SYNERGY AND CROSS MEDIA CONVERGENCE FOR ONE DIRECTION (SONY)

What are they? One Direction have quite a list of how they promote themselves and their music through many things such as;

• Movies• Documentaries• Merchandise• Games• TV shows

MoviesThis is more like cross media convergence as there are two types of media involved to promote each other . Nevertheless, One Direction are still able to promote themselves and their music. Their music video, “Best Song Ever” was essentially are marketing tool to promote their new film “This is Us” which is about their lives on tour. This film poster was seen at the end of the music video which was also a way of telling their audience about their new film if they weren’t aware. The film itself featured songs of One Direction so that way their music was showcased to the people who watched their film and haven’t their music.

Documentary Channel 4 created a documentary focused on the fans of One Direction and it was called “Crazy About One Direction”. This essentially promoted One Direction as their name was featured on the title whilst being focused around them, it made other people aware of who they are as Channel 4 is a mainstream and popular channel within the UK. Also, this helped promote Channel 4 on a global basis, as fans of One Direction across the world would have tried to watch the documentary that is on being featured on that channel.

MerchandiseOne Direction have several types of merchandise with each being unique to each member of the group. One Direction sell t-shirts, bags, pens, jewellery, perfume, nail polish, dolls and so much more which is generally targeted to a female audience. This essentially is a great way for fans who are obsessed for one member over the other as the merchandise might make the fans feel closer to the one they obsess about whilst also being a great way to generate money. The merchandise itself will help promote the band as it will be featured on websites and shops and will attract a huge audience. This will also help promote the sellers themselves as they will be distributing the merchandise on behalf of the band.

GamesOne Direction have also been featured in games such as Just Dance, where the player dances to the song. In the game, the song “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Kiss You” by One Direction is featured and also has avatars that resonate with One Direction. This is a great for the band to promote their music as player who enjoyed the song and haven’t got it may be tempted to buy as they enjoyed dancing to it. This is also a great way for Just Dance to sell themselves as fans of the band may buy the game as One Direction are involved.

TV ShowsOne Direction have featured on TV shows numerous times ranging from The X Factor to Children In Need. They generally appear on TV shows when they want to promote their new music as they did for their first single, “What Makes You Beautiful” on the TV show, Red Or Black. This works both ways as, if audiences know of the bands appearance, the ratings will rise due to the audiences tuning in for their performance. The music for One Direction is regularly used in the background by the X Factor which does makes the viewer aware of One Direction’s music thus promoting the music a little bit more.