Maya Tyrrell - Evaluation question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main and ancillary texts?

How effective is the combination of your main and ancillary texts?

All three of my products have synergy and are therefore able to promote one another because of specific similarities that are due to the conventions of the indie genre and the song itself.
The most obvious similarity between the music video, digipak and magazine cover is that they all present the main singer of the band, and therefore audiences can easily recognise that the three products are connected.
Not only does each product promote the lead singer, the actual images used are all linked together. The digipak cover of the singer is featured in the magazine advert and the picture used is of a shot in the music video where he is singing whilst leaning against a tree. Therefore when the digipak or advert are seen it by a consumer it could trigger the memory of this scene in the video and influence the consumer to purchase the CD. This could also work the other way and while watching the music video the viewer would recognise that shot from the advert or digipak and so will appreciate the band are trying to put themselves out there and will be happy to support them.

The magazine advert

The music video

The front cover of the digipak

                                  Additionally, by the magazine advert actually including the front cover of the digipak, it allows audiences to view the product it is advertising and therefore promotes it through synergy. This is a highly effective technique of combining the products with synergy in order for them to promote one another because it is so obvious there is no way the audience could not notice the front cover of the digipak on the advert.

As well as the common denominator of the singer on each of the products, I also took the autumnal theme from the music video and included it in the magazine advert and the digipak to add a further visual connection between the three products. The music video is set mostly outside where the weather is a big influence on the mood of the video, so the autumn setting, I thought, was very fitting to indicate the change in the protagonist's life and the fallen leaves can represent his fallen relationship. In order to keep this theme across all of the products and to create a further connection between them all, I made sure the leaves from the floor in the music video are on the lyric booklet and in the background of the magazine advert. On the magazine advert this link is slightly more subtle but I am sure that subconsciously the audience viewing the advert will make the link to the music video by recognising the leaves.

This autumn photo is similar to the walkway the lead singer walks through in the music video

This is part of the digipak where the CD goes and is a further attempt to engrave the autumn theme with the song and band so audiences are more likely to remember them.

Overall I think the products have a shared identity but still each serve their purpose and promote each other. An example of a synergy I have seen in an existing product is in Taylor Swift's album 1989. It has a polaroid cover which links with the lyrics to the song 'out of the woods' and the album title as this was when polaroids were used more commonly than today.

1989 album cover, T. Swift

Lyrics from "Out of the woods" referencing the polaroid theme

Comparing my products to this I think I have successfully used synergy and my only improvement would be to edit the lyrics booklet because in comparison to the video and magazine advert it seems more colourful and therefore is a bit too happy for the sad mood of the song.

The lyrics booklet from the digipak