"The Matrix" Guide to Brand-Building: Neomarketing & Transmedia Engagement


Going beyond multidimensional or media neutral marketing, transmedia storytelling opens up new ways for brands to bond with consumers.

In addition to helping us confront such deep realities as the fact that "there is no spoon," it might surprise marketers to learn that "The Matrix" also answers the most vexing question facing marketers today: "What is engagement?"

In his book "Convergence Culture" Henry Jenkins writes that "The Matrix" franchise is the most fully realized example to date of a concept he calls "transmedia storytelling," sparking a conversation in marketing circles about how this approach might be used to create a more meaningful connection between brands and consumers.

Jenkins defines a transmedia story as one that "unfolds across multiple media platforms, with each new text making a distinctive and valuable contribution to the whole." In the case of The Matrix, the full story took shape not only in the three movies, but also in anime, comics, a video game and an MMOG (Massive Multiplayer Online Game).

As an example of the interplay between all of these assets Jenkins describes a scene in "Matrix:Reloaded" in which Niobe arrives at a rendezvous point seemingly out of nowhere just in time to make a dramatic rescue. However, for hard-core fans there was a much deeper context: arriving at this specific location was a key mission in the video game. The plots of the game and the movie intersect at this rendezvous point -- they complement one another, but don't overlap -- providing an "aha" moment that rewards the most dedicated fans but doesn't take anything away from the experience of the casual popcorn fan.

If we want to bring a transmedia approach and the "aha" moments it can deliver into the world of marketing, two fundamental questions need to be addressed: how, and why.

How: transmedia vs. media neutral
Much of the early blog buzz has focused on the "How" question, and is very nicely summarized in this post by Jason Oke of Leo Burnett Canada. As we think about how to bring a transmedia approach to marketing, a key distinction has to be made between transmedia and the media neutral approach.

If the strength of the media neutral approach is that it starts with a deep understanding of consumer behavior and channel receptivity, the weakness (at least in many executions) is that brands still tend to rely heavily on a repetition model. We may use multiple media channels, but the messages being communicated across those channels are still essentially the same.

A switch to transmedia branding would mean that not only would we use multiple media to tell a brand story, but each of the channels would communicate a unique, complementary piece of that story.

If The Matrix took the lead in the world of entertainment, then Geico's disgruntled Caveman has emerged as a transmedia brand leader. After gaining some traction with the TV spots, Geico launched CavemansCrib, where visitors can explore the Caveman's bachelor pad.

Whereas a traditional cross-channel approach might have led Geico to edit down the popular TV spots to a more consumable length and run pre-roll video placements (i.e., new channel, same content), CavemansCrib introduces a new channel, as well as a fundamentally different experience, that amplifies and extends consumer engagement with the television spots.

The approach must be working: Caveman is now in talks to have his own sitcom.

So let's move on to the core question. Why?

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Why should brands adopt a transmedia approach?

It's all about the "E" word.

Engagement. Yes, it's an overused word, but it's earned its place as the go-to descriptor of marketing's future given the combination of expanding choice and increased control that we all enjoy as consumers.

Most marketers and agencies agree that the choice/control combo necessitates a new approach. At Carat, we frame this challenge in terms of the need to move from a model based on "buying time" to one of "creating time." In other words, brands can't be successful with an approach that's about aggregating eyeballs; they need to offer consumers experiences that are compelling enough that people choose to spend time with them.

The value of discovery
I'd argue that engagement is directly linked to discovery. If our goal is for consumers to choose to spend time with brands, what we're asking is that they become personally invested in our messages and experiences. And investments must have returns.

For consumers the return should come in the form of discovery: being able to learn or experience something new, to put the pieces of a puzzle together for themselves rather than being beat over the head with the same message over and over.

The transmedia approach is all about discovery. Jenkins talks about each of the complementary pieces as being "points of entry" into the broader story, which is a great way to think about each of the communication points in a broader marketing strategy.

Instead of each communication telling the full story, the approach rewards the consumer for investigating on their own to understand the fuller picture.

Adopting a transmedia approach would certainly be a major departure for marketers. We'd need to stop thinking of consumers as entities that we "target" and begin to think of them as fans who we entice.

We need to have faith that if we seed compelling and complementary messages, then consumers will choose to spend time with them. We need to stop throwing the kitchen sink at every single communication, and we need to think in terms of one overarching communication distributed in smaller pieces.

Most of all, we'd need to think about what it means to tell great stories, as opposed to communicating messages. Stories aren't repetitive. Stories elicit emotion and start conversations. Stories are worth spending time with. Stories are engaging.

Transmedia brand-building presents us with lots of tricky issues to sort out. But to steal the sentiment of Geico's advertising, if a Caveman can figure it out, I'm sure the rest of us can, too.

Adam Cahill is VP, director of client services for Carat Fusion’s Boston office.


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