It’s well known that we are exposed to a LOT of ads on a daily basis. When you think about how much time we spend online, it’s not hard to believe that it’s estimated that we encounter between 6,000 to 10,000 ads EVERY SINGLE DAY. And it’s not just Facebook that are cashing in on the attention economy – we see ads almost everywhere we go, both online and offline.
All of this makes it harder than ever to get your brand message heard by the people who matter. Advertising over a variety of media is not uncommon nowadays – as we delve further into an era of digital and virtual communication, omnichannel marketing is front of mind for brands and agencies alike. But what makes Transmedia Storytelling different to Omnichannel marketing?
What is Transmedia Storytelling?
Transmedia storytelling is the process of creating a narrative over a variety of platforms, promoting interaction and communication with your audience wherever they are engaging. It’s not just about adapting your creative to different formats, it’s about considering what makes your audience excited, and using that to bring your brand or product story to life.
The difference between this and brand storytelling, is that we should aim to truly engage our audience in our narrative in order for them to feel like a part of it, and to want to uncover more strands of the story across multiple media.
It’s been used in marketing for quite some time, and has been particularly effective in advertising entertainment content. Transmedia Storytelling encourages an audience to engage with the content they are provided with, in order to piece together the greater story or message. A variety of platforms can be used for content; these can include traditional methods and physical items like flyers and posters, as well as digital media like videos and websites. The aim is to have various parts of a larger narrative spread over these different forms of media, with members of the public cooperating to piece together the information they’ve found. The experiences can span across the globe too, with some including real life scavenger hunts and attracting thousands of participants.
A lot of these experiences can also be considered Alternate Reality Games (ARG). ARGs are a type of transmedia storytelling that are based in the real world and have more of an interactive aspect to it such as puzzles. This approach has been used in multiple ways to promote films, videogames and music albums – but it doesn’t have to stop there. For a transmedia approach to be successful, it is expected that people will engage with the content and discuss it in communities – which can be hugely beneficial for turning customers into fans.
Where has Transmedia Storytelling been successful?
The Dark Knight, from 2008, had it’s own viral marketing campaign which focused on interaction and cooperation. It began with a real-life scavenger hunt for people attending the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, and online puzzles for people who were not attending the event. Other tasks that took place over the year long run included taking photographs at various landmarks and traveling to 22 bakeries to collect cakes with mobile phones inside them. Once puzzles had been solved, the website “whysoserious.com” would change slightly to reveal more information on the film. The event ended a week before the movie was released and allowed participants free tickets to early IMAX screenings of the film. It’s hard to know if this impacted sales on film tickets as it was already a highly anticipated film, however, the fans of the film had a stronger connection to the franchise after the event.
Successful examples of Transmedia Storytelling in Marketing
Comparethemarket.com expanded their recognisable ‘Compare The Meerkat’ campaign beyond just TV advertising in order to cement their brand identity and appeal to a younger audience. With a book and web content featuring ‘biographies’ of the meerkat characters, collectable toys and a reward scheme app, this approach allowed them to create a positive experience for customers and improve brand recognition. Although not the most complex example, the scope of this campaign proves that a brand can make even a routine purchase like buying insurance more interesting.
What are the benefits of using Transmedia Storytelling for your brand or product?
Firstly, it can create a lot of hype and promotion through word of mouth – the more compelling the story is, the more interest it generates. Truly knowing your audience will help you create a transmedia campaign that will resonate and excite them. Secondly, this approach can lead to more engagement, investment and brand awareness which aims to strengthen people’s trust in the brand. Finally, in a world where people are consuming content in bitesize pieces on multiple devices, Transmedia Storytelling gives us the opportunity to reach audiences wherever they are.
However, in order to be truly successful, a transmedia storytelling campaign can be time consuming and costly to plan out, requiring true creativity and a thorough understanding of what makes your audience tick. It’s also hard to predict how quickly or slowly people will follow the narrative, in order to push the right messages, at the right time. Finally, its success relies on audiences being truly engaged with the brand, in order to be enthusiastic about the outcome of the narrative.
Where are the opportunities for brands?
We can see transmedia storytelling going hand in hand with virtual experiences in the Metaverse. As our real and virtual identities become more and more intertwined, the opportunities for brands to reach their audience at multiple touchpoints is huge. We see this approach working well for beauty or FMCG brands (in fact, it’s already on the radar for brands such as Gucci).
In 2022, it’s harder than ever to get your brand message infront of the people who matter. We believe that transmedia storytelling is an effective way to truly engage with your customers, turning them into fans. Our creative team would love to plan your Transmedia marketing campaign – get in touch today.
