Hollywood Media Synergy as IMC

A great deal can be learnt from the media synergy strategies that have been developed by Hollywood studio executives in the past few decades. Media products are positioned to promote each other. One form of media synergy is Hollywood's tendancy to make sequals. Theme parks, soundtracks, novel tie-ins and videogames also prove significant and profitable covergent forms.

Hollywood has focused increasingly on developing, greenlighting and marketing mega franchise films. Mark Crispin Miller (1990) is one of the first academics to analyze Hollywood's move from vertical integration (where 2 company's of the same industry but different stages of production come together) to horizontal integration (where a company develops by buying up competitors in the market) and films that are positioned across multiple media platforms for their core value along with "sequelizability" and ability to be cross-promoted with other media texts. Constant media synergy is where everything within a franchise promotes everything else.

In Hollywood terms, a franchise film is any film title that is itself a sequel or a title that has 1 or more sequels that follow from it. Therefore, sequels are the main thing that constitute a film franchise. David Bordwell, noted film scholar, has noticed that sequels began to account for over 25% of the domestic box office in 2003. He refers to the sequel generated revenue only and therefore couldn't factor in the revenue generated by would would become the first title in a franchise later. Examples of this would be Bruce Almighty (Evan Almighty) and Cheaper by the Dozen (Cheaper by the Dozen 2).

Regarding their preceding titles, sequels are thought of as brand-extensions. However, sequels also drive revenues beyond raw box office; the raw box office revenue is regarded as the single best predictor of all follow-on ancillary revenue by media industry scholars. The 6 media conglomerates have become reliant on the increasing extent on sequelized fare. With the increasing diversity on media conglomerates, sequelized block-busters compromise the nucleus that are surrounded by the large media conglomerates and ex-brands (Coke and Nike).
To the right is the 4-S Hollywood Megafranchise Model. Megafranchises include Shrek, LOTR, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park; all of these have theme park rides, video games, books and soundtracks linked to them (media synergy). Video games directly generate large revenues for the studios and they are a very important form of media cross-promotion with movies. Sequelization itself is a form of cross promotional media synergy.

Not only do the big sets, action, CGI and high production value attract and provide enjoyment to audiences, it increases the megafranchise's brand value. However, the 4 S's won't ensure success - in most megafranchises there is a "glue" holding all the elements together. The economic logic that dominates Hollywood is a specific type which isn't found in other industries except music and fashion.