The BeanCast | The Best Marketing Podcast Anywhere

Gunther Sonnenfeld

Transmedia Narrative Ecosystems & Experience Cultivation

I came across a brilliant whitepaper from Kai Pata at Tallinn University’s Center For Educational Technology, one that addresses the dynamics surrounding participatory culture, and how
storytelling swarms develop into a hybrid narrative ecosystem. Using
design as the core discipline, what Pata has effectively done is
outline the steps for dynamic artifact creation, as well as the some of
the more accessible methods for extracting mythology from everyday
circumstance (or creating/recreating it).


Click to view large


You'll notice how Pata uses the analogy of ant and hive-like food gathering and pheromonal signals to describe how the extraction & collaboration process gives rise to the evolution of new stories. Pata
creates a distinct bridge between the sensoral and ephemeral aspects of
everyday life, and uses community as a means for evaluating input and
output values. What's really intriguing about this is that the signal
trails, if unencumbered by manipulation (such as media contrivances or
restrictive planning practices), suggest that new experiences
organically reveal themselves, regenerate, and even more remarkably,
create restorative feedback loops.


The ecosystem (or “echosystem” as one colleague wonderfully coined it just the other day) is activated by creating a storytelling playground that augments the
real world. If we examine history so as to recontextualize it within
present or desired future states (a form of what Henry Jenkins calls birthing), we can see how phenomena are adopted and developed into new, rediscovered (or even undiscovered) hypersocial elements
that contribute to a larger, ongoing narrative -- one that hopefully
carries profound educational, economic and environmental implications.


To put things further into context, I thought I would refer to an ARG launch initiative that I worked on last year for Rockstar Games’, Red Dead Redemption. Digital Kitchen,
the assigned creative shop that hired me, formed 4 teams (or hives) of
10 -- a mix of creatives and strategists -- that would ideate across
its 4 offices in different cities around the U.S. (Seattle, Los
Angeles, New York and Chicago). In true task force style, these teams
worked off of a simple creative brief, but used the notion of selective noticing as a mechanism for experience cultivation.



What made the project so fun and fascinating was the construction of a historical timeline that looked at specific cultural triggers and associated behaviors to transcend time and space, and those that could
also turn integrated media assets into formative points in the overall
story arc. Keep in mind that the completed elements (produced finals)
of this launch initiative are almost irrelevant; what’s most important
are the possibilities that unfold around collaborative development and
their subsequent adoption.


The first game release, Red Dead Revolver, didn’t do so well; we deduced that the central character, John Marsten, among many things, was someone with great iconic potential but very
little contextual foundation.


In looking more closely at the Marsten archteype, we found an interesting duality -- the empathetic renegade, and the contemporary
anti-hero, both of whom are in need of redemption (Nietzsche's Zarathustra,
reinvented). We determined that Marsten is actually a product of a
modern environment in which nationalistic pride has been lost,
oligarchy and imperialism prevail, abject greed pervades. And within
all of this, everyone is on the search for higher meaning. These themes
certainly aren't new; however, we knew that their currency could be
presented in a wholly curious light. Therefore, Marsten also embodied a
cause: he would become a martyr-like enigma, someone who could save
people from themselves, even at his own expense, and like a true
anti-hero, in ways through which people weren't necessarily aware.


Click to view large


To expand on the real world application of the new Marsten archetype, we then explored the physical kinetics of what this could mean. One primary insight was that in order for Marsten to be a transformational
figure, he needed the benefits of more modern technology, but nothing
illogical, or too far advanced. Time-wise, the Industrial Revolution
overlapped influential or demiurgic periods of the Wild West, so we
knew this would be a seamless integration and one with which people
could suspend disbelief, at least to a degree.



Next, we would align Marsten’s core character attributes with those of timeless film icons – Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Steve McQueen, et al.


Click to view large


Notice how any semblance of "brand" fades into the background -- at this stage, the brand is an enigma like its central character, an almost invisible support system that must earn the right to declare
itself back into existence.

Through this, we would then draw a cultural parallel between old and new by redefining the term “Original Gangster”, and align this with elements from the contemporary hip-hop
and urban environments, since we knew we would engage many of our core
audiences there.


Click to view large


Then came the formalization of the new Marsten world. What’s interesting to note here is that while it is ideal to develop narratives alongside or within the properties themselves, mythological
or archeological extraction affords us great flexibility. For RDR, this
would actually provide some of the most engaging pieces, including
exciting new AR (augmented reality) components, not to mention a slew
of relevant options for co-branding, and more dynamic ways to engineer
digital OOH vehicles, interesting outdoor placements, retail displays,
ad displays & rich media, kiosks, product installations as well as
graphic novels... all of which have the potential to be woven into
culture at large and developed as stories of their own merit.


1 of 6
Click to view large


Overall, the makings of a revolution around a cause (or many causes) become very clear, and those parallels can be drawn to key historical
events within an interactive and highly entertaining framework. More
importantly, this framework creates relevancy for inciting actions
around a cause specific to a particular geographic region or mind
state.


Krzysztof Kieslowski, whose Decalogue served as the cinematic epos for the Polish Solidarity movement (and others like it), drew similar parallels and depicted similar Marsten personas. Imagine talking to high school kids about Solidarity
using the John Marsten phenomenon as a backdrop. Or, talking about
Solidarity as it relates to film theory. Or, talking about film theory
as it relates to fictional literacy. Or, how all of these elements
combined provide new perspective on the American or Russian
Revolutions. Or, even better, how the subsequent, combined parallels
created by the writers and artists of these periods lend new
perspective on the Russian Avant-Garde movement and the ripple effects
of secular interpretation.


You get where this is going... The possibilities now seem limitless, with discerningly mined commonality serving as a thread throughout these expositions, and iconography
making it all palatable to a broader audience of people.


Again, it is important to understand that a transmedia narrative can evolve from pre-existing assets, or those we foster from the environments
around us. Transmedia narratives are non-linear, and can scale up or
down, with all the comprising elements being recursive on various
levels (like their authors ;). To be more media-minded, in this
particular exploration we find:

  • Micro-adoption (storymaking & storytelling)
  • Hyper-targeting (contextual value)
  • Geotility (location and environmental relevancy)
  • Collaborative, hive-like creation (a form of crowdsourcing)
  • Story arcs as extended products (narrative commerce)
  • Truly hypersocial experiences (cultivation & birthing)
  • Course mediation by environment (adaptive planning)
  • Micromedia syndication (spread metrics for engagement & conversion)
  • Dynamic feedback loops (adaptive analytics)


Between this example and a previous post on the financial crisis, hopefully you can start to see how the Transmedia ROI model really can work, especially within a highly fragmented media landscape.


We must all realize that experience cultivation gives us far greater opportunity to turn product into utility, and in ways where
informational value through exploratory asset creation (and artifact
preservation) results in purchasing patterns that are empowered.

Tags: AR, ARGs, cultivation, ecosystems, experience, narrative, storytelling, transmedia

Comment

You need to be a member of The BeanCast | The Best Marketing Podcast Anywhere to add comments!

Join The BeanCast | The Best Marketing Podcast Anywhere

About

Bob Knorpp Bob Knorpp created this Ning Network.
Create a Ning Network! »

© 2010   Created by Bob Knorpp.   Powered by .

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

Sign in to chat!