Media mix

In Japanese culture and entertainment, media mix (wasei-eigo: メディアミックス, mediamikkusu) is a strategy to disperse content across multiple representations: different broadcast media, gaming technologies, cell phones, toys, amusement parks, and other methods. It is the Japanese term for a transmedia franchise. In Japanese culture and entertainment, media mix (wasei-eigo: メディアミックス, mediamikkusu) is a strategy to disperse content across multiple representations: different broadcast media, gaming technologies, cell phones, toys, amusement parks, and other methods. It is the Japanese term for a transmedia franchise. The term gained its circulation in late 1980s, but the origins of the strategy can be traced back to the 1960s with the proliferation of anime, with its interconnection of media and commodity goods. The penetration into the American market of the series such as Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! gave rise to the recognition of what is variously called transmedia storytelling, crossmedia, transmediation, media synergy, etc. Researchers argue that the 1963 Tetsuwan Atomu marked a shift in Japanese marketing: from the focus on the content of the commodity to 'overlapping the commodity image with the character image'. The book Anime's Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan by Marc Steinberg details the evolution of the media mix in Japan. A number of Japanese media franchises have gained considerable global popularity, and are among the world's highest-grossing media franchises. Pokémon in particular is the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, bigger than Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic Universe. Other Japanese media franchises among the world's top 15 highest-grossing media franchises include Hello Kitty, Gundam, and Dragon Ball, while the top 30 also includes Fist of the North Star, Yu-Gi-Oh and Evangelion.