convention to be used over a
dark background, this has been used multiple times
to show that it a stylised type of product. By using a
range of different still images throughout the
ancillary tasks I was able to link the ideas of the artist
being represented as a popular and glamorised
character. Both predominant colours of the ancillary
tasks help portray the narrative of the song, red
symbolises love and the black symbolises the dark
and depressing nature of the song. The smoke/glow
effects which is present through the tasks represent
the idea of the growing drug culture especially
marijuana, this culture is predominant thought-out
the RnB and Rap genres, this helped me portray the
epidemic and culture throughout the products.

7. Using the same house style and features on
promotional products (continued)
Furthermore the choice of fonts through all the
ancillary tasks were all very similar, I choice to capitalise
the titles in the pieces in order to present the modern
theme throughout the products. In addition I repeated
the use of the white fonts and outline effect of some
texts to effectively allow all the products conform to
the minimalist colour scheme. It is vital to maintain
consistency throughout all the products to create a
brand identity for the artist, this conforms to the
performance aspect of carlssons theory which focus
more on selling the artist as a product rather than
showing their presence in a conceptual narrative for the
video. Through media convergence I was able to create
a symbiotic relationship with each other as they
mutually benefit each other by building a stronger
brand image for the artist. Furthermore I repeated the
urban nature throughout all the pieces to enable all the
products to conform to the genre, gain establishing the
culture within all the pieces.

8. Correspondence to main product (video)
We ensured that the main and ancillary had merged
conventions in order to show synergy between the
video and the ancillary task.. We were able to do this by
adding genre conventions and typicality's which were
inspired by similar commercial products.
We used a range of convections in the products to
make the products appealing to the targeted
demographic. We used many hybridised conventions
to expand our audience and to make the product less
one dimensional. Within the ancillary and main task we
emphasised wealth which traditionally would not be
representative of artists from African-American
backgrounds although recently there has been an
unprecedented uprising of artists who are part of this
culture. The portrayal of wealth within the products was
done through money being dropped which is shown in
the video and on the digipak, which helped build a
symbiotic relationship and helped the achieve
hybridised genre conformities Wealth was also glorified
through the artist wearing expensive jewellery which is
reinforced by the stylised nature of the digipak which
suggests a glamorised lifestyle., both of these ideas help
to form the artists brand identity through convections
being repeated within the products.