Communication Media Convergence Goes Beyond a Critique

Communication

Media convergence goes beyond a critique of media conglomeration, to critique the media itself.

Convergence of media assumes that multiple media occupied separate domains in the past.

Convergence of media suggests that the distinct domains of media (books, websites, radio, film, and television) have melded and it is no longer possible to manage a single media.

Messages are conveyed simultaneously with multiple media formats, but each medium has unique strengths and weaknesses.

Books as a focus of media convergence.

Books still occupy their own media domain, as many books are unavailable in digital formats that can be read or accessed online.

However, it is possible to search for books online, and online cataloging and database management is normative.

When books do occupy an online or digital dimension, the reader interacts with the material in completely different ways.

D. Media convergence will not obliterate the book, which will continue to operate in its own domain, albeit connected with other media.

III. Media convergences serves distinct marketing objectives for authors.

A. Authors can maintain control of their brand identity via websites that fans can access independently of the book products.

B. Authors can create parallel products that enhance the media richness of the book, without replacing the book.

1. For example, a website can have a live action game with characters and situations from the book.

2. For example, an author can code an iPhone app that has inspirational maxims corresponding to a self-help guide.

IV. Media convergences also present marketing opportunities for book publishers and vendors (Perryman).

A. Publishers can take advantage of the marketing potential on the Internet to supplement sales.

B. Bookstores are becoming flagship outlets and are essentially product positioning devices, rather than being actually places where customers make purchases.

C. Media convergence allows for publishers to create massive branding and marketing strategies that cross platforms, such as turning a book into a movie and then turning the movie into a video game (Perryman).