Transmedia takes root in children's book publishing

Speaking last week at the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association’s annual trade show, Kristen McLean, executive director of Association of Booksellers for Children, cited transmedia as one of the leading trends in children’s book publishing. She said transmedia makes it possible to develop narrative properties that can be widely marketed using multiple media platforms such as smartphone apps, web sites, video/film, and social networks. “From now on this is the way young readers will be in the world,” McLean said.

One of the most compelling transmedia models in children’s publishing is The Amanda Project, a teen mystery series by Harper Collins that includes an interactive website experience developed by Fourth Story Media. By going online Amanda fans actively participate in the evolving story - becoming a character and contributing plot ideas, artwork, theories, clues, and more. The immersive nature of The Amanda Project has proven so popular with young readers (and aspiring writers) that some middle school teachers now incorporate it into their creative writing curriculum. 

Wi-Fi Direct – Rise in consumer connectivity could be a boon for viral marketing

The Wi-Fi Alliance, which oversees the specifications for Wi-Fi tech applications, has set the stage for greater device-to-device connectivity by certifying products such as, laptops, video game consoles, MP3 players, smartphones, printers, and other peripherals, as Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Wi-Fi Direct.  

Why is this important?  With portable content like photos, videos and music taking center stage in the digital consumer experience, Wi-Fi Direct devices meet an important consumer need: directly and easily connecting devices for content-sharing, syncing, printing, and gaming, anywhere without running wires or connecting to another Wi-Fi network.

Many manufacturers are now shipping models equipped with Wi-Fi Direct, which interfaces with other technologies like Bluetooth. Wi-Fi Direct can also be added to older Wi-Fi radios via a firmware upgrade.

This short video shows why Wi-Fi connectivity is ready for the consumer mainstream - and great for viral marketing. The proliferation of Wi-Fi enabled devices will create a massive audience for original, quasi-commercial content that’s meant to be shared. Branded content can take many forms: music, artwork, narratives, video clips, games, coupons, advocacy/affiliation campaigns, and much more.

The Wi-Fi Alliance cites these compelling trends in consumer connectivity: 

- Consumers are quickly incorporating new technologies into their life.  Wi-Fi will enable ordinary people to integrate their digital tools in sophisticated, seamless ways 

- Wi-Fi makes content-sharing personal, dynamic and instantaneous. An estimated 82 million Wi-Fi enabled portable consumer electronics and 216 million Wi-Fi enabled handsets will come on to the market this year, with annual growth projected at 26 percent through 2014. Wi-Fi apps for portable devices will grow at a 50 percent annual rate

- Wi-Fi connectivity is inherently social. In the United States, 64 percent of young people report that Wi-Fi  connectivity helps them maintain relationships with their friends. Moreover, young Americans also report they often gather around devices for entertainment, with about 90 percent of people reporting they have gathered around a portable device to look at pictures, videos, or video games.

- Content is being amassed and it's increasingly portable. It's estimated that American youth now carry about 1,100 songs, 50 videos, and 1,200 photos on digital devices

Hearst Digital debuts awesome ESQUIRE magazine for iPad!

Until now digital adaptations by popular magazines haven’t been all that exciting.  This month’s debut of ESQUIRE for iPad is truly an awesome editorial and technological achievement, however, and it offers a thrilling glimpse at where magazine publishing is headed. 

Developed by Hearst Digital and ScrollMotion, Esquire's iPad app makes each page a rich and dynamic experience. Take the October cover featuring actor Javier Bardem. He strolls right up to your screen and personally welcomes you to the issue as Esquire's masthead and interactive story call-outs fuse into rightful position. 

This video demo shows how the magazine goes very digital while still retaining its hallmark editorial design and quality. For example, photography in the fall style section can be rotated 360 degrees and viewed from various angles. The automotive review opens with a stunning still shot of an Audi roadster that turns cinematic when the driver revs up, roars away and then screeches back to give us a frontal view. Cool!  An article about the World Trade Center’s reconstruction is presented in layers of interactive text, high-resolution images and animation.

Josh Koppel, one of the co-founders of ScrollMotion, whose clients include Hearst, Random House, Houghton Mifflin, Simon and Schuster, and The Jim Henson Company, believes digital publishing should not be about putting a PDF version on an iPad; rather, he says digitization should be an additive process that makes each page a powerful multimedia platform.

No doubt magazines have much to gain by publishing digital editions. Consider that Esquire’s iPad app is sold at full price ($4.99) on a per-issue basis - no discounted subscriptions. (The iPhone edition costs $2.99 per issue.) As long as audiences keep coming back (how could they not given fantastic content?) it makes sense advertisers will be lining up, too. 

Will multi-channel marketing converge on Google TV?

Google TV, Apple TV and Roku make it possible to converge web-based content on the family television - a development that is sure to change the way people consume media – and commercial messages. Until now multi-channel marketing campaigns reached audiences via dispersed touch points. Converging multiple media channels on a single TV screen will be a whole lot better by making commercial content more dynamic and interactive. 

It'll take some time before Google TV and the like are mainstream. But it’s not too soon for marketers to start thinking about creative and strategic possibilities. Chances are television studios are already looking at ways to make transmedia programming appealing to advertisers. 

iTV, tablets, smartphones: why consumers are ready for multi-media marketing

What is it about commercial breaks that evoke such negativity among TV viewers?  My guess is that it's not so much the commercial breaks, but rather the irritating nature of commercials themselves. Could it be that the web-savvy public has outgrown advertising's modus operandi of cramming dull, convoluted USPs into forced-fed 30 and 15-second blips? 

 

In AdWeek, Jacquie Corbelli, CEO of BrightLine iTV Marketing Specialists, opined it's time for marketers to embrace multi-platform campaigns that bridge traditional advertising and digital/social media. She cites Unilever’s success with "The Rookie," a webisode series created for Degree deodorant by Mindshare Performance/ Entertainment with 20th Century Fox's hit show "24." By combining web, mobile and iTV  the campaign achieved average engagement times of more than seven minutes -- 14 times that of a traditional 30-second TV spot. This media strategy worked, boosting Degree sales 22 percent over a three-month period - making it the fastest-growing brand in its category. 

Understandably, most marketers have been slow to experiment with digital integration. But with ultra-smartphones, tablet computers, interactive/ iTV, and social/digital media all becoming mainstream, the pressing question is, "if not now, when?"

Why Hollywood filmmakers see their future in multimedia storytelling

Narrative treasure trove inside Guillermo Del Toro's
sketchbook for Pan's Labyrinth  

Acclaimed film director, producer, screenwriter and designer Guillermo Del Toro, best known for films such as Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy, says he's eagerly branching into television and working with Dreamworks Animation. Why?  He told reporters at the Toronto International Film Festival that storytellers of the future, including himself, need to embrace multiple media platforms (including games) because they offer enormous narrative possibilities. Read more about this at techland.com. 

Marketing communicators will follow suit, no doubt, perhaps more quickly and aggressively than filmmakers simply because campaigns are much smaller, more focused productions. Can we expect transmedia marketing campaigns any time soon from pioneering brands like Nike, BMW and Starbucks? 

Fascinating example of Augmented Reality Drama and Transmedia Storytelling

^{This post links to a fascinating example of transmedia storytelling in the form of an augmented reality drama game called Conspiracy for Good. Developed by TV creator Tim Kring and sponsored by Nokia, Conspiracy for Good plays out on the Internet, on a mobile device and offline.  The audience plays the part of activists and supporters of the eponymous organization, Conspiracy for Good, and can join in and help direct the action by solving various puzzles spread across different media.} 

^{From a commercial perspective I am especially intrigued by the use of short narrative video clips designed to build interest and advance interaction. Imagine how a brand might engage fans with an episodic augmented reality series?}