The Opportunity for Transmedia Storytelling

One of the hot topics at South by Southwest this year was transmedia storytelling, the idea of using various channels to tell different aspects of your story. New research from the IPG Media Lab and YuMe lends further credence to the argument for use of transmedia storytelling:

"The study quantified some long-suspected but never quantified aspects of media behavior. Distraction media was ubiquitous, with 94% of TV and 73% of online video viewers using some type of companion/distraction media. While companion media included everything from laptops, video games and crossword puzzles to physical mail and musical instruments, the smartphone proved to be the true "disruptor" in regards to video attention levels. Of all of the companion media used, the smartphone accounted for 60% of TV and 46% of online video distractions."

The article goes on to give statistics about the level of engagement with commercials and how viewers who fast forward through the DVR version actually pay more attention to the commercials than those that simply put their heads down to engage with their smart phones while the commercials continue playing. Think about the opportunities that exist for marketers using a transmedia strategy to drive the viewers to their smartphones purposely for the story and message continuation.