The past 9 weeks of blogging have revealed to me the power of digital communications, not only as an advertising and marketing tool, but also as a resource for global conversation, regardless of whether you are a brand, an academic or just someone who wants to voice their opinion.
Of all the topics covered, interactivity was something that particularly interested me, as it allowed consumers to become incredibly involved in a brand. In a previous post, I discussed the ways in which advertisers have utilised interactive 3D billboards and touch-screens in outdoor advertising to communicate and engage with consumers, however, for my final blog post I want to investigate how online interactivity has contributed to transmedia story telling- something that Vitter describes as “a shift from the traditional linear story,” of watching a movie, “to a more complex, multi-dimensional story world” (2010). A world in which online communication has allowed the emergence of a plethora of para texts, described by Hardy (2011, p.8) as “reversionings..social media texts... and the making of documentaries”, which represent the complex structure of storytelling orbiting the “mega text” at the source. I want to to question the ways in which advertisers have infiltrated this realm and what this means for traditional advertising space.
Cultural convergence, as suggested by Henry Jenkins (2006) has facilitated such transmedia story telling, allowing “the flow of content across multi-media platforms” and “the co-operation between multiple media audiences...in search of entertainment experiences”. Cultural convergence has enabled communities to interact globally, building a web of media texts and information surrounding a brand, to create a “collective intelligence” (Jenkins 2006). The key to transmedia storytelling is the connection amongst fans and the way in which audiences consume media texts, which is very social and lends itself to a social marketing strategy. Long (2007) describes the online nature of transmedia storytelling as “a complex web of interconnectedness... In transmedia storytelling, this concept is made explicit... Transmedia stories build narrative references...which makes up the transmedia story”.
Within this context, interactivity, has been described as a “high-tech...communication concept”, which has been allowed to flourish and since become a lucrative marketing tool for advertising to directly communicate and engage consumers (Jensen 2003).
Hardy (2011) puts transmedia storytelling into the context of the advertising and marketing industry with the example of HBO’s strategic marketing of ‘True Blood’, a popular Vampire drama.
A traditional marketing model incorporates three main elements of media; Paid media, which is purchased; Owned media, comprising of websites or buildings that can be utilised for advertising and Earned media, which encompasses organically generated conversation about the brand, be that in newspapers, television or through online digital communication (Scissors and Baron 2002). But are these categories as distinct as they seem? Schultz suggests that “Online media [are now blending] more editorial content with advertisements” (2000)
(Banner Corporation 2011)
What happens when advertisers infiltrate the textual media space that is predominantly owned by the consumers and the audience? Jenkins stated that “where old and new media collide, where grassroots and corporate media intersect...the power of the media producers and the media consumers.. is unpredictable” (2006, p.6). What happens when what is earned can be paid for, and what is paid for can be earned? According to Hardy (2011) the lines of corporate controlled communication and transmedia storytelling have become blurred.
True Blood enlisted the help of Campfire, a specialist guerilla marketing agency, in a campaign described as “groundbreaking” (Young 2010). They systematically infiltrated the “earned” space of their consumers to integrate the True Blood brand and story into reality.
The following video explains exactly how they did it.
The highlights of the campaign featured:
- A microsite for the activities and stories of TrueBlood fans and bloggers- Bloodycopy.com
- Six mini-episodes posted on Yahoo TV, HBO.com and the True Blood Facebook webpage.
- Faux transmedia story telling with fake street teams to petition for and against Vampires, and websites such as The American Vampire League.
- The True Blood faux drink, which was advertised with strap-lines such as “Real Blood is for suckers” and “All Flavour no bite” -marketed as a product for the vampires of the world.
(See Appendix1.2)
- And a series series of fake ads produced by real brands such as Mini, Gillette and Ecko.
(See Appendix1.1,1.3,1.4)
(Hardy 2011)
Greg Hale, a partner at Campfire said, “We built this on solid storytelling and the idea of immersing people in this world” (Hardy 2011, p.11). I question if Campfire immersed consumers in the world of vampires or forced the world of vampires upon the real world?
This campaign used a multimedia cross platform strategy to integrate advertising and marketing into the daily lives of the consumer and created their own transmedia stories through the creation of affiliated groups. It was no longer clear what was marketing communications and what was storytelling and brand interaction.
This lead to HBO gaining control over all three forms of advertising, paid, owned and earned, which I found quite concerning. Where has the line between commercially generated communication and real audience interactivity gone? By intruding upon the media space that audiences feel they have ownership over, will there be negative repercussions for brands? Fans of the show have already proven that such advertising infiltrations fuel the distrustful image of advertising, with complaints over the ambiguity of the marketing postings, under pseudo personality of Vampire blogger on the True Blood blog (Hardy 2011).
Some advertisers see this strategy of advertising as an innovative way to integrate ‘the message’ into the lives of the audience to guarantee interaction with the brand, however the effectiveness of this strategy relies upon the acceptance brands. If not, this may not only impact the brand, but also ruin the conversation and buzz that is organically created surrounding a show like True Blood.
The question is, is conversation something that can be bought and created? Time will tell if this form advertising becomes successful.
Appendix
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
Bibliography
Banner Corporation plc, 2010. Paid, Earned, Owned Model.
Campfire, 2011. True Blood by Campfire. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE0Z_MP7bBA [Accessed 20 April]
Creative Review, 2011. Ecko True Blood Advert. http://www.creativereview.co.uk/images/uploads/2009/06/hbo3_0.jpg [Accessed 20 April]
Facebook., 2011. Statistics. Available from: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics [Accessed 21 April]
Imagine Publishing, 2011. Gillette True Blood Advert. Available from: http://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/hbo4_0.jpg [Accessed 17 April]
Hardy, J., 2011. Mapping Commercial Intertextuality: HBO’s True Blood. The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 17 (1), 7-17.
Jenkins,H., 2006. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York University Press: New York.
Jensen,J., 2003. ‘Interactivity’. Nordicom Review, 19(1), 185-204.Available from: http://www.nordicom.gu.se/common/publ_pdf/38_jensen.pdf [Accessed
25 April]
Long,G,A., 2007. Transmedia Storytelling Business, Aesthetics and Production at the Jim Henson Company. America: MIT. Available from: http://cms.mit.edu/research/theses/GeoffreyLong2007.pdf. [Accessed 20 April]
Media Shots, 2010. Interview with Henry Jenkins. Available from: http://www.mediashots.org/blog/?p=230 [Accessed 20 April]
FX and 20th Century Fox, 2011. Mini Advert. Available from: http://community.fxuk.com/forums/p/25188/122961.aspx [Accessed 17 April]
Schultz,T., 2000. Mass Media and The Concept of Interactivity: An Exploratory Study Of Online Forums and Reader Email, 22 (2), 205-221.
Scissors. J.Z. and Baron. R.B., 2002. Media Planning. London: McGraw-Hill.
HBO, 2011. True blood Juice Advert. Available from: http://www.TruBeverage.com/ [Accessed 16 April]
Young,A., 2010. 'Dexter' vs. 'True Blood': The Battle of Two Killer Media Plans. The Guardian. Available from: http://adage.com/article/mediaworks/dexter-true-blood-battle-killer-media-plans/144011/ [Accessed 20 April]
Vitter,L., 2011. Transmedia Storytelling. Available from: http://www.nmincite.com/?p=4002 [Accessed 25 April]
