4.3 Favorable platforms for audience engagement
4.3.1 Official Website
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Figure 19. Interaction with the “real world”
Involving physical world in a story-world is a new concept by bringing the story out of the screen, incorporating actual environments like retail stores and museums that can be very beneficial for the brands. “Real world” integrations stand out as a particularly compelling opportunity for retailers (and consumer goods brands), as many already inhabit physical locations.
4.3 Favorable platforms for audience engagement
This section will further discuss Integration as a part of new metrics of audience engagement with transmedia experience. The goal of this section is to discover cross-platform conversation or, in other words, which platforms the Russian audience chooses to interact and engage with transmedia narrative. This information will further help content creators, marketers and producers allocate their content on platforms according to the audience preferences.
4.3.1 Official website
The graph below shows the result of Question 16 that asks if the audience is interested in using official website of a narrative.
This platform has the biggest support from the participants with 156 people out of 208 being strongly agree or agree with the statement. With the high penetration of the Internet and technological boom for the last years in Russia, the author expected that social media platform would be of the highest interest unlike web-site. However, as it can be seen from the chart, the audience give their preference to the website.
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There are might be several reasons to that as well as this question to be further studied by using in-depth intervies. The great interested in the official website of a narrative could be provoked by the low cost of it. In addition, while visiting social networks, there is might be unneccessary and undesirable advertisement that can distruct the audience. According to Cha and Chan-Olmsted (2012), “consumers perceive on-line platforms better than television in terms of effort effiency”. Indeed, the website is purely dedicated to the narative where the fans can watch some episodes they’ve missed, or access deleted scenes or interview with the characters (section 4.2, Question 14).
A well-designed web-site is an excellent marketing tool that allows accessing information about customers buying patterns and interests thus providing further marketing opportunities.
Figure 20. Official web-site extension 4.3.2 VKontakte
The chart in this section shows the responses for Q19. This question was created to find out whether the Russian respondents would like to engage with a transmedia narrative via VKontakte (VK). As it was mentioned in section 3.4.2, VK is the most popular social media network in Russia with over 50.2 million unique visitors per month.
VK has more advantages than Facebook and is more familiar to and popular among the young Russian audience. VK offers its users to watch movies, TV shows without extra charge. It is easy to register there and also free of charge. There is also a lot of communities where people can
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discuss their favorite narratives, post pictures and videos. The respondents have shown a great interest in communicating with people who are also interested in their favorite narrative (see section 4.2). Therefore, VK has a high percentage of “strongly agree” or “agree” responses.
Figure 21. VKontakte extension 4.3.3 Instagram
Instagram is the second most popular platform in Russia with more than 4.6 million active users in November 2016. Instagram is a visual application allowing photo and video sharing.
Images used in the visual marketing are very important for attracting people’s attention therefore contributing to business. Instagram is also connected to other social media platforms such as Twitter or Facebook so the users could share the posts they like. Therefore, Instagram has such popularity among the users. It is interesting to notice that more than 78% of Instagram users in Russia in 2016 are women. One of the reasons why Russian men do not use Instagram could be psychological. 63% versus 33% of all respondents prefer Instagram as the platform for engagement with the transmedia narrative.
Content creators and producers should definitely take Instagram into consideration to attract the Russian audience as it provides excellent way of engagement with the users and helps build trust.
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Figure 22. Instagram extension 4.3.4 Video Game
Question 20 asked if a respondent would consider playing video games related to their favorite narrative. The chart below shows the result from this question. Video game extension is less popular than Instagram giving it the fourth place in the list of the most popular platforms to engage with transmedia experience. To be noticed, most of the participants who would agree to play a video game are males: 59% versus 41% respectively (Figure 24). Some respondents hesitated to choose one particular preference leaving some room for a researcher to dig dipper into this subject via in-depth interviews. Since the topic of transmedia storytelling is a new to the Russian audience, a “disagree” or a “don’t know” does not inevitably mean they would not engage with this extension, but they might not simply understand what it would actually mean for their favorite narrative.
Figure 23. Video game extension
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Figure 24. Video games usage by gender 4.3.5 Mobile Application
The respondents were not enthusiastic about using mobile platforms related to their favorite narrative. The majority of them disagreed or strongly disagreed to the idea of having a mobile application. One of the reasons this kind of extension would not work in Russia is that in order to download an application, there is should be enough space on a mobile phone. Second, a mobile application is a convenient however costly platform which sometimes requires a small fee to download the app. Furthermore, one of the disadvantages of mobile applications is that they cause battery drain.
There is still some chance that a mobile application could be a somewhat successful idea for transmedia extension in Russia, however the creators should consider some cons while implementing this into a Russian market. As for mobile application developers, they regularly face challenges such as restrictions set by Apple. Mobile applications also take more time and money to develop than a website. Moreover, the mobile application creators need to have at least two versions developed—one for iOS and one for Android (Sevilla, 23 September 2015).
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Males Females
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Figure 25. Mobile application extension 4.3.6 Facebook
This section will discuss the results of Question 18. This question was dedicated to asking if the Russian audience would consider using Facebook as a platform to engage with transmedia.
Despite the current growth in Facebook among young professionals and entrepreneur (from spring 2014-2015 the percentage if Facebook users in Russia grew by 30%), Facebook is not considered as a platform for entertainment for the Russians, but a way to interact with their foreign friends or expand their business. The average usage of Facebook (2015) is only 7 minutes per day compare to VK with 31 minutes per day. Therefore, Facebook is the least popular media to engage with a transmedia narrative with over 50% of respondents being in a disagree spectrum.
The fact that respondents do not know their preference about Facebook could be explained that they are simply not members of this social networking service. More explanations to this phenomenon could be via in-depth interviews.
Figure 26. Facebook extension
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The data from these survey questions is particularly interesting and useful as it is important to choose the correct platform for transmedia narrative to have higher changes to engage audience.
Here, we see that Russian audience mostly prefers official web-sites, social media platforms VKontakte and Instagram, as well as video games. Mobile applications and Facebook as platforms for engagement have the lowest interest from the audience, even strongly negative responses despite the popularity of Facebook in the world.
4.4 Second Screen Usage
This section is dedicated answer Research Question 2b which aims at analysis of people’s behavior while watching their favorite narrative. The main purpose of the question is whether the audience is interested in using second screen such as tablet or mobile phone in order to seek more information about their favorite show, interact with people on social media or transfer their attention to something else.
The chart for Question 22 demonstrates the results of if the audience would use Twitter or other blogs to share their opinion about the TV show they are watching. It has to be said that popularity of Twitter in Russia is quite low compare to other social media with only over 8 million users per month (data for 2015). People mostly read the posts of other people, such as celebrities but rarely post their own. Liveblogging (Lifejournal.com is the most popular platform) used to be quite popular as well especially among males. From the chart we can see that the large majority of people “strongly disagreed” with the idea of using Twitter or other blogs.
In Question 23, which sought to find if the audience watches other videos not related to the TV show they are watching, the opinions were separated between ‘agree’ and ‘disagree’ with almost even amount of respondents. However, the results are leaning towards the agree side with a minimum advantage.
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Question 24 was designed to ask if respondents would use another device such as a smartphone or tablet to follow social media discussions related to the programming. The results does not show the participants’ willingness for this type of second screen usage. Once again, this question could not be understood clearly by the respondents. Second, as it was mentioned before, audience participation in Russia is quite low. Third, the respondents might engage with social media discussion only after they have watched the program.
The result of Question 25 is very important because it showcase people’s willingness to search more live information about the narrative they are watching. On the other hand, there is a quite high percentage of people who would not consider doing that. The results of this question are contradictory, thus the producers need to take this into consideration if they want the audience to be engaged during the programming. For example, they could post life updates or explaining some moments from the show on the TV show’s website or social media.
The researcher supposes, on one hand the audience got the concept of second screen usage but did not know how to use it. On the other hand, the participants did not fully understand what would second screen usage mean to the related narrative. Furthermore, using a second screen while watching the favorite show could be quite a distraction for some participants. Few participants left their feedbacks about the survey and some of them claim they did not watch TV shows at all. This could also be a possible reason why there is a high percentage of negative answers.
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Figure 27. Live tweeting and blogging Figure 28. Watching the content related to the show
Figure 29. Following social media discussions Figure 30. Accessing live information
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CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION
In this chapter we will further discuss transmedia storytelling as a topic under study as well as the data collected from the on-line survey, contributions of the research. Furthermore, we will give some recommendations for content creators and marketers as well as academics interested in this field. The study gives us the overall idea of what storytelling is and how it is presented and used in marketing and branding in the modern world as well as a picture of how media is consumed today, the core concepts of transmedia storytelling, its difference from similar terms such as
“multimedia” and “crossmedia”. In addition, the current Russian media landscape have been discussed and its audience’s peculiarities. The survey data collected provide some information about how the Russian audiences engages on different levels with transmedia storytelling, which platforms they prefer to have such engagement on.
5.1 Summary
The literature review in Chapter 2 serves as a framework of the discussion of the topic of transmedia storytelling. In every good transmedia narrative lies a story that catches people’s attention and influences their emotions and decision making. Therefore, producers have to thoroughly create a content that will be further given to the audience to absorb. With the spread of new technologies and all kinds of media, a new audience emerges. This audience is no more passive but highly dynamic and engaged as well as it designs and shares content among its members by “spreading” it. The new audience is not only consumers but creators. The shifting relations between media producers and their audiences are transforming the concept of meaningful participation.
In the traditional marketing world, a story was unchanging. It was mostly about the company, the brand and how the brand is better than its competitors. Moreover, this story was historically
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published across all channels in the same manner. Transmedia changer the way how a story is being told. It is being delivered as a unique piece
The previous experiments and research have found the connection between storytelling and emotions. Transmedia experience plays role in eliciting emotion and creating measurable behavioral change. Storytelling evokes a strong neurological response. A good story that touches our feelings and can be related to on a personal level affects our brain and therefore, make the audience take actions.
It is necessary to differentiate “transmedia” from similar phenomena such as “multimedia”
and “crossmedia”. In transmedia storytelling, a story flows across different platforms which are interconnected. The content on each platform is different and the audiences are actively engaged in that experience.
With the new type of media and technological development a new audience appears. Old consumers did not participate or contribute. They are stationary and their actions are predictable due to their constant structure. In addition, old consumers were isolated individuals and were perceived as quit, invisible and submissive. On the other hand, new media consumers are open to interaction and more socially connected. They decide which content they want to view. One of the particular traits of new consumers is that they actively take part and willing to contribute.
While in the Western countries, transmedia storytelling has been known for a while and is a popular marketing tool, the opposite situation can be seen in Russia. Transmedia storytelling is not a well-known technique. The participatory mind is yet to develop.
Television remains central and subject to several forms of state and political interference in Russia. The newspaper industry, which has offered a more diverse mix of relatively independent commercial media, politically-connected media and foreign-owned media, is suffering due to the
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secular migration of advertising and audiences. In addition, digital platforms became important providing a mix of dissident, pro-government and largely apolitical offerings.
Despite that there has been just a few transmedia productions in Russia, they have gained necessary audience’s interest. There is a TV and Web series True Love, a video game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. as well as a mobile application Red Quest.
Are the Russia media users ready to engage with transmedia storytelling? Do they want to seek for more information about their favorite narrative? Are they ready to not be only consumers of a content but also creators? Which platforms are they mostly likely to be engaged with a transmedia on? Last, but not least, does the Russian audience use second screen while watching their favorite narrative in order to search more information about it or discuss it on social media with their friends? This research is the first of its kind to give answers to the above questions.
By looking at the results from the survey utilized in this study, we have found some interesting things. The overall data gathered for the first research question which aimed at examining Integration, Immersion, Impact and Interactivity demonstrates that the Russian respondents showed high level of willingness to interact with the narrative. They would influence character’s decision or contribute to the storyline. The respondents would also actively interact with others around the story.
When it comes to Impact, the respondents showed high level of interests in searching more information about products or services presented in the narrative. Moreover, they would purchase the product used in the narrative if it was presented in a story-like way. We have previously mentioned in section 2.1.4 that transmedia storytelling can affect cognitive, affective, physiological, belief, attitudinal, and behavioral systems. Thus, a well-told story affects the limbic
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system to release such neurochemicals like cortisol and oxytocin which in turn the main players in decision making.
One of the most important data gathered is about Immersion. It is willingness to seek more information, learn more about a narrative and a story world, and access some extra materials such as bonus content or interviews. In section 4.3.1 we discussed the preferable platforms for engagement with transmedia and the results have shown that web-site and VKontakte are the most popular digital services. They provide free content which can be easily accessed therefore they the audience can search for information on these platforms or watch extra content.
Integration brings the story into human lives via electronic devices such as tablets, smartphones or laptops. It allows the audience experience the story-world in real world by connecting people, places and objects with the content. The brands would benefit by integrating physical spaces such as supermarkets, museums, etc. by bringing the story put of the screen. “Real world” integrations stand out as a particularly compelling opportunity for retailers (and consumer goods brands), as many already inhabit physical locations.
Regarding the second research questions examining favorable platforms for engagement with transmedia, it is seen that the respondents gave their preference to a web-site extension the most, followed by a Russian social media and social networking service VKontakte and Instagram.
Playing video game related to audience’s favorite narrative as a way of engagement with transmedia seems controversial as the respondents split between “agree” and “disagree”.
According to our findings, male population is more interested in video games than females even though most of our respondents are women. The marketers could consider implementing this extension as it could be useful in attracting males if advertising a product targeting them. Using a mobile application and Facebook was shown as the least popular type of extension. In relations to
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Facebook, as it was mentioned before, this social media platform is not popular among Russians as they prefer VKontakte. The reason for its popularity is that some people think VK is by far easier to use than Facebook as they do not understand the concept of Facebook user’s interface.
Facebook, as it was mentioned before, this social media platform is not popular among Russians as they prefer VKontakte. The reason for its popularity is that some people think VK is by far easier to use than Facebook as they do not understand the concept of Facebook user’s interface.