Branding, Culture, Politics, and Everything in Between

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I’ve been travelling and I’m just settling in to Toronto, where I’ll be spending the next few months at York University as a visiting PhD student. But just a quick riff today. Via ARGNet, “from the intense, provocative speech given by No Mimes Media’s Maureen McHugh” (emphasis mine):

ARGs are dead. But Transmedia is lightning in a jar.

ARGs have failed to break into mass media, because the interaction is in the wrong place. Right now, the interaction is finding the story. When someone doesn’t know what to do next, it’s easy to stop, and every time we ask someone to change platforms, we lose audience. But the experience of transmedia is powerful, immersive and emotional. We have to find new ways to tell stories across multiple platforms using interactivity.

It’s evolve or die.

Not too long ago, it felt like ARGs were the only real spearhead that were driving transmedia storytelling (especially in the movie industry, think the Batman and Ironman 2 ARGs). But I think McHugh is onto something. ARGs cater to the most motivated segments of audiences, and I guess that’s partially why they’ve been used with superhero movies, because of the inbuilt, often hardcore, fanbase that was sure to play the games. But if transmedia storytelling is to become mainstream, it has to cater to the more casual audiences as well. We’re only scratching the surface in that regard.