Once upon a time, entertainment and advertising were two separate lands. Each land was dynamic, and cool, in its own way, but their denizens rarely commingled. In yet another land, the geeks of technology toiled in isolation on tasks both obscure and unfriendly. And then the winds of innovation blew through. Everything changed.

Today, a new creative map is taking shape, as the barriers between these businesses fall away, spurred by a swarm of adventurers and explorers… For companies and consumers, actors and artists, marketers and musicians, there is no turning back. On the contrary, this is the wave of tomorrow.

Fast Company, December 2011

I simply wanted to call out Fast Company for being one of the first to acknowledge the highly significant metamorphosis transpiring within the global business landscape: the collision of tech, culture & commerce. I frequently introduce myself as a catalyst for convergence, largely due to my multifaceted professional background. Years in the entertainment, technology and advertising spaces have lead me to one realization: nothing can bolster the three of these disparate industries more than their fusion.

So thank you, Fast Company, for so eloquently echoing my credo.

Social Data: Uncovering the REAL Value of Social Media

I thought I’d share a presentation that my team created for a CEO symposium a few months back. The brief: conceive a piece of executive-level content that approaches the topic of social media from a unique and future-facing perspective.

The C-Suite appears to be tired of the prophetic “social media is mandatory” sermons from the sea of self-proclaimed ‘gurus’ and ‘experts’, so I had to dig deep to uncover a viewpoint that’d be both factual and actionable. Enter Social Data. It’s not an analytics tool, nor is it a company. Social Data represents the gold hidden beneath each and every conversation, interaction, relationship and profile on the web. It is richer than rich; perhaps more valuable a resource to companies than a corporate social network presence.

That’s right. The mining and application of social data has resulted in some pretty compelling case studies:

• Tweets (and their associated data) have proven to be effective predictors of stock market trends.
• The future of TV ratings and the valuation of modern broadcast advertising could be forever altered due to the usage of social engagement data by companies like Networked Insights. This past May, the company released its report, “SocialSenseTV: Network Ratings Report, May 2010”, which drew on 1.5 billion online interactions from 300 million people to measure the relative engagement of segmented TV audiences. Nielsen: watch your back!
• Even metadata associated with a person’s LinkedIn profile can be used as a risk-assessment calculator for banks, credit card companies and lenders. Here’s how:

Social graphs allow credit issuers to know if you’re connected to a community of great credit customers. Creditors can see if people in your network have accounts with them, and are free to look at how they are handling those accounts.

The presumption is that if those in your network are responsible cardholders, there is a better chance you will be, too. So, if a bank is on the fence about whether to extend you credit, you may become eligible if those in your network are good credit customers.

- Joel Jewitt, Director of Business Development, Rapleaf (article)

These brilliant applications of social data simply set a foundation for what is possible. I predict that there will soon be an extensive BI ecosystem fueled entirely by social data. Why? Because it can provide value to practically any company, helping to drive efficiency, competitiveness and revenue.

Keep your eyes peeled.

Graphic via Filmz.rus

I’ve been approached three times this weekend with questions on the topic of “transmedia”. The buzzword has found its way into my lexicon, and as if I’m speaking in foreign tongue, my friends, family and colleagues frequently solicit further definition. Typically my response is as such:

Transmedia is platform agnostic storytelling. It is a strategy-driven process. At its core, transmedia strategy is constructed by pinpointing the appropriate medium(s) for the development, distribution and monetization of a story, most often accomplished by examining the target audience’s behaviors, the available technologies, the breadth of immersion and intended top-level objectives.

Academic definition aside, the transmedia approach has driven the entertainment business for some time – and is now finding a rightful home in the marketing and advertising realms. Take Batman. What started as a minor character in Issue #27 of 1939’s Detective Comics has emerged as a global franchise. Batman eventually received his own comic book, followed by live-action and animated television series, a succession of box office-breaking films, and video games & merchandise galore. There are immersive theme park attractions, books, radio dramas and even an [ultimately cancelled] staged musical version. 70+ years of cohesive cross-platform storytelling has made a simple piece of IP an incredibly valuable cultural and commercial asset. Good stories just can’t linger in a single channel. Smart businesses won’t let them.

Video: A pretty comical fan-generated trailer for “Batman: The Musical” featuring demo recordings of the original concept production.

Was it the story or the profit potential that drove the Batman brand expansion? Likely both. As such, I find it important to be driven by both. As they say, the story is paramount – without it, there would be nothing to profit off of. As a transmedia producer, it is my responsibility to ensure the fidelity of the story (and to make certain that it is deployed on different mediums for reasons beyond ‘economies of scale’, but rather to tell a fully captivating story.) Likewise, I focus an equal amount of attention to the business of storytelling. Financing, production, distribution, marketing, monetization and data analysis are perhaps collectively more vital to the welfare of an entertainment property than a well-written manuscript.

As mentioned earlier, businesses are increasingly finding content to be more effective a sales tool than traditional ‘brochure-ware’ tactics. Psychology plays a big role here; purchasing decisions are often made via a combination of emotional and logical appeal. How better to usher a prospect through the funnel than through the mediums in which they are already engrossed? Mobile, web, television and film brand integration, live events and video games all serve as viable channels to captivate the audience in a brand or product story. Multiply this appeal by the power of 360° immersion – surrounding the audience with a connected story across multiple platforms – and it’s easy to recognize the value of the transmedia approach.

Some do it better than others. I plan to strengthen the transmedia revolution as new platforms emerge and we collectively develop ways for stories to become even more pervasive. I have a feeling (well, an aspiration) that eventually the transmedia concept won’t need explanation.

2011 is the year… I can feel it.