Synergy is the process by which media institutions use a range of platforms to promote, sell and distribute their products. Assess the impact of synergy in your cross-media study.
Support your answer with reference to a range of examples from three media platforms. (32 marks) 

As mentioned in the question, synergy is the process by which media institutions use a range of platforms to promote, sell and distribute products. To elaborate on this, this may come in the form of selling merchandise like clothing and interiors with the same design as the main film marketing (poster and website eg).

My case study films are Bridesmaids and I Give It A Year. I Give It A Year was released in February 2013, and so is very recent and has many examples of this, as does Bridesmaids.

Bridesmaids was released in corporation with a variety of different institutions, the main ones being Universal Pictures and Relativity Media. They have a variety of different websites (e-media) working in corporation with them to sell clothing merchandise, and this is a perfect way to advertise and promote their film. When conducting my research I found a variety of websites, but one in particular seemed to be very successful. Not only will it remain much longer than the television or print advertising (consequently encouraging more people to watch the film in the future), it will make the brand much more money. Fans are likely to spend money on merchandise which will make much more than the film alone would. Consequently, clothing merchandise has a very significant impact for Bridesmaids.

Synergy also occurs within e-media in the form of social networking. The institutions behind the films (Universal Pictures and Relativity Media for Bridesmaids, and Working Title for I Give It A Year) set up Twitter and Facebook accounts. These are a free way of making lots of money. They are using the new platform of e-media to indirectly sell, promote and distribute their product. It quickly promotes the brand in a different and interactive way to a very wide audience, who are using these sites for social interaction. The ability to leave comments and discuss opinions on the films in question is exactly what the target audience wants, and so this method of synergy also has a very significant impact. Not only does it reach the target audience, but it reaches a much wider audience who aren't necessarily primarily involved. Both "I Give It A Year" and "Bridesmaids" are both promoted through Twitter accounts. For example, Bridesmaids are promoted through Universal Pictures, and this account has over 200,000 followers. It is also promoted through fan made twitter accounts such as "BridesmaidsQuotes", although this doesn't count as synergy as it is not organised by the institution themselves. 

Overall, synergy can be very effective in promoting a film to a much wider audience, as well as making more money in the long run for the institution.