More than Meets the Eye Transmedial Entertainment as a Site of Pleasure, Resistance and Exploitation Karin Fast Faculty of Economic Sciences, Communication and IT Media and Communication Studies DISSERTATION | Karlstad University Studies | 2012:55 More than Meets the Eye Transmedial Entertainment as a Site of Pleasure, Resistance and Exploitation Karin Fast DISSERTATION | Karlstad University Studies | 2012:55 More than Meets the Eye - Transmedial Entertainment as a Site of Pleasure, Resistance and Exploitation Karin Fast DISSERTATION Karlstad University Studies | 2012:55 ISSN 1403-8099 ISBN 978-91-7063-467-3 © The author Distribution: Karlstad University Faculty of Economic Sciences, Communication and IT Media and Communication Studies SE-651 88 Karlstad, Sweden +46 54 700 10 00 Print: Universitetstryckeriet, Karlstad 2012 WWW.KAU.SE To Andreas Amanda & Oskar Abstract Today’s converging entertainment industry creates ‘transmedial’ brand worlds in which consumers are expected to become immersed. Integrated marketing campaigns connected to these worlds encourage various kinds of consumer productivity and invite consumers to partake in brand-building processes. Con- sumers, thus, are increasingly counted on to act as co-producers of contempo- rary entertainment. While such an altered consumer identity has been taken as evidence of enhanced consumer agency, it has also been recognized as a source of consumer exploitation. This thesis aims to further our understanding of the increasingly ambivalent power-relationship that exists between agents in the entertainment industry and their most dedicated customers – the fans. The study employs a multiperspec- tival theoretical framework, in that cultural studies theory is enriched with per- spectives from political economy. This integrated approach to the object of study yields a better understanding of the values of consumer activity, and fan productivity in particular, to industry and consumers respectively. The study applies existing theory on transmedial textuality, branding, and fandom to one particular franchise, Hasbro’s Transformers. This brand world, home of both industrial and fan-based creativity, is studied through analyses of official and unofficial contents, and through interviews with professionals and fans. The focus is on the brand environment established around the first live action film ever made within the franchise. Special attention is given to the all- encompassing film marketing campaign that contributed to forming this envi- ronment and to fan productivity taking place in relation to it. The case study shows that companies and fans contribute to the building and promotion of the Transformers brand world – in collaboration and in conflict. While fan productivity occasionally takes place without direct encouragement from the companies involved, it is also largely anticipated and desired by mar- keting campaigns. The findings suggest that consumer enjoyment potentially translates into industrial benefits, including free brand promotion. Ultimately, the thesis acknowledges transmedial worlds of entertainment as concurrent sites of pleasure, resistance, and exploitation. Keywords: Transmedial, entertainment, world, brand, media convergence, producer, consumer, fandom, power Contents 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Points of departure ..................................................................................................................... 2 1.1.1 Transformers in ‘convergence’ and ‘brand’ culture ................................................. 2 1.1.2 The question of power ................................................................................................. 4 1.2 Research purpose, research questions and delimitations ...................................................... 7 1.3 Working definitions .................................................................................................................. 10 1.4 Theoretical framework: Aspects of media convergence ..................................................... 11 1.5 Methodological approach: A ‘full-circuit’ study ................................................................... 13 1.6 The Transformers case: From toys to Hollywood .................................................................. 14 1.7 Disposition ................................................................................................................................. 17 2 Contextualization and positioning of thesis ........................................................... 19 2.1 Perspectives on ‘consumer’ and ‘brand’ culture ................................................................... 19 2.1.1 Stimulating wants: The changing status of advertising and brands ..................... 22 2.1.2 Sign-value: Brands as communicators ..................................................................... 24 2.2 Perspectives on ‘convergence culture’ ................................................................................... 26 2.2.1 Prosumption, Web 2.0 and collective intelligence ................................................. 28 2.2.2 Critics of ‘prosumer culture’ ...................................................................................... 30 2.3 Positioning of thesis in relation to pervious research ......................................................... 33 2.3.1 A ‘multiperspectival’ study of culture ...................................................................... 33 2.3.2 Contributions from political economy: The processes of commodification and spatialization ................................................................................................................. 35 2.3.3 Intermediating perspectives: The ‘economy’ of culture ........................................ 37 2.3.4 Recognizing the ‘contradictions’ of fan culture and the need of full-circuit studies ............................................................................................................................ 43 2.3.5 Inherent challenges and possible contributions ..................................................... 45 3 Transmedial worlds of entertainment..................................................................... 48 3.1 What is a ‘transmedial world of entertainment’? .................................................................. 49 3.1.1 Transmedial worlds as brand worlds ........................................................................ 50 3.2 Webs of promotion .................................................................................................................. 52 3.2.1 Commercial intertextuality ......................................................................................... 53 3.2.2 Paratextuality ................................................................................................................ 56 3.3 Expanding the web ................................................................................................................... 59 3.3.1 Creating loyal transmedia consumers ....................................................................... 63 3.4 Summary and concluding remarks ......................................................................................... 64 4 World-building by industry ..................................................................................... 66 4.1 The risk factor ........................................................................................................................... 67 4.2 Culture and economy: The complexity of cultural production ......................................... 69 4.2.1 Economy as gatekeeper .............................................................................................. 71 4.3 The liquidization of content .................................................................................................... 73 4.4 ‘Webs of interdependence’: Conglomerates, networks and alliances ............................... 75 4.5 The flow of things: Intellectual property and licensing ...................................................... 78 4.6 The blending of content and promotion .............................................................................. 80 4.7 Summary and concluding remarks ......................................................................................... 82 5 World-building by fans ........................................................................................... 85 5.1 Borrowed culture: The industry – audience relationship .................................................... 87 5.2 Images of fandom: From cultural dupes to productive rebels .......................................... 90 5.2.1 A taxonomy of fan productivity: Semiotic, enunciative and textual productivity .................................................................................................................. 94 5.2.2 Fan productivity in the era of media convergence ................................................. 97 5.3 The pendulum (almost) swings back: Fandom as labor ..................................................... 100 5.3.1 Fandom as niche market and the cultivation of consumer activity................... 101 5.3.2 A taxonomy of fan productivity ............................................................................. 102 5.4 The issue of ownership: Where fans and industry collide ................................................ 105