MIP: Transmedia & Teens

There is a great overview over at mipworld.com of today’s MIP Junior panel featuring Bob Higgins of FremantleMedia, Donna Friedman Meir of InsightKids, and Nuno Bernardo of beActive. It’s worth checking out simply because it focuses on the business realities of targeting the lucrative teen market by focusing on shifting behaviors and the creative potential suggested by interweaving new platforms.

I suggest going over and reading the entire summary, but I do have a few brief comments.

InsightKids

Meir gave some stats on how teenagers consume media every day. Teens spend 218 minutes a day watching TV, 169 minutes online, 128 minutes using their mobiles, 57 minutes playing games, and 113 minutes on other  books, magazines, movies and so on.That’s a total media consumption of 8 hours 19 minutes, although a lot of this is multi-tasking: using their phone while watching TV for example.

I saw Insight present earlier this year at Kidscreen and was impressed with the breadth of their research and findings. One of the issues with financing a widespread transmedia implementation is that there are few hard numbers currently available to help put stakeholders at ease regarding risk and reward. Insight’s continuing research may therefore prove invaluable; in the absence of financials, these behavioral numbers are pretty compelling to any entertainment brand wishing to be a ubiquitous part of a teen’s life. I also like that Insight tends to ground its studies by discussing the behavior of individuals over an extended period of time in a qualitative study – creating a story and putting a face to an idea.

There is one additional observation from Meir’s presentation that should be music to the ears of storytellers working in the business:

She also said that teens want to be challenged: depth of character and story, rather than simplicity.

That’s a pretty important insight for media companies to understand – that it’s not just about stringing together a series of digital gimmicks and shallow games. There has to be cohesion and the ability to dig deeper – a key facet of a transmedia rollout and something that we’re deeply engaged in doing on a day-to-day basis at Starlight Runner.

FremantleMedia

I’ve been watching Fremantle quite closely; it’s been exciting to see how invested they are in transmedia development, and their increasing willingness to move into the narrative space. Here, Higgins comments on two important trends: second screen activity and user generated content:

“User-generated content is such a major part of teens and kids,” said Higgins. “They love making it: giving them an opportunity to make it, put it up there and get a place as a finalist on America’s Got Talent is a significant thing.” Higgins also talked about how keen teenagers are on ‘second-screening’ – using another device while watching TV. “I don’t think they really understand how to watch TV without touching something!” he said, referring to mobile phones.

Obviously, the notion of second screen and social viewing is very much in the mainstream now. All of the broadcast networks are experimenting with it and Rick Liebling garnered significant interest in a recent blog post on the subject, which titled it “intermedia.” There are huge opportunities here for creators and advertisers alike (it has the potential to mitigate the effects of DVR fast-forwarding during commercials), but also a lot of creative and technical challenges. First and foremost is creating second screen content that is sufficiently engaging that viewers want it on their mobile devices (instead of playing Angry Birds or using Facebook, although the latter will ultimately be integrated into the experience).

User generated content is something I’ve spoken about at some length. The massive advantage for IP owners is that participation and creation inevitably deeper the emotional connection with a story or brand. It’s also hugely beneficial because it provides more content for other fans to explore – often for limited additional expenditure (“fan labor”). It’s worth noting a point Katharine Lewis of Fremantle made last week at the NY Games Conference, however: that UCG introduces an element of uncertainty over future content, which can make brands wary. We may, perhaps, see an increasing number of people being hired as “UCG moderators.”

I also like this quote from Higgins about opportunities for brand sponsors:

Is the fragmented nature of teenagers’ media consumption a challenge for advertisers and brands? Perhaps it’s more an opportunity: Higgins explained that American Idol’s sponsors are part of its content across all platforms. “Coke wants the 360: they don’t wanna just have the cup sitting in front of the judges. When clips are put onto YouTube, Coke follows it there. When it’s on Facebook, Coke follows it there. So whenever you’re experiencing American Idol, you’re experiencing Coke.”

We’re going to see more brands embracing transmedia storytelling techniques, as Coke is doing.

beActive

Nuno Bernardo made a very important point: that new platforms are not merely a way to extend existing brands but, increasingly, we will see them used to “seed” new IPs and introduce stories to audiences.

He talked about Charlie Is So Cool Like – a series that has 1.5 million subscribers and 180 million views on YouTube, with individual videos garnering anywhere between one million and six million views. “Now these properties can start online and not be dependent on networks and studios,” said Bernardo, before stressing that traditional TV is still important for younger kids, as it’s where they discover new characters and shows.

We’re going to see new IPs begin online in increasing numbers over the coming decade. For now, I think that most independent creators will continue to answer when big media comes knocking and offers money and an opportunity to reach a wider audience. Things will get interesting, however, when independent creators begin disregarding established media altogether and embrace self-distribution entirely. We’re beginning to see this to some regard with Youtube creators, of course, in addition arguably to the approaches of Mind Candy and Rovio in developing brands internally instead of merely optioning their properties to studios.

There is one quote from Bernado that I feel requires additional explanation:

Bernado also had a warning for Angry Birds developer Rovio Mobile, which has well-known ambitions to turn its mobile game brand into a TV and film property. “If you take two years to create the movie or TV show, probably the audience for Angry Birds has found another cool thing to play or follow,” he said.

The essential point of this quote is, of course, absolutely right. Intellectual properties that become complacent, stagnate, or develop new content too slowly will inevitably die – especially in the fad-driven kids’ market. However, without context, the quote disregards the most important strength of a transmedia approach – that you are never merely working towards a big-ticket movie release, but are continually engaging the audience with an array of content and experiences.

For Angry Birds, that obviously means animated shorts, new game variations, licensed products, and other extensions (will this be sufficient to maintain interest for a movie? We’ll see). For a studio movie, or AAA video game, it could mean alternate reality games, tablet games, social networking based communities and narratives, short form content, novels and graphic novels, and live events. We’ve seen these principles be embraced on a limited basis, but we’re very much at the tip of the iceberg with regard to potential in this area.