Transmedia Development & The New World Model

DAY 2:

Transmedia Development & The New World Model

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Gunther Sonnenfeld Principal | Digital Brand Strategist ThinkState

As chaotic and far-reaching as it is,

MEDIA, as a practice, has already begun to

COLLAPSE onto itself.

© Gunther Sonnenfeld & Adam Goldberg 2009

The >>>PULL market is creating new service layer

BUNDLING in which publishers, networks and content portals are being forced into T-R-A-N-S-I-T-I-O-N as consolidated yet unacquainted entities, who retain different or conflicting agendas and most often operate against the tide of INVENTORY and

DEMAND.

© Gunther Sonnenfeld & Adam Goldberg 2009

In between these layers, advertisers and

consumers are REDEFINING THEIR RELATIONSHIPS (or they are creating new ones), and the role of agencies is fast becoming one in which these new relationships are facilitated and nurtured.

In other words, agencies have

become CONTENT PRODUCERS and

EDITORIAL EXPERTS, not just buyers of media, creators of ad campaigns, or the orchestrators of PR stunts.

BRANDS have become PUBLISHERS.!

THE GOOD NEWS: there is more and more content to choose from.

THE BAD NEWS: there are more and more ways to distribute it >>>>>>

THE SOLUTION: mass collaboration that

increases everybody’s piece of the pie.

BUT NOT SO

FAST. All of this content has to be actionable for the consumer.

It has to mean something, and be something.

More importantly, it has to make

REDEFINING THE PLANNING ""PROCESS!

© Gunther Sonnenfeld 2009

What if we no longer had to look at media ini2a2ves as separate from

BUSINESS SOLUTIONS? Or beAer yet, separate

from NEW BUSINESSES?

Further, what if CAUSES, of all types, were PROFITABLE to everyone involved???

It all begins and lives on with good "

STORYTELLING.!

STORIES are the creation and/or reorganization of information

through

experiences we can relate to and interact with.

‘BRANDED CONTENT’: MOST OFTEN SERVED AS THE COCKTAIL WITHOUT THE PUNCH.

[unlike these guys <<<<<<<<<<<^^^^^^^^^^^^]

“Perhaps it’s not that adver2sing is failing but brand experiences (both on-‐ and offline) are really what are capturing the imagina2on of today’s consumer.” -‐ Garrick Schmi<, Group VP of Experience Planning, Razorfish

The problem with ‘branded content’ is that it PRESUPPOSES two fundamental things: that it is of GOOD QUALITY, and that brands are

AUTOMATICALLY IMPORTANT or relevant.

IDEAS and messages, like content, can come from

ANYWHERE. The key to their

ADOPTION is in WHAT THEY actually DO, or, what they SUGGEST they can do, rather than just what they SAY.

“We are living in a time where technology enables us, and the state of the world requires us, to use new media not only as a revolutionary marketing tool, but as way to galvanize the consumer to participate in transforming the future. 21st century branding is not just about making consumers’ lives better... It’s about making the world better.”

- Michael Fox, Founder of Humanitainment

Make no mistake about it:

PHENOMENA SPREAD QUICKLY, and they must be managed, maintained and CARED FOR…

… like VIRUSES.

We’ve chosen to AUGMENT REALITY as a means to bring us perspective. In the hopes that we can be

brought closer to the TRUTH.

But at what CO$T OR GAIN?

WHAT

TRANSMEDIA IS AND CAN BE…!

“Transmedia stories are those which ‘unfold across mul2ple media placorms with each new text making a dis2nc2ve and valuable contribu2on to the whole.’” -‐Henry Jenkins, Father of Transmedia, Director of the MIT ComparaPve Studies Program

"There are short stories and mul2-‐volume epics; transmedia narra2ve is a way of conveying messages, themes, and stories -‐-‐ a tool or methodology if you will. We try to dis2nguish transmedia narra2ve implementa2on from standard terminology such as adver2sing campaigns, although the two can co-‐exist or overlap." -‐ Jeff Gomez, Transmedia Pioneer, CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment

“Transmedia doesn’t just promote brands and products. It also promotes itself.” -Ivan Askwith, Senior Strategist, Big Spaceship

‘STORYMAKING’ VERSUS ‘STORYTELLING’

STORYMAKING INVOLVES THE ACTIVATION OF LEGACY, AND THE BIRTH OF AN IDEA.

STORYTELLING INVOLVES THE INTERPRETATION OF THAT LEGACY WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF EXPERIENCE.

KEN EKLUND POINTS TO EXTRACTING MYTHOLOGY FROM CIRCUMSTANCE AND MAKING IT AN ACTIVE PART OF CULTURE.

WHAT JENKINS HAS ALSO ESTABLISHED AS ‘HARVESTING’.

BIRTHERS HARVEST AND PROLIFERATE IDEAS.

IDEAS ARE THE FABRIC OF OUR EXISTENCE, BECAUSE THEY CAN T-RA-N-S-C-E-N-D TIME AND SPACE.

TRANSmedia

ition migration lation gression continental

narrative fusion itivity

mission lucent act

ceive cription cultural

disciplinary

SCENDENT

With TRANSMEDIA, the OPPORTUNITY to extract the potential of

advertising, media or literary OBJECTS and formalize them into vibrant, ongoing

NARRATIVES is always available to us.

In fact, they BEG for it.

CAUSES ARE THE backdrop FOR OUR LEGACIES, OUR IMMORTALITY.!

CAUSES, AND THEIR RESULTING STORIES, ARE THE very balance THAT COMPRISES THE MEDIUM.!

FROM THERE, THE POSSIBILITIES ARE limitless.!

"" "Let’s EXPLORE.!

transMEDIA PLANning.

“Content isn’t king, it’s now a Republic.”

-‐Faris Yakob, Chief Technology Strategist, McCann Erickson

CAUSES [plus]


THE NEW

model

= [equals]

Sustainability isn’t just a function of our environment. It’s a function of reciprocity, a fiduciary responsibility that allows us to look over each other’s shoulders… and to keep the human fires burning.!


Planners, media buyers, analysts, developers and account people who are skeptical will inevitably ask:

“Stories don’t necessarily sell product or services, why should we

care?”

[The answer:]

Because you can sell more of everything, without having to actually sell anything.

It doesn’t matter where the story came from, what matters is where it goes.

From there, the decision to purchase has already been made.

We already know that people are willing to pay for premium content.

So disguise advertising content as entertainment (if you must), then buying a product or service becomes the easy part.

In truth, a narrative never really dies, it just keeps reinventing itself.

So keep selling campaigns [if you must], but remember that to consumers, brands are forever. Until we convince them otherwise (which we are good at doing).


“Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.” -‐ Minor Myers Jr., former President of Illinois Wesleyan University

THANK YOU FOR

PARTICIPATING. (see you tomorrow ;)