Our lives are full of stories that travel across media, whether intentional or not. Transmedia storytelling offers opportunities for variable degrees of participation and the blurring of fictional and real worlds. So what is Transmedia storytelling? It is the art of designing, sharing, and experiencing across multiple platforms, usually used for entertainment, marketing, or social changes. Stories define social influence, social perception, and social interaction; they influence individual and group behavior and can provide a sense of self.

Using transmedia storytelling you are continuously evolving with newer technologies and the new ways they share, craft, and interact with people engaged with the story you are telling. Maya Zuckerman, Media Entrepreneur, and Founder, Transmedia SF, says “It’s not just one thing. You cannot actually sell transmedia in a box. It doesn’t work like that, because it is an ecosystem. It’s really the ecosystem of where storytelling meets technology, and it’s where story, narrative, and technology converge.” It’s not just technology either; transmedia storytelling is in many different things like video games, books, toys, comics, theme parks, and in virtual reality, it offers a wide range of coverage to a wide range audience.

The people following this story, no matter what it may be, they are going to be in some way moved by the story and want more information or change their behaviors to something like their favorite character, so transmedia storytelling can be something that changes people for the better. The way we perceive ourselves in relation to the rest of the world influences our behaviors and our beliefs. Story structure does just that. The journey of others affects our behavior and how we view ourselves. There are four main pillars to storytelling; people, place, purpose, and plot these pillars of the story delves in all aspects of interpersonal relationships and the ways that journey of one person can improve those who hear, see and emotionally involve themselves within the storyline.

The audience in the transmedia world is usually active with the storyline and share or even sometimes help create different parts of the stories. Every story has an audience who wants to experience it and share their opinions with it, wouldn’t you like to have input in your favorite TV show, comic book series, or video game?

This is part two of a series of blogs by MMG. In the next and final blog and part three, we will be comparing the two concepts of Neuromarketing and transmedia storytelling and how they coincide with each other. Stay updated on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for Part Three: Transmedia Storytelling Through The Go-To Science of Neuromarketing.

Sources:

The University of New South Wales, the course “Transmedia Storytelling: Narrative worlds, emerging technologies, and global audiences. https://www.unsw.edu.au/about-us

Joe Arco, President of Multimedia Marketing Group.

Serena Ahlquist

Email: serena@mmg-1.com

Social Media Intern for MMG