Joanne Perry

AS Media Studies

Synergy & Intertextuality

Synergy

Every media product has its own personality. This can be represented in various elements of a media product. An example of this would be a slogan. L’oreal’s catch phrase is “because you’re worth it.” This positions the audience into feeling special and important as it uses direct address in order to create the brand image for the product. Therefore if anybody heard “because you’re worth it,” they would recognise the slogan which therefore represents L’oreal for the audience to recognise.

Synergy can not only be created by slogan’s but also through colours, fonts, headings, logos etc. All of these elements shape the desired image of a media product and further allows the audience to recognise the symbolisms of a media product such as logos and therefore interpret the logo to the product as their brand image. Synergy uniforms a brand image through two parts of a product in order for them to work well together which creates a united brand image.

An example of Synergy would be McDonalds. A yellow ‘M’ is used in an arch shaped form and has also been named the golden arches. This is an example of synergy due to the yellow M being the brand image of McDonalds and is further recognisable and memorable to a large variety of people. McDonalds also have a slogan, “I’m lovin’ it” in order to expand on their brand image by appealing to a larger target audience and creating more verisimilitude ways in which the restaurant can be remembered.

Within creating my charity websites, I will use synergy in order to create a brand image of the charity. I will do this through font, logo, colours etc. In my opinion, the masthead is one of the most important and recognisable forms of synergy on a website. This is due to it being used in a specific font, specified colour and it can also be clarified as the logo if the masthead is good enough. The masthead will place using the rule of thirds directly at the top of the page and is regularly used in the left corner or the very centre. This meets the conventions of a webpage and can initiate synergy by the masthead being a recognisable brand image. Therefore, I will concentrate specifically on the quality and structure of the masthead in order to initiate synergy into my charity website to create a brand image.

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is when one media product references another media product. This is used in order to attract a larger target audience from the already consumed product and further use it in order to gather that TA in order to make your product more popular. Moreover, this process also makes the audience feel that they have the same taste as the makers through capturing and recreating the feel/image of another product.

An example of intertextuality has been shown through the movie Frozen. Demi Lovato is an American singer who produced a cover of the song ‘Let it Go’ from the movie. Within the song, she cross referenced phrases within the song and changed them to suit her target audience. The original

song was sung by Kristen Bell who uses sound effects within her song in order to create the brand image as magical and appealing to the young TA. However, Demi Lovato has subverted the magical sound effects as she wants to appeal to a wider target audience of teens as well as young girls. Demi Lovato’s cover of ‘Let it Go’ has been one of her most popular songs yet due to the wide range of the appeal to the TA. Therefore, through the use of intertextuality, celebrities have been able to broaden their target audience in order to make their products more successful.

Intertextuality can be created in various ways including colours, sentences/key lines, costume, setting etc. The various ways allow the TA to continuously find links between the concept of the product and the referenced product; the more ways, in which intertextuality is represented in one product, the more successful it is due to the larger TA. Spoofs have also been created as an example of intertextuality and are used in order to mock and immitate the referenced product. Various versions of these products are regularly found on Youtube and other websites. However, intertextuality is used as a tribute. This allows the creators to create praise for the original product and therefore is not meant to be mocked.

Overall, I would like to use intertextuality within creating my charity website as I feel that it will allow me to broaden my TA and create a more verisimilitude approach which the audience can relate to or feel as though they are more aware and have the same taste as the makers. I will also aim to endorse a celebrity face into my charity website in order to make my website more successful, relatable and influential.