Spreadable Content

“Defiance” could be the first successful...

Wed, 23 May 2012 13:32:00 -0400

“Defiance” could be the first successful co-development of an MMO and TV show, and a gateway for transmedia-based content in mainstream entertainment. Here’s a look at the making of “Defiance” and a new frontier on the rise…

For those who attended my speaking engagement at DIYDays on...

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:51:12 -0400

For those who attended my speaking engagement at DIYDays on October 28th at UCLA, these are the requested slides on Transmedia: The Business of Execution. Enjoy and comment!

Facebook Won't Like This Apple-Twitter Union

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:21:05 -0400

Last Thursday, Facebook announced it would be partnering with Twitter to weave the platform into their new iPhone5. With unmatched growth in the last year, Twitter has become an enticing social media platform for Apple. You can read the article here by Kit Eaton via Fastcompany describing the Apple-Twitter union, and how it will affect Facebook, who has seemingly been left behind by iOS5.

“Did Zuckerberg’s spine just shiver?” - indeed it may have. The reality is we are now more than 1.5 years into my 5 year countdown for the demise of Facebook as a platform. Google+, privacy debacles, time lines and now this. It can only mean bad things when your friends trade you in for another BFF.

You may ask, Blu, why are you so mean to Facebook? What did Facebook ever do to you that you hate it so much you felt it necessary to make a crazy prediction in 2009 stating Facebook would be finished in 5 years?

Well, the reason is simple. By then it was already clear to me that they had converted from being a platform that satisfied the need to connect and share as a community into a product that manufactures consumer needs and entrenches “users” in an emotional and financial prison.

Once you forget that you are a community’s servant, you have lost the battle to create that wonderful something they don’t WANT to live without - because you filled a hole in their heart with what you created, not just a need. Platforms like Facebook no longer have a place in today’s market where fans (a much better term than “user” or “consumer”) are in control of the brand narrative - and should be.

By creating a false need, such platforms break their bond with the communities they serve, and we all get that uneasy feeling we are being used. Companies make profits and that’s fine, but they should do it by building stuff we love - it should be a win-win. So what’s next?

As I have been evangelizing for years it’s niche, niche, niche. Google+ circles you say? Think smaller.

We are dealing with increasingly concentrated and targeted communities of fans, and that means inevitably dealing with highly niched interests. Platforms and products that respond to, and curate for, niche communities will pave an entirely different landscape from the bland, homogenized sea of random interests represented by the Facebooks of the world. And by doing so they may be striking gold. Why?

Although big corporates don’t like the concept of niche, it in fact may prove to be exactly what advertisers are looking for. While companies avoid niche in favor of the valhalla of mass appeal, advertisers are looking to make conversions; when you watch a commercial, see a billboard, or a tweet about that thing you might love, they are hoping to convert that interaction into a purchase. Shotgun blasts are a waste of time and money, and can cause negative results. What advertisers search for is a highly concentrated and targeted segment. And that’s where niche comes in.

Sound spooky? Only if you can’t opt-in, and it isn’t completely transparent. Companies have been educated by advertisers over a long period of time to hide the truth from you, not trusting you will be able to make privacy choices that don’t opt you out of their products. When they learn to sell us something we love, they won’t need to worry about that. Honesty is the best policy because really, who doesn’t want to know more about that thing that they love and how to get it?

Niche is a win-win. Sell us the things we love and truly search for and we will gladly let you know what we like and how we want it - no opt-outs, we promise. But keep selling us a line, an aspiration that can never be had, and broken promises and we will be giant killers.

A visual explanation of crowdsourcing [infographic] - Holy Kaw!

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 19:07:59 -0400

A visual explanation of crowdsourcing [infographic] - Holy Kaw!:

transmediaresources:

make sense now? : )

newkid-tumblr: ASTONISHING INTERACTIVE SHOW INSTALLATION OF...

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 02:46:29 -0400

newkid-tumblr:

ASTONISHING INTERACTIVE SHOW INSTALLATION OF CHRIS MILK IN COLLABORATION WITH ARCADE FIRE

HTML Game: Music Can Be Fun

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 02:43:26 -0400

HTML Game: Music Can Be Fun:

The magic of HTML5 brings you this interactive way to listen, create and play to RA RA RIOT by The Orchard. Have fun :)

juju529: Designer Heyon You brought Android platform concept...

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 02:36:23 -0400

Android platform concept phone Galaxy Sk

Android platform concept phone Galaxy Sk

Android platform concept phone Galaxy Sk

Android platform concept phone Galaxy Sk

Android platform concept phone Galaxy Sk

Android platform concept phone Galaxy Sk

Android platform concept phone Galaxy Sk

Android platform concept phone Galaxy Sk

Android platform concept phone Galaxy Sk

Android platform concept phone Galaxy Sk

juju529:

Designer Heyon You brought Android platform concept phone Galaxy Skin. It has four bright spots:no stand, no projector, soft body without bone, she is skinny.

The Must Have Social Media Infographic

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:10:06 -0400

The Must Have Social Media Infographic:

No longer will we walk into that next consulting gig, marketing pitch or staff meeting and feel the need to petulantly complain to ourselves about how “they just don’t get it.” Whip out this snappy infographic by David Hall on the value of social media, which details practical costs and benefits to you and your company so clearly, even your grandmother could understand it!

And who says Transmedia methodologies can’t be applied to...

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:06:05 -0400

And who says Transmedia methodologies can’t be applied to photography and sculpture?

Some years back, photographer, artist and innovator David Meanix was commissioned by Alan Ball and the Producers of “Six Feet Under” to create a Photosculpture series for the character of “Claire Fisher,” played by Lauren Ambrose. Photosculpture had been innovated by Meanix as his own unique method of cross-breeding photography and sculpture, and was a perfect fit with the show’s soul-searching theme of mortality. David is shown above working on actor Michael C. Hall, now the star of “Dexter.”

Though the show ended several years back now, I bring this up to point out how Transmedia methodologies can span traditional art forms we wouldn’t normally expect. Already a hybrid medium, writer Alan Ball went as far as to incorporate Meanix’s input on the Photosculpture process in his development of the overall story structure, as well as the character arc and motivations of Claire Fisher.

In fact, Meanix’s Photosculpture captured the psychogeographic landscape of the characters themselves - something the main driving content couldn’t on its own - and allowed fans to engage in that extended narrative beyond the show’s airing by being placed online. If that isn’t deep, and an earlier form of Transmedia methodologies at work, I don’t know what is!

*You can still find David Meanix’s work on Six Feet Under available on his website - check it out!

So you know those funny little squares on the sides of bus stops...

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:00:00 -0400

So you know those funny little squares on the sides of bus stops called “QR Code?” Turns out they’re not just wallpaper anymore. Pet Shop Boys invites you, or more accurately implores and bombards you, with their “Integral” music video and show us that QR Code isn’t just useful, it’s a dynamic, expressive if not beautiful artistic form.

Here’s a fantastic interview with Scott Prindle of CP+B by...

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:00:06 -0400

Here’s a fantastic interview with Scott Prindle of CP+B by Edward Boches on the role of the Creative Technologist in creating brand narratives. A lot of Prindle’s discussion about the role of Creative Technologists could easily be interchanged with that of Transmedia Producers and Strategists. The difference between the two is emphasis - Creative Technologists lean more heavily on their expertise in technology as it pertains to creative pursuits, and Transmedia experts start with the narrative process and consider ways in which technology can enhance the fan (“consumer”) experience and still drive revenue.

But beyond defining our roles, Prindle and Boches offer us this directive: to fuse ourselves as experts who understand the technology and art of storytelling into the brand narrative process as part of the agency team. Sounds great. But in order to accomplish this we recognize that most industry views us as evangelizers, philosophers and, at best, teachers - not the builders we actually are.

Positioning technologies in the creative concepting process IS the correct move and will bring significant and mutual benefits to the agency process (digital and traditional). But getting agencies to listen to our evangelizing is easy. It’s asking them to put their money where their mouth is by reorganizing and incorporating Transmedia experts and creative technologists to their internal teams that they suddenly cringe and run for cover.

So where does this bring us in Transmedia? Do we simply look down our noses and point our fingers at the advertising lemmings headed for the cliff? Maybe we should instead take a long look at ourselves and realize that jumping up and down and defining the cliff isn’t going to get them to stop. That in fact, Transmedia is being driven toward its own demise due to our own lack of consideration for company perspectives on organizational design and change management.

We have, for the most part, thrown up our hands at considering the issues on the business side of Transmedia, and then bitterly complain that we’ve been left on the bench. It is impossible to consider taking the next intelligent steps toward becoming internal team members of established systems, such as ad agencies, film studios, and music labels, when we amongst ourselves cannot manage a discussion about how to design a Transmedia business.

I have offered on several occasions to speak on organizational design for Transmedia. Not once have I ever been taken up on it - instead, I’ve been asked to discuss definitions for Transmedia Storytelling, Transmedia Marketing, Franchising, Social Media Analytics, and Project Execution. How can any of that matter if we don’t help to create the companies that foster these ideas? Many Transmedia companies are popping up who do not even know how to design their own organizational structures. How do you expect to tell others to change how they function, when you can’t even figure it out for yourselves?

So, yes, I know, I’ve been harsh here. But it’s for good reason. When we can have an intelligent discussion about the business of Transmedia rather than the definition(s) of Transmedia, we can then ask others to follow our lead. Until then, we’re full of hot air.

"If it doesn’t spread, it’s dead."

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 08:10:05 -0400

“If it doesn’t spread, it’s dead.”

- Henry Jenkins