LO1 Task 4: Cross media product case study (D1)

LO1 TASK 4: Cross media product case study

The brand I have studied is the widely popular ‘The Simpsons’ brand, this brand has proved popular with a mass audiences with a large range of ages due to the great appeal the product has and how it resonates with the target audience. Subsequently, the brand/ program originally released in 1989 has since diversified and adapted to suit a whole range of audiences and develop new products. These include things such as Simpson inspired products, magazines, books and most popularly the film. In this piece I will look specifically at the adaptation ‘The Simpsons Movie’ and how it reached it reached its specific target audience and to what success.

The majority of success for this adaption of the brand is as a result of the marketing and distribution used which reached a mass audience and engaged with a whole range of demographics. Both above and below the line marketing techniques have been used, traditional methods such teaser trailers, tv ads and radio promotions were all used in the build up to the release of the product. This was successful for the brand for several reasons, most noticeably this is seen to be successful as a result of synergy. The film produced by 20^th Century Fox Animation allowed for the use of horizontal and vertical integration across the larger conglomerate structure meaning it could use the company’s in the conglomerate to both produce, market and distribute the film this would also be cheaper to do so. For example the film was produced by 20^th Century Fox but then the product could also be marketed on channels such as Sky or Fox and distributed to consumers through the subsidiaries such a Hulu, this use of subsidiaries and cross promotion results in synergy across the brand and product thus maximising its success. One example of a piece of media which was used to promote the product is the tv review advert (https://vimeo.com/19417434) which was seen across the 20^th century fox network and was released in the run up to the release of the product with the intention to persuade the mass audiences to go view the product.

In addition to the above the line methods mentioned previously which involve the promotion across subsidiaries and reaching mass audiences, the adaption also used several below the line methods which targeted audiences on a smaller, individual scale. For example the distribution company ran several competitions and interactive pages in which the audiences are directly involved in, as pictured below there was a range of interactive games, contests and pages for the audience to undertake with something being suitable for every aspect of the target demographic.  Specifically, 20^th century fox’s marketing was effective at reaching a mass and large/ varied audience for this product. The marketing appealed to a younger demographic with the games and interactive web pages where as other aspects such as incorporating advertising into airline flight websites and petrol stations would be seen to be targeting an older more mature demographic.

Unlike many conventional media products it is seen that this brand appeals to a varied audience with a large age range. Conventionally, it is seen that the product appeals to a younger audience of around ten years as a result of the genre, in general the animated products are often seen to be featured on children’s channels and tailored to their needs with simple story lines and relatable characters. However, the product also appeals to other age brackets and both genders as the large amount of characters means the audience will likely have a character which resonates with them or that they can relate too. For example the main character of Homer; a balding early 40's fat man could be seen to appeal to an older demographic of a similar age range and lifestyle as the opinions expressed by this character would be relatable for such audiences. On the contrary, the product can also be seen to target a younger audience demographic from around the ages 18 and below as the teen character of Bart would have a greater appeal and reside better with this age range as again they can relate with this character and would likely have been a 'Bart' or known a 'Bart'.

The way in which said audiences access a product has changed. Technological convergence has impacted audiences and how they access the brand/ adaptation. Several black box devices derived from technological convergence are common place among many households now with devices such as ‘Smart’ internet enabled TVs, laptops, and mobile devices being seen and use by a large majority of media consumers. Such devices has changed how audiences access products as a whole, providing more convenient methods dependent on the situation. There are several ways in which the brand can now be consumed, for example both the episodes and the film from the brand Simpsons can now be easily downloaded to a device for viewing at a time and place which suits them, this is beneficial as by downloading the product to a black box device such as a smartphone it means it can be viewed at any time in any place, although this does require storage. Despite this other methods are still available as a result of technological convergence, for example on demand and streaming services can be used by audiences to view products unlike what could previously be achieved. All these developments in how audience’s access products are largely due to the development of web2.0 and the interactivity that it brought. These new methods are both advantageous for both the consumer and producers as the audience now has the ability to access the brand as and when they need whilst also being beneficial to the producer as they can still benefit from revenue created from such streaming companies which previously could not have been achieved due to the dependence on scheduled tv as the only medium in which the product could be accessed.

In order to reach a larger audience the use of cross promotion was key. This was achieved by diversifying the brand further than solely the film product alone. Twentieth century fox did this in several ways, not only was the film produced and released there was a large variation in products released alongside. This included such things as print products of books and comic puzzles to digital games and merchandise. Such diversification of the product allowed the brand/ adaptation to reach different and a larger range of demographics. For example the comic book style and colouring print based products could be seen to appeal to a younger audience of eight and below, this is because the nature of the content better appeals to a young demographic due to the simple imagery and tasks given. This therefore diversifies the brand as the product reaches a wider audience than what would ordinarily achieved due to the original film product being rated PG, which the regulatory body BBFC states that the content is best suited to those of eight years and over. Similarly, some of the merchandise distributed also appeals to the older demographics that may not primarily be targeted by the film itself. 

As a whole the adaptation of the brand Simpsons proved widely successful upon release, on the opening day the film earned $30,758,269 and went on to gain a total of $527.9 million in the box office [1]. In addition to this, The Simpsons Movie also won the award for the best animation at the ITV national movie awards [2], best comedy film at the British Comedy Awards [3] and best movie at the UK Nickelodeon Kids Choice wards beating box office hits such as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean [4].

1 "Top Single Day Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-07-28.

2 Fiona Pryor (2007-09-28). "Potter wins film awards hat-trick". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-09-29.

3 "British Comedy Awards: winners' list". BBC News. 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2007-06-13.

4 Nick Levine (2007-10-20). "In full: Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards UK winners". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2007-10-28.