Cross-Media Promotion

Cross-Media Promotion is the first book-length study of a defining feature of contemporary media, the promotion by media of their allied media interests. The book explores the range of forms of cross-promotion including synergistic marketing of mega-brands such as Harry Potter; promotional plugs in news media; repurposing media content, stars and brands across other media and outlets; product placement, and the integration of media content and advertising.

Incorporating specialist literature, yet written in a clear, accessible style, the book combines three areas of study: media industry practices, media policy, and media theory. It examines the dynamics of cross-media promotion across converging media, drawing on a range of examples from the United States and the United Kingdom. Synergy and intertextuality are explored alongside critical debates about the 'problems' of cross-promotion. The book also offers a critical evaluation of media policy responses from the late 1980s to the present, which, Hardy argues, have failed to grapple with the problems of media power, market power, and commercialism generated by intensifying cross-media promotion.

"Cross-media promotion is one of the most salient characteristics in our modern media systems, arising out of a context that involves virtually every level of media studies: media ownership, advertising and funding, technological trends, and regulatory issues—the latter a specialty of the author of this book. These factors often work together, and Hardy is masterful in interweaving in an insightful but accessible way the complexity of media promotion."—from the Foreword by Matthew. P McAllister, Penn State University