The Ocean Agency

You will be hearing more and more about “transmedia” in the coming months, as major brands are testing the waters creating advertising and marketing storylines that exist across multiple platforms and networks.

Transmedia, quite simply, is storytelling across multiple forms of media. The term is attributed to Henry Jenkins, a professor of cinematic arts at USC.

Transmedia is not that new of a concept, but the emergence of today’s social and mobile networking technologies, combined with the myriad of entry points to brand messaging, means that transmedia storytelling should be central to every marketing effort, online or otherwise.

Why Transmedia Storytelling is important for marketers:

Every American is subject to around 5,000 advertising messages a day.

Some would argue that the main goal of marketing today is to create powerful word of mouth, building up a network of brand ambassadors that sell your product for you. Build trust, build engagement, listen to your customers and the dollars will come.

Word of mouth is extremely powerful, and as research consistently shows, social networking sites have given us the technological platform to put word of mouth marketing on steroids. Eighty-three percent of online shoppers said they are interested in sharing information about their purchases with people they know, while 74 percent are influenced by the opinions of others in their decision to buy the product in the first place (Manage Smarter, September 2009).

But, as more and more businesses, large and small alike, realize the power of social media marketing, social networks are going to get extremely saturated with brand messaging. In fact, as any constant user of social networks will tell you, they already are. Some people are already being paid for their “opinions” and social media endorsements, and in a realm where building trust is paramount, I’m beginning to lose trust in those “influencers” who spend far too much time promoting themselves and products.

Just as we fast forward through commercials on our Tivo, we may begin to “unfollow” or tune out blatant product promoters on social networking sites.

I’m ready for better marketing. I want more than social endorsements; I want innovative branded entertainment with characters that I connect with, storylines that I want to share with my friends, and of course, access points to that story from everywhere that I consume media. Marketers, this is a call to action. Let’s Get Back to Telling Stories.

Okay. So I guess you want an example:

Brainstorm

This a hilarious and amazing web series from Altoids and Fox Mobile studios. It could legitimately be a major network sitcom. Everything is top notch, from the production to the product placement.

I will happily watch 8  three to four minute ads for Altoids, if it is placed in this entertaining of a package. What’s more, I can access this content from my mobile phone, follow the main character on Twitter, and become a fan of the show on Facebook.

What’s even more exciting? Even more could be done to tell this story.

How about a mobile app with funny sayings from the characters? what about personal facebook pages for some of the main characters?  How about a special 8 minute episode that airs after the office on Hulu?

The possibilities are really endless, and when you tell a great story, people will pay attention to your product.

Now transparency, trust, and engagement are still central to the success of the campaign, but it all begins with a story. A story that I can access from anywhere and that is interesting on all of the platforms I use in my daily life.

So tell us what you think.

Is transmedia storytelling the future of marketing?  Have marketers forgotten the importance of the story in their quest for online word of mouth?