What is synergy? How does it operate within a contemporary media environment primarily run by large conglomerates? Give one example of synergy. How do the above 30 Rock clips frame product integration on television and how do certain types of product integration support synergy?
In a broad sense, the term synergy refers to the combination of actions and/or operations by a select group of individuals. More specifically, it can refer to a mutually advantageous conjunction or compatibility of distinct business participants or elements. The key word in this diffinition is "advantageous," in that while synergy could have the potential for negative impact, but the usefulness of the nature of synergy comes from the mutual beneficiallity of the connecting parties. In a media environment synergy can mean the advantageous release of multiple products in order to boost both at the same time. The 30 Rock Snapple episode is a great example of this because while it allows the show to flow in its normal state, but the comedy of the ridiculousness is bolstered by the overemphasis of Snapple within the narrative of the comedy. On one hand, the writers of 30 Rock could have just strategically placed Snapple bottles across the set, forcing the audience to pick them out for themselves, while achieving a similar effect of product integration. Instead, the writers blatantly shoved product integration into the faces of the audience in order to not only achieve comedic effect, but also to exploit and exacerbate the idea of product placement as a "cheap" way of gaining capital from a product sponsor.
Synergy is the term used to describe a situation where different entities cooperate advantageously for a final outcome. It means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It operates within a contemporary media environment by synchronizing and actively forging connections between directly related but different large conglomerates. Media institution exploit various platforms to sell various products related to one film. One example is Disney which sell different products such as CD, game, DVD, toys all in an outlet. The above 30 Rock clips frame product integration on television in a way that the company is making use of TV to sell their Snapple/ Verizon wireless services by embedded the context well into the comedy which made the show flows well too. It frames product integration on television by incorporate the product into the daily conversation without being obviously selling it at the front of the show. Thus, the show put more emphasis on the comedic effect other than marketing. Product integration support synergy since it’s a also marketing technique in which references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as television which in terms support the synergy that use the same strategy.
In lecture, we discussed synergy as the working together of two or more components so that they can produce an effect that neither could do alone. This basically refers to a win-win situation, where the whole is better than the sum of its parts. Synergy can operate within a contemporary media environment primarily run by large conglomerates by advertising a conglomerate’s counterparts in their separately owned fields thus reaching a larger demographic. One example of this can be found in the movie A Face in the Crowd, when Lonesome Rhodes’ makes fun of his advertiser (the mattress company); by doing this, he gains more popularity because of his genuine upfront comedy. In turn, the sale of the mattress increases because of his star power. This is same situation that occurs in the 30 Rock clips above: the show uses product placement to their advantage by making a joke out of the advertising while actually advertising Snapple at the same time. I agree with Blake McCourt, when he points out that many other shows usually sneak product placement into the show, like the infamous coke products that are always visible on American Idol. Because this type of product placement is usually received negatively, 30 Rock uses synergy to make a joke that audiences can relate to thus enhancing their reputation, while still advertising the product.
Synergy is a much more vague and nebulous corporate term than the previous replies to this post are letting on. I remember distinctly the way that Apple used this as a buzzword constantly during the early days of the iPhone. It ostensibly means that two previously unassociated business interests working with each other on some sort of collaboration in order to meet some sort of financial goal. The 30 Rock clips posted above, which are essentially ripping off a joke from Wayne’s World in which Wayne and Garth espouse the virtues of standing up to corporate greed while blatantly promoting products (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lgLYGBbDNs), shares a similar core irony: commenting on the silliness and patheticness of “brand synergy” while engaging with it.
But the term is nebulous, and these instances don’t quite cover the use of the word in all of the ways it’s used. Brand synergy sometimes just means the same corporation investigating a variety of product output under the same brand. Gatorade’s “G Series” line of energy supplements, drinks, and other questionable ingestibles and Nintendo’s new dedication to console games, mobile games, children’s toys and films both come to mind.
Synergy is a silly word made up by marketing departments and it doesn’t really mean much.
Synergy refers to the idea that two parts together are greater than if they were separate. It can often be a strategy for big companies to save more money, but also make more money. It is a popular way for companies to advertise their product to make the most out of it. Sometimes, product placement is very obvious. If a character is drinking pop, and the camera provides a close-up of the can, even though the drink offers nothing to the narrative. 30 Rock instead, chose to make a joke out of it. Liz Lemon and the other characters still promoted the brand, but in a humorous way, which might make it less irritable to viewers than when it is the product placement is very obvious, but no one addresses it. Another show that offers a funny approach on product placement is Angie Tribeca. For example, the show adversities Snickers by doing a parody of regular commercials with one of their characters holding up the bar, while smiling at the camera. These types of jokes provide a comedic relief to viewers who might feel frustrated with how repetitive product placement can feel, so the end result might resonate better with viewers.
Synergy is, formally, the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. It is a method used by many conglomerates to promote their products without the public even knowing. Within a contemporary media environment run by large conglomerates, synergy works to advertise products for the branches the conglomerate controls in various media forms and outlets. Disney is a great example of synergy. The theme park Disneyland is just one large-scale advertising tool used to promote Disney’s countless movies. The park hires people to dress up like the characters from the movies as a way to promote the park, while still using the park to promote the movies. The 30 Rock clips frame product integration on television in a bad light, implying that most showrunners don’t want to use product placement but it’s not their choice to make. 30 Rock expertly satirizes the obvious product placements of the past like on The Martha Raye Show and I Love Lucy. Using the clips from 30 Rock, one may think that the obvious inclusions of sponsored brands on the shows of the past were likely not welcome additions, but were simply forced by sponsors and network execs that were looking out for the other branches of their business. This also speaks to how certain types of product integration support synergy; conglomerates that have control over television content and product sales of, say, Snapple will force shows to promote the product regardless of how unrelated it is to the episode content.
Synergy is basically the concept that two heads are greater than one. When two or more separate entities come together, they are able to create something better than what they could have done alone. In a contemporary media environment, the conglomerates in charge consist of many smaller companies. In order to maximize profits, the conglomerates try to combine elements from their smaller companies to create effective marketing strategies. For example, though not a media conglomerate, PepsiCo also owns Frito-Lay. Since Pepsi makes soft drinks, something usually found at parties, and Frito-Lay makes snack foods commonly found at parties, the two companies have a synergistic relationship. Chips and soda go together in the mind of the consumer and so, by owning both the snack and the drink, PepsiCo gains the advantage over its competitors, who either own the snack or the drink. The 30 Rock clips frame product integration as both a good and an evil. In the first clip, Liz Lemon implies that the only reason the Verizon Wireless phones were brought up was so the show could make money off the product integration. In the second clip, Liz suggests that taking a product integration deal would "compromise the integrity of the show." Ironically, the same scene functions as a product integration for Snapple. The result is a show that is conscious of the fact that product integration does not have the show's best interest in mind, while at the same time saying it's worth taking the deal for the money, and that product integration doesn't have to be an intrusion, but can be seamlessly tied into the narrative (especially for a conscious show like 30 Rock). While most shows wouldn't have a necessarily synergistic relationship with product integration, because 30 Rock is able to joke about their own product integration, in a way both the audience and the paying company can enjoy, both 30 Rock and the product are heightened in the consumer's mind.
Synergy is the combining of two entities in order to create a sum that is greater than those parts being separated. It sounds like a bunch of jargon, but companies in America utilize synergy in every economic sector. This is not just exclusive to the entertainment industry, like with certain companies advertising for other stations that are underneath their umbrella corporation. Conglomerates like Disney can utilize this strategy within their branches of Marvel, LucasArts, etc., but companies like Pepsi and Coke do similar practices. Their companies share investors and production lines, and help manufacture both drinks without the need for more infrastructure or in some cases advertising wings.
30 Rock frames product integration in a sarcastic yet self-reflexive way. Snapple is the source of parody, yet at the same time they are using Snapple as product placement. In terms of synergy, these integrations are easy avenues for television and film studios to create synergy among their owned brands. Disney Pixar films can cross promote with movies like Finding Nemo that has Buzz and Woody dolls within certain scenes. Minute placements such as these are easy advertising platforms and synergy is what allows for this to happen.
In a broad sense, the term synergy refers to the combination of actions and/or operations by a select group of individuals. More specifically, it can refer to a mutually advantageous conjunction or compatibility of distinct business participants or elements. The key word in this diffinition is "advantageous," in that while synergy could have the potential for negative impact, but the usefulness of the nature of synergy comes from the mutual beneficiallity of the connecting parties. In a media environment synergy can mean the advantageous release of multiple products in order to boost both at the same time. The 30 Rock Snapple episode is a great example of this because while it allows the show to flow in its normal state, but the comedy of the ridiculousness is bolstered by the overemphasis of Snapple within the narrative of the comedy. On one hand, the writers of 30 Rock could have just strategically placed Snapple bottles across the set, forcing the audience to pick them out for themselves, while achieving a similar effect of product integration. Instead, the writers blatantly shoved product integration into the faces of the audience in order to not only achieve comedic effect, but also to exploit and exacerbate the idea of product placement as a "cheap" way of gaining capital from a product sponsor.
ReplyDeleteSynergy is the term used to describe a situation where different entities cooperate advantageously for a final outcome. It means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It operates within a contemporary media environment by synchronizing and actively forging connections between directly related but different large conglomerates. Media institution exploit various platforms to sell various products related to one film. One example is Disney which sell different products such as CD, game, DVD, toys all in an outlet.
ReplyDeleteThe above 30 Rock clips frame product integration on television in a way that the company is making use of TV to sell their Snapple/ Verizon wireless services by embedded the context well into the comedy which made the show flows well too. It frames product integration on television by incorporate the product into the daily conversation without being obviously selling it at the front of the show. Thus, the show put more emphasis on the comedic effect other than marketing. Product integration support synergy since it’s a also marketing technique in which references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as television which in terms support the synergy that use the same strategy.
In lecture, we discussed synergy as the working together of two or more components so that they can produce an effect that neither could do alone. This basically refers to a win-win situation, where the whole is better than the sum of its parts. Synergy can operate within a contemporary media environment primarily run by large conglomerates by advertising a conglomerate’s counterparts in their separately owned fields thus reaching a larger demographic. One example of this can be found in the movie A Face in the Crowd, when Lonesome Rhodes’ makes fun of his advertiser (the mattress company); by doing this, he gains more popularity because of his genuine upfront comedy. In turn, the sale of the mattress increases because of his star power. This is same situation that occurs in the 30 Rock clips above: the show uses product placement to their advantage by making a joke out of the advertising while actually advertising Snapple at the same time. I agree with Blake McCourt, when he points out that many other shows usually sneak product placement into the show, like the infamous coke products that are always visible on American Idol. Because this type of product placement is usually received negatively, 30 Rock uses synergy to make a joke that audiences can relate to thus enhancing their reputation, while still advertising the product.
ReplyDeleteSynergy is a much more vague and nebulous corporate term than the previous replies to this post are letting on. I remember distinctly the way that Apple used this as a buzzword constantly during the early days of the iPhone. It ostensibly means that two previously unassociated business interests working with each other on some sort of collaboration in order to meet some sort of financial goal. The 30 Rock clips posted above, which are essentially ripping off a joke from Wayne’s World in which Wayne and Garth espouse the virtues of standing up to corporate greed while blatantly promoting products (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lgLYGBbDNs), shares a similar core irony: commenting on the silliness and patheticness of “brand synergy” while engaging with it.
ReplyDeleteBut the term is nebulous, and these instances don’t quite cover the use of the word in all of the ways it’s used. Brand synergy sometimes just means the same corporation investigating a variety of product output under the same brand. Gatorade’s “G Series” line of energy supplements, drinks, and other questionable ingestibles and Nintendo’s new dedication to console games, mobile games, children’s toys and films both come to mind.
Synergy is a silly word made up by marketing departments and it doesn’t really mean much.
Synergy refers to the idea that two parts together are greater than if they were separate. It can often be a strategy for big companies to save more money, but also make more money. It is a popular way for companies to advertise their product to make the most out of it. Sometimes, product placement is very obvious. If a character is drinking pop, and the camera provides a close-up of the can, even though the drink offers nothing to the narrative. 30 Rock instead, chose to make a joke out of it. Liz Lemon and the other characters still promoted the brand, but in a humorous way, which might make it less irritable to viewers than when it is the product placement is very obvious, but no one addresses it. Another show that offers a funny approach on product placement is Angie Tribeca. For example, the show adversities Snickers by doing a parody of regular commercials with one of their characters holding up the bar, while smiling at the camera. These types of jokes provide a comedic relief to viewers who might feel frustrated with how repetitive product placement can feel, so the end result might resonate better with viewers.
ReplyDeleteSynergy is, formally, the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. It is a method used by many conglomerates to promote their products without the public even knowing. Within a contemporary media environment run by large conglomerates, synergy works to advertise products for the branches the conglomerate controls in various media forms and outlets. Disney is a great example of synergy. The theme park Disneyland is just one large-scale advertising tool used to promote Disney’s countless movies. The park hires people to dress up like the characters from the movies as a way to promote the park, while still using the park to promote the movies. The 30 Rock clips frame product integration on television in a bad light, implying that most showrunners don’t want to use product placement but it’s not their choice to make. 30 Rock expertly satirizes the obvious product placements of the past like on The Martha Raye Show and I Love Lucy. Using the clips from 30 Rock, one may think that the obvious inclusions of sponsored brands on the shows of the past were likely not welcome additions, but were simply forced by sponsors and network execs that were looking out for the other branches of their business. This also speaks to how certain types of product integration support synergy; conglomerates that have control over television content and product sales of, say, Snapple will force shows to promote the product regardless of how unrelated it is to the episode content.
ReplyDeleteSynergy is basically the concept that two heads are greater than one. When two or more separate entities come together, they are able to create something better than what they could have done alone. In a contemporary media environment, the conglomerates in charge consist of many smaller companies. In order to maximize profits, the conglomerates try to combine elements from their smaller companies to create effective marketing strategies. For example, though not a media conglomerate, PepsiCo also owns Frito-Lay. Since Pepsi makes soft drinks, something usually found at parties, and Frito-Lay makes snack foods commonly found at parties, the two companies have a synergistic relationship. Chips and soda go together in the mind of the consumer and so, by owning both the snack and the drink, PepsiCo gains the advantage over its competitors, who either own the snack or the drink.
ReplyDeleteThe 30 Rock clips frame product integration as both a good and an evil. In the first clip, Liz Lemon implies that the only reason the Verizon Wireless phones were brought up was so the show could make money off the product integration. In the second clip, Liz suggests that taking a product integration deal would "compromise the integrity of the show." Ironically, the same scene functions as a product integration for Snapple. The result is a show that is conscious of the fact that product integration does not have the show's best interest in mind, while at the same time saying it's worth taking the deal for the money, and that product integration doesn't have to be an intrusion, but can be seamlessly tied into the narrative (especially for a conscious show like 30 Rock). While most shows wouldn't have a necessarily synergistic relationship with product integration, because 30 Rock is able to joke about their own product integration, in a way both the audience and the paying company can enjoy, both 30 Rock and the product are heightened in the consumer's mind.
Synergy is the combining of two entities in order to create a sum that is greater than those parts being separated. It sounds like a bunch of jargon, but companies in America utilize synergy in every economic sector. This is not just exclusive to the entertainment industry, like with certain companies advertising for other stations that are underneath their umbrella corporation. Conglomerates like Disney can utilize this strategy within their branches of Marvel, LucasArts, etc., but companies like Pepsi and Coke do similar practices. Their companies share investors and production lines, and help manufacture both drinks without the need for more infrastructure or in some cases advertising wings.
ReplyDelete30 Rock frames product integration in a sarcastic yet self-reflexive way. Snapple is the source of parody, yet at the same time they are using Snapple as product placement. In terms of synergy, these integrations are easy avenues for television and film studios to create synergy among their owned brands. Disney Pixar films can cross promote with movies like Finding Nemo that has Buzz and Woody dolls within certain scenes. Minute placements such as these are easy advertising platforms and synergy is what allows for this to happen.