Times are changing, continuously, and so are we. We’ve evolved and our way of comunicating and telling stories has changed a lot in the last decades. Nowadays people are more conected than ever before, constantly surrounded by images, information trying to catch their attention through stories.
Before we enter the world of transmedia stroytelling, let me explain to you what transmedia is exactly. They are narratives or projects that combine multiple media forms, whether it’s a book, a movie, a computer game, among others, all created to give us a better view of an idea. Also, It may or may not be interactive. Some examples in popular modern culture to illustrate the point are abundant, such as Matrix, Star Wars or for instance a campaign video of Ikea (*) that had more than two million views on YouTube and was present in more than 50 medias.
Having explained that, in transmedia stroytelling the audience becomes actively involved, elevated to social and creative collaborators. Each media piece -whether it’s a novel, a mobile app, a movie or a comic- works completely separately but contributes to a larger narrative. Each media adds richness and detail to the story, offering users a new, more compelling perspective on the characters.
What we have to understand is that adding each new media piece expands the story, you are not repeating the same story through different media, you use each medium to tell a complete story, one that adds to the other. With the combination you can get a deeper, richer and more immersive experience for the audience.
To sum up, It’s all about involving the user, none will be left passive, and nor is there a single level of interpretation of the stories. As we include others, we are unable to figure out every possible way of interpretation, depending on how our user sees the world we might get a whole new perspective of
our narrative. Personally, I think that there may lay the magic of it all.
Leaving that said, it implies a strategy that goes much deeper than we think, the purpose is to generate an experience for the user, a key role and an action, with the freedom to act or integrate into the narrative, making it their own world.
The explosion in the use of social networks and digital media that we are witnessing nowadays offers innumerable opportunities for brands and companies to tell their stories taking into account values such as participation or user immersion.
I’m pretty sure that in a few years Transmedia storytelling will become the rule of marketing plans reaching a whole new level of comunication.
It really is an amazing way to create a whole new world related to your idea or story. So wait no more, and emerge yourself into the world of transmedia storytelling!
(*) Here’s the link to IKEA’s transmedia campaign. It’s the second point (2. Ikea – The another letter): http://www.ilovecpa.com/magazine/en/2017/06/03/6-successful-transmedia-campaigns/