What the &#*% is Transmedia: Why Bother?

What is the point of transmedia? Why should anyone bother with stuff that's just on the Internet? It's not the actual show/movie/game so is there a point? Is it really doing anything positive for the show/movie/game?

I was recently luck enough to have lunch with an executive producer/writer on one of network TV's biggest shows (which I shall leave anonymous). We discussed new media and transmedia and he said, quite frankly, that he didn't think new media was worth the time and money.

I was shocked by the viewpoint if only in part because his show had recently expanded into the new media spectrum, though he chose to not be directly involved with the project. This, however, got me thinking about the bottom line reasons for transmedia. So, for today, let's ask why the %#*% we should do transmedia in the first place.

Transmedia focuses on the expansion of the mythos. The question after establishing that is simply why expanding the mythos is a good thing. After watching a movie or a TV show, Hollywood has already realized that people leave the theater or the living room wanting more (example: every unnecessary sequel ever made) and they don't want to wait for it. People hate waiting and we can take advantage of that.

Transmedia succeeds by fulfilling the fans natural desire for more as quickly as possible, sometimes even before hand. As soon as they can they get to their computer, they'll have the opportunity to jump into an extra piece of the story. This part is important because it establishes the franchise as a multi-platform experience from the get go. That way when you eventually expand further into the folds of the story, whether in book form, webisodes or whatever, they're ready and looking for it.

The goal is to keep their attention on the product for as long as possible. This is especially important on media that lives primarily on the web or another smaller market form. In this case, transmedia acts as a tool to keep the audience there.

Here's an example.

Let's say you're launching a new web series. The viewer of series #1 tunes in and watches the first episode. They enjoyed it but there's nothing else for them to look at so they click the next Youtube link and they're on to something else already. By the time the second episode launches, the viewer has forgotten about the series.

On the other hand, the viewer of series #2 watches their episode and then has the ability to read a short comic strip expanding the story of the episode just a bit. A tease for next week's episode. They've spent extra time with this series and got an extra amount of enjoyment out of it. That little extra time has taken them from going off and immediately diving into another series entirely. As long as the content is good, there's that much more chance for a return customer when episode 2 launches.

This can be the power of what transmedia does for a product. The extra content makes the experience wider and thus, more interesting. Bigger is not necessarily better and just having extra content is not enough. But if growing up a science fiction fan has taught me anything, it's that fanatics like more story and good story is what makes any media better than the competition.