1. When does
Transmedia Storytelling
become…

2. CROSS-MEDIA
PROMOTION?

3. How can we distinguish
one from the other?
• Cross-media marketing “delivers relevant
content and a call to action through multiple
media simultaneously as an integrated
campaign”
• Transmedia Storytelling: “different channels…
communicate different things… with an
emphasis on putting the brand community at
the center”
Source: http://creativesatworkblog.com/2011/03/what’s-the-difference-between-cross-media-marketing-and-transmedia-storytelling/

4. An Overview
• 2007/2008 WGA strikers challenged positive
image of webisodes
• Television promotion and digital content
cannot be separated.
“Nearly all of the digital shorts found on television
networks’ and studios’ websites and mobile portals
promote something” – Max Dawson
Source: http://bgock.com/maxdawson/research_files/Ch_10_Dawson_Revised_DUKE.pdf

5. Research Path
• Initial claim: ‘a TM text is concerned either
with expanding on a story hyperdiegesis or
promoting the core text/relevant TM’
• Revised claim: ‘a TM text will inevitably display
modes of story expansion and promotion but
will favour one over the other’
• We might think of this in terms of a…

6. … a Storytelling/Promotion Spectrum
Mostly
Storytelling
Mostly
Promotional

7. The TM Texts
• The Rookie:
24 spin-off
webseries
•
• Dexter Early Cuts:
Dexter spin-off
webseries
•

8. The Rookie (2007 – 2008)
• Three seasons, twelve episodes.
• Season 1 released January 15th 2007, the day
after the premiere of 24 season 6.
• Produced by a multinational consumer
products corporation Unilever and 20th
Century Fox, who promoted Unilever’s
‘Degree for Men Deodorant’ (promotional
motives).

9. The Rookie: Style and Aesthetics
• Uses licensed digital
countdown and
graphics, score, sou
nd effects.
• 24’s DOP
Problems:
• Ellipses
• Tone
Season 1 Show time Real time
Episode 1 10 minutes 2.5 minutes
Episode 2 2 minutes 2 minutes
Episode 3 9 minutes 2 minutes
Season 2
Episode 1 30 minutes 3 minutes
Episode 2 15 minutes 3 minutes
Episode 3 15 minutes 4 minutes
Season 3
Episode 1 5 minutes 4 minutes
Episode 2 5 minutes 5 minutes
Episode 3 6 minutes 6 minutes
Episode 4 4 minutes 5 minutes
Episode 5 3 minutes 3 minutes
Episode 6 5 minutes 7.5 minutes

10. The Rookie and 24
• “The Rookie [is] situated a long way from the
central axis: the first one is located in
Washington, DC and the second includes only
some of the characters from the TV show (and
not Jack Bauer, the main character).” – Carlos
Alberto Scolari
• Extends franchise to mobile consumers who
do not have the time to dedicate to 24 (which
to totals 1008 minutes in duration)
Source: Alberto Scolari, C. Transmedia Storytelling: Implicit Consumers, Narrative Worlds, and Branding in Contemporary Media Production.
International Journal of Communication 3 (2009), 586-606

11. Dexter Early Cuts (2009 – 2012)
• Seasons 1, 2 and 3 written by Dexter writers
Lauren Gussis, Tim Schlattman and Scott
Reynolds respectively.
• Features voice acting from Dexter cast Michael
C. Hall.
• Example of Carlos Alberto Scolari’s ‘interstitial
microstories’: expands on period before
television series.
Source: Alberto Scolari, C. Transmedia Storytelling: Implicit Consumers, Narrative Worlds, and Branding in Contemporary Media Production.
International Journal of Communication 3 (2009), 586-606

12. From TV to YouTube: Dexter
• Dexter: Live-action hour-length episodes.
• Dexter Early Cuts: animated 2-3 min episodes

13. Functional Uniqueness
• “Functional uniqueness can be understood as
features of the online video platforms that are
better – or simply different from television –
in terms of satisfying consumer needs.” – Cha
and Chan-Olmsted
• Dexter Early Cuts satisfies consumers because:
– It has different features to TV (stylistic animation)
– Gratifies where TV show cannot (prequel)
Source: http://jmq.sagepub.com/content/89/2/261

14. … the result
Mostly
Storytelling
Mostly
Promotional
The Rookie Dexter Early Cuts

15. What does this mean for us?
• All transmedia should promote migratory
consumption (strong narrative links that point
toward content in other channels).
• If a story is not represented in the same way
across all media, it loses credibility.
• Think about the audience: functional
uniqueness and affective economics.

16. Henry Jenkins: ‘Affective Economics’
• “a new configuration of
marketing theory…
which seeks to
understand the
emotional underpinnings
of consumer decision
making as a driving force
behind viewing and
purchasing decisions”
Textbook Jenko
Source: Jenkins, H. ‘Buying into American Idol’ in Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. NYU Press, 01/08/2006