Technology: A Driving Force Behind Transmedia

In Part I of our series, we took a brief look at the basic elements of how Transmedia is growing in popularity around the world.  Entertainment and branding are evolving and technology is helping to usher us into this new paradigm faster every day.  For the first time in history, technology is allowing us to enjoy a seamless entertainment experience. We can start watching a TV show or video online at work, pause it; come home and finish watching it on our TV, exactly where we left off. This will soon be true of all content whether it’s books, music or games. Online games, and video games in general, have in many ways given birth to Transmedia storytelling.  Video games are finally getting the recognition they deserve when it comes to: (1) delivering a compelling narrative, (2) community building and (3) great educational value.

Gaming, and Internet use in general, is a hugely social experience and is proving to be a very successful way for people to engage with one another in a global and localized environment. Gaming, once perceived as an isolated activity, is really about bonding and community. Now that we know this and can scale this opportunity to Transmedia storytelling, we can use this as the basis for creating brand stories and entertainment properties that invite people to share information,  work more efficiently together on large projects, and ultimately retain more knowledge about a specific topic. Games have also taught us that audiences are not stupid. Left unchallenged or not specifically invited to engage with a compelling narrative on a personal level, they will move on.  Regardless of the challenges presented or the scope of the story within the context of the digital experience, people will gravitate toward live events and a visceral experience to supplement the time we spend online.

Live Events, Music and Transmedia

Live events, whether a component of brand messaging or an entertainment property, will resonate more in the coming years and in very interesting ways. As we continue to spend so much time telecommuting and engaging each other in the virtual world, we will demand engagement in the real world, perhaps more than we ever have. The live event platform of Transmedia storytelling is intrinsic to our nature and, coupled with technology, can make for a powerful universal experience and create deeper levels of audience engagement. Music has been doing this for years through concerts and other cross platform events that invite community and cross-pollination of stories and ideas.

For example, Hip Hop and digital storytelling have always been inextricably linked with one another because both have (1) always thrived on community and participation and (2) Hip Hop culture has always used digital technology to share its story with the world. An excellent example of this can be seen in the documentary “This Is The Life” that chronicles the Good Life emcees in the early 90′s in South Central LA. Mix tapes and live events were major entry points into their narrative and helped spawn some of the major artists of today. Live events can be used in a variety of creative ways and intermingled with a variety of artistic disciplines. Take for instance the Pet Shop Boys Parisian concert in 2008 (how’s that for a reference) featuring a symphony playing their music as the Russian film “Battleship Potemkin” plays on a screen behind them in Trafalgar Square.

Improv everywhere and flashmobs are also part of the live, multi platform storytelling approach that is used to engage people in a live setting. These largely brand neutral events take a simple idea, build a story around it and deliver the narrative in a live, interactive setting where people can become engaged beyond the confines of a screen or hand-held device. They also invite co-creation through video and social networking and can provide brands with additional distribution channels, that wouldn’t exist in the virtual world.

This is all very exciting, but not without its challenges. Despite the power of the born digital crowd and access to cross platform technology, there are a few hurdles that prevent Transmedia storytelling from going mainstream…yet.   In Part III of this series, we’ll take a look at some of the hurdles brands face, as far as implementing Transmedia elements into their campaigns , as well as examine some specific opportunities for brands to increase audience engagement.  We’ll also take a stab at predicting how this new paradigm will affect branding, entertainment , and our global education system in the coming years.

Photo by: sarahshaneelizabeth

1.  Craft an informative, relevant and entertaining brand story

All the technologies, websites and social networking tools are useless unless there is a compelling message.  Everyone has access to these tools, but it’s the understanding of these tools as they relate to your brand story that really make them valuable.  It’s also very important to know your audience and their threshold for total running time.  You can often get people to pay better attention and watch more of your content if you break it into smaller bite size chunks.  This will also help people distribute your content more readily if they like it.

2.  Know your audience and what brand messaging they respond to

There’s a growing sea of content and audiences continue to fragment.  While it may take some time and some leg work, you can now find out where your audience is viewing related content on different video platforms and social networking hubs.  Locate the passion centers that are relevant to your messaging and connect with these audiences by using familiar language and terminology.  Get to your audience at their time of need and you will have loyal participants for life.  Forget the ways of spam!  Now it’s about being personal and specific.  Find the relevant groups on Facebook, Vimeo, YouTube and Flickr and reach out to these people.  Engage them.  If it’s great content, they’ll thank you for it.

3.  Shoot in HD

TVs are already shipping with Ethernet ports and the days of Internet TV are upon us.  While it may be somewhat more efficient to shoot on standard DV for web use only, the name of the game today is future proofing your brand story and messaging.  Once your high quality content is in the digital ether, it will be there for years to come.  If you are shooting efficiently, there will be footage you may not utilize right away and can monetize through other channels and platforms.  Additionally, your footage you shoot for online use may eventually appear on a 42″ OLED in somebody’s living room.  The way to stand out, is to make sure you have a high quality story that is shot on HD so that you can maximize your budget and your brand’s reach.

4.  Utilize interactive storytelling techniques

TV audiences are considered “lean back” as they don’t invite participation (unless it’s high quality and emotionally charged content!).  The new “lean forward” audience DEMANDS to be engaged.  Now that you have an interesting story, what elements are you going to include that will allow your audience to interact with your messaging and play along?  Make a list of all the relevant social networking tools that can be used to enhance and amplify your brand messaging.  This may come in the form of a widget, Facebook application, or iPhone application.

5.  Craft a relevant distribution strategy

The Joe Digital equation: High Quality Content + Strategic Distribution = Loyal Participants was born out of the idea that all great content can and will resonate with audiences only if it’s brought to them at their time of need and on the appropriate platform.  You might think that making a video and putting up on YouTube is a distribution strategy, but think again.  By the year 2013, we will be drowning in video content.  Know your audience and research where they are interacting with your messaging and video content.  In some cases you can put your video up on the larger sites like YouTube, but you will have to do an incredible amount of marketing to drive the eyeballs to your video if your audience only plays on MSN or Yahoo.  In this new digital playing field, it’s not about volume, it’s about loyalty.  Find out where your audience lives, get to them at their time of need with something interesting, authentic and relevant and they’re yours forever.

Photo Credit: Rick M

Hailing from a garage somewhere in the far East, we caught up with 5 Elements Entertainment to find out more about their recently released iPhone applications: PITCHING WOO and MUD SLINGER. They requested we only use the transcript of the video interview.  These guys apparently like to play it close to the Gi and frankly, we respect their request for privacy for fear of retaliation, that would most certainly involve painful inappropriateness. We think they’re being overly cautious…after all, we’ve never heard of them and bet you probably haven’t either.  So who are the 5 Elements?

“We are the embodiment of the arts. We feel that like the different natural elements that make up the natural world, there are elements that make up the world of entertainment. Fire is a master of film and story, Wood is the master of games and design, Water is the mater of music and sounds, Air is the master of technology and art, and Gold is the master of business and finance. We are all real world professionals that have an extensive amount of experience working with the biggest companies in entertainment, and we’re all ridiculously handsome.  We found not unlike the synergy of the elements in the natural world, we need to bring the elements of entertainment together to make the best products possible.”

After sitting down with Master Air, it quickly dawned on us that Pitching Woo was no ordinary love voodoo application.  This guy could be on to something, as he explained while talking about himself in the third person.

“Master Air is always breaking with tradition, donning his silk robes and trying to, as he likes to say, “transcend boundaries through babes.”  During his wanderings of the romantic wasteland, he noticed that the right pet name makes a woman weak at the knees and when he’s called a “sly wonder bug” his heart goes a flutter.  We decided to create an app that would allow anyone to become master of romantic nicknames without years of training and meditation.  The result is Pitching Woo.  With over one million combinations at your fingertips, you’re bound to find the pet name for Mr. or Mrs. Right( or Mr. and Mrs. Right Now if that’s your thing).”

There’s an awful lot of snake oil out there and many people claim their methods are the ultimate Cupid’s arrow. Will the Pitching Woo app really help get me more lovin?

“Our Master of Legal Affairs tells us we can’t make any promises, but if this were you and me hangin outside talking Martial Arts and Meditation and you asked me on the DL, I’d say yes – absolutely.”

Can Pitching Woo help me translate my romantic nicknames into alien languages?

“Possibly, some of the algorithms are still being developed by Master Air.  Most of the aliens we’ve met have come to earth to challenge our Kung Fu, and while dispatching them, we rarely hear anything romantic pass from what we assume are their mouths.”

I argued that too much Love can be a bad thing and that we can’t all be Pitching Woo (even though I might be right now).  Master Water went on to spin me the tale of the Mud Slinger.

“While leaving the 5 Elements temple, Master Water was cut off by a horse drawn cart doing over 5 miles per an hour.  Shocked and perturbed, Master Water lost his normally remarkable ability to deliver the perfect insult.  As a result, he shook his fist in the air and bizarrely uttered the word “youuu…youuu.”  Vowing this should never happen to anyone again, Master Water returned to the temple and rallied the 5 Elements to create the Mud Slinger.  It is the Yin to Pitching Woo’s Yang.”

Remarkable.  How many insult possibilities does the Mudslinger offer and what are some of your favorites?

“Mud Slinger has over 1.2 million possible insults. With that many insults, Water will never again have to hesitate or ever be at a loss for that perfect insult!  Some of the honorable 5’s favorites are…”

Decaying Bowel Hunter
Unclean Weiner Weasel
Odorous Zit Mongrel
And
Overfed Diaper Topping

I appreciate the endless possibilities to insult the people I love the most, but some critics might argue that name-calling is too rampant.  Do you really think we need more Mud Slinging in this world, especially in the form of an iPhone application?

“We wouldn’t say that the world needs more Mud Slinging, just better quality Mud Slinging.  The old insults are just that…old.  And if I hear one more Yo Momma joke, someone’s getting a double twist, frosty roundhouse in the throat.”

I understand your fans on iTunes have been very pleased with these applications.  What are some of your favorite comments you’ve received on iTunes about either application?

“This is one of those magical apps that will make your stomach and cheeks hurt from laughing.  I’m trying to work but keep finding myself slinging mud at invisible foes.  This is too much fun!!”

“I bought this for a little fun with some friends.  I must have slung mud 1000 times with no repeats, and the insults are so out of control… I just started texting screen shots to my friends, at least they were my friends till I called them a Toilet Clogging Hemorrhoid Monkey.  I love this app!”

What’s next for the 5 elements?

“Games and Unique apps that fill the needs of the masses. We really want to focus on making product that will inspire and entertain. All of the elements have a passion for what we are doing and an unlimited amount of creativity so I think we have many ideas we would like to bring to fruition.”

Fantastic then.  One last question: why do all of the members of the 5 elements have obscenely large eyebrows?

“You know what they say: big eyebrows = big feet and big feet = big………………..shoes.”

Pitching Woo and Mud Slinger are both available on iTunes.

Peter J. Schankowitz