There is a new way of telling stories. It is the obligation of audiovisual professionals to adapt to satisfy a viewer who is increasingly looking for more content but on different platforms.
By Alejandra García Vélez
Creating content, stories and products that transcend the unique format of the TV screen is not new. However, although initiatives of this type have been present for several years, the current reality has made this term no longer only an option or a trend, but has become almost an obligation in an era in which viewers are increasingly demanding.
Precisely because of the above, one of the topics addressed during the last edition of TecnoTelevisión was the need for content producers to start thinking about their products taking advantage of the possibilities of the different media platforms.
To return to some of the analyses carried out within the framework of the Congress, we spoke with Yan Camilo Vergara, director of new media Teleantioquia and who was in charge of directing the conference held at TecnoTelevisión 2011.
Evolution
The starting point is to come up with a definition of what transmedia content is. In the first place we have the one offered by the company JWT in the Transmedia Rising report, in which it states that "transmedia involves narrative threads adapted to different channels, from mobile, through social to traditional media and different audiences. Although it is not a new concept, it is becoming more and more widespread and will eventually become the norm."
The study further highlights an unconcealable truth: "Content today is a borderless world with a story that develops its arc over different platforms in innovative ways and providing consumers with multiple entry points that encourage in-depth engagement, often through active participation."
For his part, Vergara explained that this trend began to be defined at the conceptual level in the head of Henry Jenkins, who from his work as a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) coined the term transmedia storytelling (transmedia narrative) after taking up the concepts previously published by Marsha Kinder, of the University of Southern California, in the early 90s.
Jenkins defines this type of narrative as a process in which elements are systematically dispersed across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. In addition, the ideal is that each medium makes its own unique contribution to the development of the story.
In the same sense, Vergara expressed himself when affirming that "beyond the academic reflections that there are in this regard, transmedia contents are nothing more than the interpretation of daily life through the use and appropriation of new, no longer so new, technologies as a way to potentiate the prolongation of the contents over time and provide a unique experience to the user when using them".
Gonzalo Martín, vice president of Arenas Entertainment for Spain, complemented the previous definitions by pointing out that "this concept goes beyond the idea of a content and licensing franchise, to develop projects that have a planned narrative structure to grow characters and plots in the form of different consumption."
In that sense, Vergara explained, film and television lead the way to other media because they are more attractive to the user, while the press and radio increasingly need to resort to audiovisual platforms to be timely and consumed.
Given this panorama, it cannot be denied how important it is for the television industry to start working on the issue of transmedia content. In the words of Martín, "the basic interest at this time is to contribute to the consumption of content where it is most profitable and to retain audiences".
Television on demand
A reality that is directly associated with this type of narrative is the increase that in recent years has suffered consumption on demand, now it is the viewer who chooses what to see, when and in what format. The above, although it is a challenge for producers, is also an opportunity that is reflected in the dependence that is still on traditional means for income generation.
"The breadth of audiovisual and leisure consumption alternatives, the fragmentation of audiences hinders conventional exploitation but without alternative spaces being able to compete in terms of revenue volume. Thus, a value strategy outside the conventional space that is related to conventional broadcasting helps to keep the viewer on their screen or attract them from other channels, "said Martín.
For his part, Vergara stressed that television in Latin America has explored these possibilities little, when that format has much more potential. The representative of Teleantioquia pointed out that a series usually has about 24 chapters a year that would generate a very good amount of content to explore in social networks, applications for mobile devices and interactivity for OTT, DTT, IPTV and WebTV platforms.
"In this sense, the opportunity lies in visualizing a whole new marketing scenario oriented to new platforms, a new way of measuring the behavior of audiences and therefore a whole new scenario for the deployment of measurements that are already more detailed and personalized," Vergara said.
Changing paradigms
Regarding the current reality in terms of levels and quality of implementation of this type of narratives, it must be recognized that Latin America, although it is in a process of conscientious preparation, continues to look at transmedia content as a little explored scenario in which only some isolated cases can be counted as TVN in Chile, Oglobo in Brazil, or some chains in the United States.
Therefore, the first step to bet on greater implementation is to change mental schemes. "To start operating on this trend it is necessary to digitize the brain, tell it that you can be disruptive and risky without this meaning bankruptcy. Not being there is staying on the road, but to be without a well-thought-out strategy is to go the wrong way," Vergara said.
When starting this process, several factors must be taken into account, on the one hand the competencies of the work team, the technological evolution, synchrony of logical processes between the content unit and the technical unit that supports the deployment in the new platforms, a strategic plan that involves the entire organization and finally, a team working on the development of new content.
Martin concluded by stating that "probably, people are doing transmedia narrative without giving it that name. It is a natural evolution of communication due to technological change. So surely soon we will not understand that stories do not grow by various branches and we will forget about labels."
