[November 2, 2010 Melbourne Cup] To celebrate Melbourne Cup (albeit in the wind and rain) The FARM made it's way to Royal Randwick Racecourse in all it's finery. Taking up the monthly dress up challenge for the Cup, The FARM channelled the advertising agencies of old paying homage to Mad Men in 50s inspired dress. The result? The FARMers srub up pretty well!!

http://glastonbury.orange.co.uk/glastotag/

Do yourself a favour and go and check this out. Built by Poke in the UK for the Orange Mobile Network one massive picture of the Glastonbury Festival crowd presents users with the challenge to find yourself/friends and tag them on Facebook via Facebook Connect integration. A really clever use of Facebook Connect and a well executed concept with amazing detail even when very closely zoomed in.

For my second morning tea at The FARM I decided to share with the team some of the cool case studies presented at Metro Screen's Transmedia Seminar on Friday June 25^th that I attended as part of my Certificate IV in Screen & Media.

A bit of a buzz word in digital, I thought it good timing to go through some examples of successful transmedia projects to spark thinking in the group as many of our clients go into business planning for FY11.

What is transmedia?

A project that consists of narrative storylines across multiple platforms such as film, TV, web, social media, mobile – the list goes on. Most importantly, the narratives are not the same as repurposing material from one platform to another.

Why do clients want it?

They often don’t know! A study by Digital Brand Expressions in May 2010 found "52% of social marketers are operating 'without a game plan' (read the article here) and brands are afraid of being behind their competitors without presence in social media, video, viral and mobile.

How do you decide the platform?

Content dictates the platform – story comes first! What is the nature of your content and what platform is it suitable for. On the flip side, the platform is not simply a vessel with shapes and fuels the creative – it is a symbiotic process.

Case Study – Miles Becket (EQAL) and LonelyGirl15

Watch the LonelyGirl15 sizzle reel

This project worked because it was timed with what users were doing at the time. Youtube was becoming highly popular, it was recognized that youtube audiences were a recurring audience like TV and video bloggers were emerging.

Case Study – Darius Devas and Justin Buckwell with Goa Hippy Tribe

Watch the Goa Hippy Tribe intro video  

Darius and his team invested greatly in digital strategy (with The Dubs) for this Facebook delivered documentary series to be such a success. Launching with a Facebook group to recruit and reunite the original Goa Hippy Tribe it was from here that the real story leads and talent were generated. Key to this project I believe is the knowledge of difference between a Facebook GROUP and FAN PAGE. Once the story leads were gathered from the interactive and community group, the completed documentary was distributed via the fan page which allowed the producers more control over the content and the interactions with it. Group for discussion. Fan page for celebration of the final product.

Not so good examples

Unsuccessful examples of transmedia products often come down to a duplication of content across medium rather than extension into new content or failed use of UGC (User-Generated-Content). UGC should fuel other medium not simply be created and lost in the ether. The pay off for users must be greater than the effort required (credit to Cora Spear at Wanted Digital for that equation) meaning a tangible end purpose can be gained.

Viral, and when to use it?

Viral is perhaps one of the most common buzz words in advertising yet there is not a great understanding of how to use it, when to use it, why to use it or how to measure its success (we are all still learning as we go!). The viral videos seeded for the Black Water movie (Andrew Traucki) are a good example of reaching the target audience by using the same medium (online video) in its marketing strategy. It is a logical avenue and was very successful.

Risks?

Understandable brands see an element of risk involved with UGC, viral video or other interactive media as there are associations and social commentary that come with it and the content becomes inherently unpredictable. To avoid this some golden rules:

Be transparent with your audience – you cannot initiate conversation and not maintain it, the brand must be constantly involved and responding to its users (invest in social media moderation!)

So, leaving The FARM to think about the possibilities I hoped this presentation not only got people excited but reignited the team to own our agency, to be the experts and to ask the right questions. We are here to not only find out what platforms brands are interested in but why and to what end with the hope of delivering something with just as much a buzz!

[March 2010] TheFARM are very proud to announce the launch of their maiden campaign for Warner Music Australia, Project Dead Letter. To celebrate the upcoming release of Brisbane band Dead Letter Circus' debut album on May 15th, TheFARM were asked to build a staged content delivery platform and online store to allow members who pre-order the album exclusive access to 90 days worth of videos, riff, ringtones, images, secret news and an assortment of other goodies!

With over 500 members in the first two weeks the site is proving a huge success with a healthy stream of positive fan commentary on the Dead Letter Circus facebook page.

The site is hinged upon a flash driven timeline application which showcases each day's content and marks each along the timeline with an icon denoting the media type. Fans can filter through the content as the campaign progresses by media of their interest such as videos or audio tracks. Watch out for some cool brushstroke transitions within the flash app. 

With a few fans in-house at TheFARM, we are eagerly watching the interaction by fans as the Project goes on and pretty chuffed that we can now say "we're with the band".