The growing use of live-action storytelling to sell video games is an interesting reversal. It's been standard practice to repurpose animated clips to promote new titles. But as Eleftheria Parpis reported in Adweek, game marketers are devoting bigger budgets to produce high cinematic shorts that aim to breathe life into digital characters. She highlights “Birth of a Spartan,” which Microsoft is using to promote the launch of Halo: Reach, the latest in its Halo series, out in September.
Hulu’s new show LXD “The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers” raises the bar for original programming in the web series genre. Early reviews laud the show’s fresh format that wraps storytelling and high production around the moves of top-notch dancers. Larry Dobrow explains in his review for Ad Age.
The Producers Guild of America’s formalization of “transmedia producer” credit is a milestone in that it recognizes the importance of those who adapt entertainment properties for multiple platforms.
“The Guild’s decision to expand the code of credits to recognize the transmedia producer underscores the changing media landscape and the critical role of the producer within the new creative medium,” said PGA president Marshall Herskovitz.
“As technology evolves, it’s no longer adequate to think of a project as simply a television show or a movie; we now understand that the audience will want to experience that content across several platforms - online, mobile, VOD, Blu-Ray, and now iPad - often with different or additional material. It’s the producer who oversees the complex and creative process that allows that to happen.”
The PGA defines a transmedia project or franchise as consisting of three or more fictional storylines that exists simultaneously on film, TV, broadband, print, disc, etc. A transmedia producer credit is intended for the person responsible for “a significant portion of a project’s long-term planning, development, production and/or maintenance of narrative continuity across multiple platforms.”
A new report from Microsoft shows that multi-screen promotional strategies can be effective for brands seeking higher awareness and conversation rates. Microsoft estimates there are 33 million multi-screen users in America, defined as adults 18 – 64 who use a TV, computer and smartphone regularly. Data reveals that the upside of media convergence is a richer media experience for both consumer and marketer. Details are in the downloadable Multi-Screen Consumer White Paper jointly published by Microsoft Advertising and Wunderman.
Home Shopping Network/HSN and Sony Pictures are jointly promoting the new film 'Eat, Love, Pray,' starring Julia Roberts, based on the best-selling memoir chronicling the author's reaffirming journey an around the world following her divorce. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, HSN will broadcast a three-day shopping event right before the film's release on August 13. On showcase will be more than 400 products, including apparel,jewelry, cooking and furnishings, inspired by the film's story shot in Italy, India and Bali. It's said that Sony will share profits with HSN, though it's primary interest is promoting the movie to women - the core of HSN's viewers in 95 million homes.
I admire simplicity and immediacy in a sales pitch. Take this print ad for example. Created for Marie Claire by Publicis, Brazil, I think it is visual selling at its best. The photo is a grabber to be sure, and it screams "passion for fashion" - exactly right for Marie Claire and for prospective readers. I especially like the ad's layout - revealing the model's face on the magazine cover makes it infinitely stronger.
