Strategically Communicating

Media and advertising of the past as depicted in shows like Mad Men focused on telling people what they wanted; asking a question to a broad and simple to identify audience and answering it, hopefully propelling that base of potential or current consumers into action. What modern day media super powers like the Wachowski brothers and their Matrix transmedia empire, J.K. Rowling with the magical world of Harry Potter and most recently, James Cameron with the far away land and language of Avatar have all figured out is that the last and only effective power that the media has over a more dynamic, collective and dismissive consumer is its ability to leave the biggest questions unanswered. This distributes the burden of work between the media source and the media consumer and ultimately drives the consumer to, consume, in an effort to makes sense of the media.
Shows like American Idol and Survivor are obviously capable of generating discussion among a wide variety of audiences and consumers from loyals and zappers to casuals and a new generation of “catch-ups” or audience members that I would explain as Netflix or Hulu Plus users that may not watch a current season as it happens and would rather catch up, running through seasons in a short period of time through a customized channel that allows for (almost) advertising free consumption.
Explicit product promotion of soft drinks and new American cars no longer trick today’s audiences into primal urges to consume. No one watches American Idol then walks down the soda isle to pick up a 2 liter of Coke because they saw Simon Cowell drinking out of a Coke cup between auditions (especially if they happen to be “Pepsi people”). But at least for now, AT&T is happy with the revenue the text voting system generates on verdict episodes and record producers don’t mind having runner ups who are capable of generating the same if not more attention and money then season winners. Transmedia campaigns are the newest form of consumer engagement; the power of unanswered questions are the life blood and future of the media industry.
Discussion Questions:
1. What industries could benefit from transmedia marketing strategies?
2. What impact will next generation reality competition shows like the X Factor have on American Idol and can it survive?

In reading throughout the week, I had a hard time deciding what to write about.  There were so many good topics.  So I decided instead to offer a summary of the things that jumped out at me that I continue to think about.

First, I enjoyed reading about the “Survivor Spoilers.”  I thought it was interesting and impressive that so many people can come together with a common interest solely through online communication.  I really enjoy meeting people face-to-face and usually that’s how I entrust people as well.  These spoilers created a way to screen and qualify each other’s credibility.  They then had to trust each other’s ability to research and dig deep into finding information and clues; no matter how small and come together as a whole to figure out the results before the general public knew.  What is particularly impressive is the degree of accuracy they performed at.   This left me wondering what these individuals do for a living and how they can devote so much time to “spoiling” someone else’s fun.  It is funny though that Chillone was able to spoil their fun.

Second, I tried to be as careful as possible about tracking my media usage and consumption.  I found that I don’t consume as much media as “they” would like me to.  In one short week I see a very clear pattern of my media usage.  It left me asking myself “Why don’t I use more?”  Is it because I don’t have or make time or is it because I’m not interested or is it because I only use what I need when I need.  For example, I found that while I have a Facebook page, I don’t use it nearly as much as other family and friends.  It’s not that I don’t want them to know what’s going on.  I think it might be because I want to have something to talk about when we see each other in person.

Last, one big thing that stood out in reading Convergence Culture and U&G theory is that research is always behind real time.  This is being compounded by the speed at which technology is evolving.  It was fun to read about the predictions for the future and how they have either materialized or not.  The questions that remained for me were:

Will research ever grasp a true understanding of media usage and answer the who, what, when, where and why, when it’s always behind and moving slower than technology and the consumer?  And, how reliable can the research be if it is so far behind the curve?

As I try to make sense out of the first three interesting, yet complicated, chapters of “Convergence Cuture,” by Henry Jenkins, I am fascinated with the idea of collective intelligence and how this author has used this concept to explain the popularity of “Survivor,” “American Idol” and “The Matrix.”

Defined on page 27 as, “this abiity of virtual communities to leverage the combined expertise of their members,” collective intelligence is at the very heart of today’s communication process. While traditional media has always involved creative story-telling, today’s new media has shifted into story-telling with collective intelligence, utilizing the sum of all its consumers’ apparent knowlege. This trend explains the interest in spoiling the “Survivor” episodes, voting via text for “American Idol” contestants, and “Matrix” gaming cults.

Humans today love to particpate in problem-solving online, to have a voice and to express themselves, to be a part of the story-telling of new media, and to be a part of the collective intelligence process. While Jenkins addresses this convergence of collective intelligence in great detail, I am left with one over-riding thought:  The cultural, economic and political changes brought on by online intelligence sharing, via transmedia modes, have been truly amazing and reflect extraordinary cultural shifts in the 21st century.

Discussion question:  On page 133, Jenkins writes, “This transmedia impulse is at the heart of what I am calling convergence culture.” In what way might you involve the “transmedia impulse” at your work in order to communicate a corporate message to your consumers?

First, I have a confession to make.  This is my very first blog post EVER and it has filled me with great anxiety. I can present in front of large groups of people, but I can’t share a short excerpt of my thoughts on the Web???  I will be growing tremendously this term to cope with my new media phobia and will strive to become an avid user of these newfangled technologies.  Who knows, maybe I’ll even start my own blog…

What stood out to me most in this week’s material was the audience segmentation Jenkins wrote about – zappers, casuals and loyals (p. 74) in television and how this segmentation applies to other media, as well. An extreme case of loyals was outlined in his chapter on Survivor.  This really brings home the need for media to be flexible in reach in order to engage various audiences…including me and others like me.  We are not yet active in these multimedia channels, but willing to learn if engaged and if the needed skills are quick and easy to learn.  So, what about the casual social media user?  What do you do to take them to the next level and is it worth the time and money?  How do you make it easy for them and take away the intimidation that comes along with “putting yourself out there?” How do you make me feel safe engaging in this virtual society? Why does it seem so hard?

As I read this week’s article Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21st Century by Thomas E. Ruggiero and Convergence Culture:Where Old and New Media Collide several things struck me.
1. We know so little about how people access the media outlets and what they do with the information gained in media time even though people’s reasons and needs met by media haven’t changed. If anything the proliferation of media has increased our needs for what media provides in surveillance, learning,and connection. The sheer amount of time spent checking in on social media platforms, cell phones, and chat groups I suspect for most people outweighs the amount of time they spend connecting with people in touching distance.
2.I was struck by the discussion of product placement, since this is a very old and common marketing strategy existing in television since the beginning with TV personalities hocking wares themselves, along with oh so careful and obvious use of sponsoring products. TV personalities no longer read scripts true,but product placement is not new,could it be we are scanning for it now? Why does the fact we notice ourselves noticing product placement brother people so much? Does noticing the placement and how we feel about that change what we do with it?