What is synergy? How does it operate within a contemporary media environment primarily run by large conglomorates? Give one example of synergy (you can use an example from the present if you wish).
I know little to nothing about business, and I used to think synergy was just one of those buzzwords that employers and managers use to encourage efficiency and productiveness in the workplace. Clearly, as I have learned from this week’s discussion, it’s not REALLY that. Synergy, in terms of media, seems to be a synonymous or general term for franchising and promotion. I wanted to understand the term better before writing this, so I went to Wikipedia and the article used the example of Walt Disney. Disney would give the rights to Mickey Mouse to advertisers and product designers through licensing agreements—the products and advertisements would, in turn, promote Disney’s Mickey Mouse films. Well played, Mr. Walt.
It’s clear that this idea caught on. It made me think about franchises like Pokémon: not only does Pokémon have a popular show (that’s surprisingly still spouting out new episodes), but they also have the card game, and a whole world of additional merchandise. It’s not vertical integration- the producers don’t own all the toy companies that put out their merchandise- its promotion. It’s synergy. The cards promote the show, the show keeps the cards relevant, and the cycle continues and extends to all the other Pokémon merchandise. As Liz Lemon puts it: "Cross-promotion, deal mechanics, revenue stream, jargon, SYNERGY..."
Synergy, as I understand it, is a merger between two or more parties that creates greater combined utility than could be achieved as separate entities. In terms of the contemporary media industry, synergy was very prevalent because television networks found increased profit potential from mergers. This profit was not only a monetary amount, but the networks that participated in synergy increased there brand recognition and image. For example, a smaller network that did not have the economies of scale of the larger network could merge with the larger network in order to gain more support and brand recognition. In return, the larger network has a new network under their belt that brings something new to the table; such as CBS adopting a network only devoted to children show. This could bring in new audiences that ultimately achieve greater profits for both companies. This hypothetical example represents how both completed a task that neither entity could accomplish when left to their own devices.
A notable example of this would be the merger between General Electric and NBC. These two conglomerates were forced to divest in 1932, shortly after the Great Depression, because they were accused of breaching Anti-trust laws and exercising monopolistic practices. However, in the 1980’s, the massive amount of deregulation prompted the two companies to combine again, creating a massive conglomerate that is once again capable of utilizing stronger monopolistic practices and ultimately can achieving higher profits as a result.
In the context of contemporary media, synergy is a marketing technique that is all about cross-promotion between media and merchandise. It plays a crucial role in maximizing consumers’ involvement and consumption of media. As Abby stated above, Walt Disney was a pioneer of this marketing technique. From the very beginning he was creating consumer content and promoting viewers to visit his theme parks in Disneyland. He expanded out into toys and other merchandise, becoming the Disney we know today.
While he was the pioneer, synergy extends to cross-promotion between distinct and separate entities. For example, the Harry Potter (HP) franchise consists of products from the films and books to costumes, toys, home goods, collectables, and even the theme park itself. Even though all of these products are sold through separate channels, they have a symbiotic relationship. In a market run by large conglomerates, when the big guys win – like the HP movie producers – the smaller channels benefit – like someone selling HP Halloween Costumes. This cross-promotion works synonymously: when one of the new Harry Potter movies would be released, surely more Harry Potter toys were being sold. The more toys that were sold, the more people were reminded to go see/buy the films. The synergy created by franchises like this has become the new norm for popular television hits. Recent examples include Hannah Montana and Dora the Explorer.
Synergy is an interesting term to think about. As Abby mentioned in her above post, synergy seems like one of those words that gets thrown around the corporate world for the purpose of promoting teamwork and intra-company communication or something along those lines. In actuality, though, synergy carries with it a few different denotations that, despite being vastly complex in their own right, essentially mean the same thing: the combination of elements to form a whole that is, in various applications, greater than the sum of its individual parts. With the exception of some workplace depictions in Hollywood films of the 2000s, my first encounter with synergy took place in an intro biology textbook. In the fields of science, synergy basically helps to describe the steady changes in behavior and physical appearance that species have --and continue to-- exhibit throughout their respective evolutionary histories. But why talk about science when you can talk about the contemporary media environment. In the massively deregulated 1980s, media companies and networks began to realize the financial potential in corporate consolidation. Sure enough, a number of major corporate mergers have occurred in subsequent decades. An ambiguous example of this media/media type of merger could be the unification of two television networks that historically speaking had broadcasted shows for different demographics. Let’s say that one of these networks is a major player and the other is a considerably smaller entity. Perhaps their joining forces allows the bigger network to potentially have a more diversified list of shows under its belt while the smaller network receives the monetary benefits that previously only the major player could access. Thus, synergy.
Synergy, which one might consider part of the broader strategic management aspect of mergers & acquisitions, has produced results both good and bad in the corporate world. A rather good example of synergy is the Disney-Pixar merger in early 2006. Before the consolidation, Pixar was limited in the number of films it could possibly create for Disney to release (from 1995 to 2006, Pixar only produced six films. Following the merger, the company has released eight in seven years). Today, the two companies’ combined creative, marketing, and advertising forces have resulted in plans for two feature films per year for the foreseeable future as well as popular lines of toy products on store shelves. Source: http://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/business/blog/best-and-worst-corporate-mergers/
To counter the wonderful, magical collaboration between Pixar and Disney, there is Patrick Bateman in American Psycho: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trqh9ezMY70
Synergy is similar to media convergence. According to Hilmes, synergy was the buzzword of the 1980s and 1990s. It was inspired by the actions of Rupert Murdoch, who founded Fox, the fourth major broadcasting network, in 1985. Synergy means the working together of multiple components to produce an effect greater than either could alone. It suggests the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Media corporations tend to combine production and distribution in order to cross-promote and generate greater profits. They exploit various platforms to increase profit. One of the two major Hollywood-based mergers was the merger between the Disney Studios and ABC. One example is High School Musical, a film produced by Disney-ABC. It was one of the most successful films produced by Disney-ABC, who later created book series, video games, and music album about the film. These products did not only increased profits for Disney-ABC, but also help to advertise the film itself. Therefore, synergy enabled films to be advertised by other related products. In the meantime, the various products about High School Musical allowed audiences to know more about the characters in the film. Also, video game even allowed audiences to imitate those characters they like.
Synergy is simply two things that work together and add up to greater than the sum of their parts. It has context in business, media, software, hardware, biology, chemistry, etc. Synergy's context in business these days has to do with all of a company's outputs adding up to profit. Things like licensing, merchandising, mergers, acquisitions, buy-outs, and marketing are all done in order for a corporation to increase its profits, even if it means a loss of money in the short run. In the contemporary media environment, large conglomerations work against each other in order to get a larger piece of the pie, or audience. However, these large conglomerates can actually work together in order to work for their mutual benefit. Cable companies like Comcast and AT&T set aside certain areas where they won't compete for customers so their prices aren't driven down through competition. They plan out these areas so that they each get more profit than they would if they were competing directly in those areas. In similar fashion, Comcast proposed a merger with Time Warner Cable (whom's services they have no geographical or commercial overlap with) earlier this year so that there would be "increasing competition and...more consumer benefit as a result of gaining additional scale." While this merger is a great example of Synergy for Comcast and Time Warner, it may ultimately be negative for consumers. In this way, synergy is something that can not only be good for conglomerates but also bad for consumers.
Synergy in the media environment today can be defined as the promotion and sales of products through various subsidiaries of a media conglomerate, all to increase revenue of companies. A conglomerate in this scenario is the combination of corporations under a parent company that also includes all of the corporation’s subsidiary companies. With the consolidation of all of these components, conglomerates can sell company products across multiple platforms, and produce an income and effect that none of the companies could do alone.
There are several large conglomerates that dominate today’s media industry, the largest ones being Comcast, The Walt Disney Company, and Time Warner Incorporated. Each of these conglomerates have merged with and acquired many companies over the years to have a greater influence in all aspects of the media environment and allowing for the cross-promotion of assets. For example, Walt Disney Company, which began in the animation industry, slowly expanded and diversified to include assets in live action film production, television, and theme parks. After a merger with Capital Cities/ABC in 1995, Disney became a major cable and broadcasting company, and the corporation could now promote its products to even larger audiences. A chief example of synergy within the Walt Disney Company came after the acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in 2009. Disney not only attained Marvel Comics, Marvel Toys, and film production company Marvel Studios, but also was able to expand the franchise products into television through ABC Network, and into the Disney Theme Parks. With joining The Walt Disney Company, Marvel Entertainment has easily expanded its properties in ways it may not have been capable of doing before, and both companies can prosper.
I know little to nothing about business, and I used to think synergy was just one of those buzzwords that employers and managers use to encourage efficiency and productiveness in the workplace. Clearly, as I have learned from this week’s discussion, it’s not REALLY that. Synergy, in terms of media, seems to be a synonymous or general term for franchising and promotion. I wanted to understand the term better before writing this, so I went to Wikipedia and the article used the example of Walt Disney. Disney would give the rights to Mickey Mouse to advertisers and product designers through licensing agreements—the products and advertisements would, in turn, promote Disney’s Mickey Mouse films. Well played, Mr. Walt.
ReplyDeleteIt’s clear that this idea caught on. It made me think about franchises like Pokémon: not only does Pokémon have a popular show (that’s surprisingly still spouting out new episodes), but they also have the card game, and a whole world of additional merchandise. It’s not vertical integration- the producers don’t own all the toy companies that put out their merchandise- its promotion. It’s synergy. The cards promote the show, the show keeps the cards relevant, and the cycle continues and extends to all the other Pokémon merchandise. As Liz Lemon puts it: "Cross-promotion, deal mechanics, revenue stream, jargon, SYNERGY..."
Synergy, as I understand it, is a merger between two or more parties that creates greater combined utility than could be achieved as separate entities. In terms of the contemporary media industry, synergy was very prevalent because television networks found increased profit potential from mergers. This profit was not only a monetary amount, but the networks that participated in synergy increased there brand recognition and image. For example, a smaller network that did not have the economies of scale of the larger network could merge with the larger network in order to gain more support and brand recognition. In return, the larger network has a new network under their belt that brings something new to the table; such as CBS adopting a network only devoted to children show. This could bring in new audiences that ultimately achieve greater profits for both companies. This hypothetical example represents how both completed a task that neither entity could accomplish when left to their own devices.
ReplyDeleteA notable example of this would be the merger between General Electric and NBC. These two conglomerates were forced to divest in 1932, shortly after the Great Depression, because they were accused of breaching Anti-trust laws and exercising monopolistic practices. However, in the 1980’s, the massive amount of deregulation prompted the two companies to combine again, creating a massive conglomerate that is once again capable of utilizing stronger monopolistic practices and ultimately can achieving higher profits as a result.
In the context of contemporary media, synergy is a marketing technique that is all about cross-promotion between media and merchandise. It plays a crucial role in maximizing consumers’ involvement and consumption of media. As Abby stated above, Walt Disney was a pioneer of this marketing technique. From the very beginning he was creating consumer content and promoting viewers to visit his theme parks in Disneyland. He expanded out into toys and other merchandise, becoming the Disney we know today.
ReplyDeleteWhile he was the pioneer, synergy extends to cross-promotion between distinct and separate entities. For example, the Harry Potter (HP) franchise consists of products from the films and books to costumes, toys, home goods, collectables, and even the theme park itself. Even though all of these products are sold through separate channels, they have a symbiotic relationship. In a market run by large conglomerates, when the big guys win – like the HP movie producers – the smaller channels benefit – like someone selling HP Halloween Costumes. This cross-promotion works synonymously: when one of the new Harry Potter movies would be released, surely more Harry Potter toys were being sold. The more toys that were sold, the more people were reminded to go see/buy the films. The synergy created by franchises like this has become the new norm for popular television hits. Recent examples include Hannah Montana and Dora the Explorer.
Synergy is an interesting term to think about. As Abby mentioned in her above post, synergy seems like one of those words that gets thrown around the corporate world for the purpose of promoting teamwork and intra-company communication or something along those lines. In actuality, though, synergy carries with it a few different denotations that, despite being vastly complex in their own right, essentially mean the same thing: the combination of elements to form a whole that is, in various applications, greater than the sum of its individual parts. With the exception of some workplace depictions in Hollywood films of the 2000s, my first encounter with synergy took place in an intro biology textbook. In the fields of science, synergy basically helps to describe the steady changes in behavior and physical appearance that species have --and continue to-- exhibit throughout their respective evolutionary histories. But why talk about science when you can talk about the contemporary media environment. In the massively deregulated 1980s, media companies and networks began to realize the financial potential in corporate consolidation. Sure enough, a number of major corporate mergers have occurred in subsequent decades. An ambiguous example of this media/media type of merger could be the unification of two television networks that historically speaking had broadcasted shows for different demographics. Let’s say that one of these networks is a major player and the other is a considerably smaller entity. Perhaps their joining forces allows the bigger network to potentially have a more diversified list of shows under its belt while the smaller network receives the monetary benefits that previously only the major player could access. Thus, synergy.
ReplyDeleteSynergy, which one might consider part of the broader strategic management aspect of mergers & acquisitions, has produced results both good and bad in the corporate world. A rather good example of synergy is the Disney-Pixar merger in early 2006. Before the consolidation, Pixar was limited in the number of films it could possibly create for Disney to release (from 1995 to 2006, Pixar only produced six films. Following the merger, the company has released eight in seven years). Today, the two companies’ combined creative, marketing, and advertising forces have resulted in plans for two feature films per year for the foreseeable future as well as popular lines of toy products on store shelves.
Source: http://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/business/blog/best-and-worst-corporate-mergers/
To counter the wonderful, magical collaboration between Pixar and Disney, there is Patrick Bateman in American Psycho: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trqh9ezMY70
Synergy is similar to media convergence. According to Hilmes, synergy was the buzzword of the 1980s and 1990s. It was inspired by the actions of Rupert Murdoch, who founded Fox, the fourth major broadcasting network, in 1985. Synergy means the working together of multiple components to produce an effect greater than either could alone. It suggests the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Media corporations tend to combine production and distribution in order to cross-promote and generate greater profits. They exploit various platforms to increase profit. One of the two major Hollywood-based mergers was the merger between the Disney Studios and ABC.
ReplyDeleteOne example is High School Musical, a film produced by Disney-ABC. It was one of the most successful films produced by Disney-ABC, who later created book series, video games, and music album about the film. These products did not only increased profits for Disney-ABC, but also help to advertise the film itself. Therefore, synergy enabled films to be advertised by other related products. In the meantime, the various products about High School Musical allowed audiences to know more about the characters in the film. Also, video game even allowed audiences to imitate those characters they like.
Synergy is simply two things that work together and add up to greater than the sum of their parts. It has context in business, media, software, hardware, biology, chemistry, etc. Synergy's context in business these days has to do with all of a company's outputs adding up to profit. Things like licensing, merchandising, mergers, acquisitions, buy-outs, and marketing are all done in order for a corporation to increase its profits, even if it means a loss of money in the short run. In the contemporary media environment, large conglomerations work against each other in order to get a larger piece of the pie, or audience. However, these large conglomerates can actually work together in order to work for their mutual benefit. Cable companies like Comcast and AT&T set aside certain areas where they won't compete for customers so their prices aren't driven down through competition. They plan out these areas so that they each get more profit than they would if they were competing directly in those areas. In similar fashion, Comcast proposed a merger with Time Warner Cable (whom's services they have no geographical or commercial overlap with) earlier this year so that there would be "increasing competition and...more consumer benefit as a result of gaining additional scale." While this merger is a great example of Synergy for Comcast and Time Warner, it may ultimately be negative for consumers. In this way, synergy is something that can not only be good for conglomerates but also bad for consumers.
ReplyDeleteSynergy in the media environment today can be defined as the promotion and sales of products through various subsidiaries of a media conglomerate, all to increase revenue of companies. A conglomerate in this scenario is the combination of corporations under a parent company that also includes all of the corporation’s subsidiary companies. With the consolidation of all of these components, conglomerates can sell company products across multiple platforms, and produce an income and effect that none of the companies could do alone.
ReplyDeleteThere are several large conglomerates that dominate today’s media industry, the largest ones being Comcast, The Walt Disney Company, and Time Warner Incorporated. Each of these conglomerates have merged with and acquired many companies over the years to have a greater influence in all aspects of the media environment and allowing for the cross-promotion of assets. For example, Walt Disney Company, which began in the animation industry, slowly expanded and diversified to include assets in live action film production, television, and theme parks. After a merger with Capital Cities/ABC in 1995, Disney became a major cable and broadcasting company, and the corporation could now promote its products to even larger audiences. A chief example of synergy within the Walt Disney Company came after the acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in 2009. Disney not only attained Marvel Comics, Marvel Toys, and film production company Marvel Studios, but also was able to expand the franchise products into television through ABC Network, and into the Disney Theme Parks. With joining The Walt Disney Company, Marvel Entertainment has easily expanded its properties in ways it may not have been capable of doing before, and both companies can prosper.