Convergence

Convergence is the process by which a range of media platforms are integrated within a single piece of media technology.  

Technological Convergence

For example the new X Box 360 is a games console, a DVD player, an internet modem.
The iPhone is a phone, a camera, a video camera, an mp3 player, an FM radio, a games console, a web browser, a palmtop computer.

This demonstrates ‘convergence’ of a wide range of technologies.

Media institutions recognize that audiences enjoy using converged technology, want to consume media in a variety of different ways (including ‘on the go’)  and provide short form content for downloading eg video clips, trailers, music videos, jingles, wallpapers, music tracks etc.

The Hunger Games had a number of games both online and apps for phones.

The soundtrack for the first film was released as The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond, which included songs such as "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift 

Institutional Convergence

When two or more production houses come together to produce a media product, as can be found in The Hunger Games series where Lionsgate and Color Force Production worked together to produce it.

Synergy

Synergy is the term used to describe a situation where different entities cooperate advantageously for a final outcome. Simply defined, it means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

It’s the ‘strategy of synchronizing and actively forging connections between directly related areas of entertainment’.

New Technologies support this process – web, DVD, downloading. Media institution exploit various platforms to sell various products related to one film (e.g. film and soundtrack and video game).



A marketing synergy refers to the use of information campaigns, studies, and scientific discovery or experimentation for research or development. This promotes the sale of products for varied use or off-market sales as well as development of marketing tools and in several cases exaggeration of effects. It is also often a meaningless buzzword used by corporate leaders.


In media economics, synergy is the promotion and sale of a product (and all its versions) throughout the various subsidiaries of a media conglomerate,e.g. films, soundtracks or video games.
 Walt Disney pioneered synergistic marketing techniques in the 1930s by granting dozens of firms the right to use his Mickey Mouse character in products and ads, and continued to market Disney media through licensing arrangements. These products can help advertise the film itself and thus help to increase the film's sales
. For example, the Spider-Man films had toys of webshooters and figures of the characters made, as well as posters and games.
The NBC sitcom 30 Rock often shows the power of synergy, while also poking fun at the use of the term in the corporate world There are also different forms of synergy in popular card games like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Cardfight!! Vanguard, Pokemon.

In video game media a Synergist role is adapted in games, such as Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII series to allow a character to buff up themselves or their party. In short, Synergists add resiliencies to certain attacks, lessen status ailments that are inflicted on a character, or oftentimes blocking most attacks all together.