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What does “Transmedia Storytelling” mean today? It means that
- every story is told
- every brand is sold
- every consumer is courted
across multiple media platforms.
Transmedia Storytelling uses different platforms to tell a story over time. Each platform is a “piece” (which can be a website, a social channel, a novel, a comic book, a TV series, a movie, a video game…) of the story being told. Each “piece” must be complete and satisfying in itself, but also part of a larger narrative.
A story can be introduced, for example, with a novel or a comic book; expanded through a TV series; and finally explored through a video game. The TV series and the video game are called extensions of the main story.
Transmedia Storytelling exists because people desire and seek it. If we’re passionate about a TV series, we go online to find character biographies and behind-the-scenes secrets. When we’re fans of a product, we discuss its features in forums. When a topic truly interests us, we never tire of seeking related information (and therefore stories).
And think about it: no company can afford to only “exist” on one platform anymore. A company today must be on Facebook, on Instagram, on LinkedIn, on Pinterest. At the same time, it must sponsor events, organize contests and surveys, interact with customers through private messages. So why not create a fantastic story that justifies all these platforms? Why not devise unique and interesting content for each channel, instead of repeating them identically?
Characteristics of a transmedia project
For a Transmedia Storytelling project to be defined as such, it must possess three requirements:
- Multiple channels. To be considered transmedia, a narrative must unfold across multiple media simultaneously.
- Each channel must contribute significantly to the narrative. Users must be enticed to move from one channel to another because they know they’ll find original content that reveals a new part of the story.
- Unified experience. Every element of the narrative must be cohesive and coordinated with the others to create a single narrative universe. Users must have a unique, consistent, and engaging experience.
It’s worth highlighting the difference between adaptation and extension. An adaptation retells the same story through a different medium: the Harry Potter film saga retells the same story found in the novels; it’s therefore an adaptation. An extension adds something more to the existing story through the new channel: the Matrix video game expands the story seen in the first film; it’s thus an extension.
The principles of Transmedia Storytelling
On his blog “Confessions of an Aca/fan,” American scholar Henry Jenkins outlines the seven principles of Transmedia Storytelling. The three principles we’ll consider in this article are:
1. spreadability vs drillability
2. immersion vs extractability
3. performance
Spreadability vs Drillability: Transmedia projects must be “spreadable,” meaning they can propagate across different channels. Drillability, on the other hand, refers to the audience’s ability to delve deeply into the story to find increasingly specific and interesting things.
Immersion vs Extractability: These aspects relate to the relationship between fiction and real life. Immersion allows audiences to identify with the story to the point of losing themselves. Through extractability, fans extract parts of the story and take them away.
Performance: The ability of transmedia projects to prompt viewers to take action with an engaging call to action.
How do you design a transmedia narrative?
First and foremost, you need to refine the storyworld, the universe in which the story lives, in every detail. The storyworld is a fundamental element: without an expansive and captivating imaginative universe, it’s difficult to create an effective transmedia project.
Next, you’ll need to decide:
- what type of story you want to tell and through which communication medium;
- which fragment of the storyworld will be explored more deeply;
- what kind of interaction you desire with the audience;
- to what extent the audience can influence the course of the narrative.
The Coca-Cola Happiness Factory
Let’s take the example of the transmedia campaign launched by Coca-Cola following the unexpected success of the TV spot “Happiness Factory.” The story of Happiness Factory, told in the 60-second spot launched in 2006, showcases the fantastic world inside a Coca-Cola vending machine, where dozens of strange creatures live enthusiastically as part of the magical beverage’s production chain. The narrative surprised and captivated consumers, who immediately asked for more. Who are these creatures? How do they live? What is their story?
Coca-Cola then asked Starlight Runner Entertainment to create, based on the spot, a vast storyworld that could spread across different media channels to meet fan demands. SLR devised and proposed a “bible” that illustrated every detail of the imaginative universe. This way, by following the “bible,” every expansion of the transmedia story would be consistent with the others and the main story. The proposal was well-received, and they began to expand the Happiness Factory universe in a complex project that occupied the company for the next ten years.
SLR created ten channels: a website, a game app, short stories, comics, an online video game, a soundtrack, two short films, and two more TV spots. Each of these channels advances the story and reveals previously unexplored aspects of the storyworld.
Thanks to this monumental transmedia effort, Coca-Cola’s sales increased by 7% in the 2008-2009 biennium and by 4% in 2010. The spot won the Best Advertisement award at Cannes; the content on YouTube and Facebook garnered 34 million views; the soundtrack “Open Happiness” ranked among the world’s top 40 most-listened-to songs.
How can I determine the right story for my brand?
Based on the results we’ve just seen, it’s possible to assert that Transmedia Storytelling is an effective tool for stimulating curiosity, engaging new customers with the brand, and, most importantly, converting fans into customers. However, devising the right story isn’t easy. You need to investigate the company’s values, mission, and objectives, and translate them into a narrative that’s easy to understand yet sufficiently compelling to entice viewers to learn more, thereby driving them to search for information across various media channels.
The story must resonate with the company’s values while also having a whimsical and playful aspect. The story then becomes an unusual form of communication to engage customers with ideas and initiatives that are hard to ignore.
Once you’ve established an effective imaginative universe, the possibilities are endless: merchandise, themed contests, guerrilla marketing, Alternate Reality Games (ARG). If the universe captivates your customers, they will continue to seek it out across all available channels.
A company might choose to tell its story through short YouTube videos (without sharing them on other channels!), conduct surveys on Facebook about how the story should progress, and then organize a themed event with story characters, or a treasure hunt, or, if feeling ambitious, an ARG. And there you have it: all the channels play their role effectively and independently to advance a single narrative.
Coca-Cola did this with an extraordinary budget, but any company can do the same by approaching it in an original way, with the support of the right agency, and, above all, with a bit of imagination.
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