Jungle Book Recap - Digital Convergence

Digital Convergence 2016 

Digital Convergence is the ability to access lots of media content on multiple platforms.

Digitisation allows different media content to share common software elements and therefore they can all run on a single piece of technology such as phones, tablets, game consoles, etc.

• For Jungle Book 2016, digital convergence allows Disney to maximise profits as they are reducing the amount of DVD copies they have to pay to produce, which people only have to purchase once; whereas subscribing for Disney Plus means they are having to pay ongoingly to watch Disney films, meaning frequent profit for the company.
• Production is largely a digital process - CGI animation
• Digital copies of film allow for saturation distribution in cinemas.
• Social media - teaser trailers, full length trailers, videos about the making of the movie, 360 degree images of set to encourage interactivity.
• Marketing - tie-in deals with Air BnB and Kenzo Clothing, Snapchat filters for teenagers.
• Digital convergence also means that Disney can target a mass global audience, instead of just the Western audience like 1967. 
• However, all that money that went towards marketing the film could flop and the word of mouth could be largely negative.
• Also difficult to regulate the film - lot of piracy that means no profit for Disney.

Digital Convergence - Production, Distribution and Exhibition

• Limited technology
• Produced using human-driven technologies - hand drawn cel animation 
• Distributed using film reels
• Marketed with posters, trailers and merchandise which relied on potential audiences being in the right place at the right time.
• Exhibition was dictated by the prevalence of technologies in people's homes.

Due to the lack of advanced technology during the 60s, Disney had a lack of options to market Jungle Book, which meant that it took time for monetisation to occur. 

Overall, this made targeting audiences and maximising profits a slow process. Also, distribution and exhibition was geographically restricted and Disney focused on Western audiences.