It’s Their Fault

A David Kushner article today in Fast Company looks at in-vogue theory of transmedia espoused by Tim Kring of Heroes and others in his sci-fi fold: that the key to marketing franchises - and the future of media itself - lies in expanding a single movie or TV show into a vast web of Internet sites, interactive games, viral videos, social media, and so on ad infinitum. According to Kushner, this new style of transmedia transcends traditional merchandising because it can actually expand on the story world: internet video can tell a story unlike, say, an action figure. This increased level of interactivity creates rapid fans, and thusly, people who will buy DVDs and assorted merchandise in droves. Call it the Star Wars model. The numbers are impressive, but there’s a flip side.

I can’t help to wonder if this “fanboy” fanbase that this stategy so effectively targets isn’t much more limited - and fickle - than these producers imagine. Delving into even one of these worlds - let alone many of them - takes lots of energy. Though those who dive into these worlds love to buy, they also judge newcomers harshly (look at any forum), and it’s hard to imagine even Heroes fans taking on the long-term worshiper status of Star Wars or Star Trek fans. The LOST ratings dip is an obvious example of this danger that Kushner smartly points out “…the show’s TV ratings dipped an average of 21% in its third season, due partly, according to some critics, to the number of plotlines becoming so dizzying that only the most rabid transmedia fans could follow them all…” But this trend could end up being the norm rather than the exception. Trandmedia spectaculars only truly reward the possibly limited fanboy fanbase, however lucrative it is. And not only that, but they concurrently put off the probably much larger audience that only wants a good hour of TV, once a week; that doesn’t want a show to take over their lives and can’t help to feel put off that they aren’t in “the loop” of the hours of “bonus footage” still available. Have we forgotten the fact that Star Wars conventions and the like have forever been regarded as fringe event, reserved for eyes rolls and snickers? Why would “interactive flash games” be any different? Do you want to play them? Do your friends?

“If you’re a producer now and you’re a savvy person who views your show as a product, you’re as much a brand manager as you are running the show,” says Lost producer Grillo-Marxauch in the article. And that’s all well and good, and puts dollar signs in execs heads. But maybe they should think for a second exactly how big of an audience wants to dive into a multimedia wonderland, and how many more are looking for a good old fashioned well-written movie or hour of TV.