Brand New Worlds: Lessons in Transmedia Storytelling

Motivated by the same enterprise to reach and engage with audiences everywhere, brands and content producers today are sharing the time honoured tradition of storytelling, as 360 degree integrated marketing converges with the new entertainment paradigm of transmedia storytelling.

Recently at the fourth Futures of Entertainment conference at MIT, a variety of stakeholders met to discuss new methods of storytelling. Amongst them Henry Jenkins, a transmedia scholar and founder of the Convergence Culture Consortium, explained the concept of transmedia as that “which moves across multiple channels of communication to create a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. “Unboxing Advertising and Entertainment: Building a Transmedia Experience” will also be a feature session at next month’s 2010 NAB Show in Las Vegas.

Here are some of the keys for telling stories in the transmedia age:

1. Story as deep as it is wide

It has to work horizontally across the spectrum of media channels, networks, platforms, etc., but it also has to have depth to keep people engaged rather than leave them feeling interrupted. Coca-Cola for example is making a big social media push called “Expedition 206” to send three 20-something adventurers to all 206 countries where Coke products is sold in 2010. Their journey will be tracked on www.Expedition206.com as well as on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and on Twitter where fans will be able to offer their perspective on how the journey should progress.

2. Story pieces must be enriching to the overall experience

Since storytelling is becoming increasingly less controlled by distribution channels and gatekeepers; stories are becoming more fluid, reactive, and flexible; able to shift shape as necessary. Consider the proliferation of movie sequels in recent years where the traditional story form has been shortcut to postpone the resolution of the plot. You can watch any one of the Ring films or the Spiderman episodes and enjoy it by itself while simultaneously appreciating the back story of all the episodes.

3. Recognize the power of your fans

Today’s audience is more empowered to connect with you in real-time and even collaborate with your message, able to react to your communication in a wide variety of forms. Think of them not just as metric devices to measure the success of your advertising, but more as co-creators of your communication with the audience. Nike has an online running community – the Human Race – and provides its audience nifty tools like the Livestrong Chalkbot, which allowed users to submit a text message that would be digitally painted on the route of the Tour de France.

4. Build a world, not just a story

James Cameron built an entire Pandora eco-system and back story in Avatar. What kind of world would you build around your brand story? Or around your users, or your mission?

Transmedia producers Jeff Gomez and Nathan Mayfield will be hosting a session at the MIPTV Producers’ Forum 13 April 2010 – a two-day initiative organized in association with World Screen – about developing stories and concepts across multiple platforms.