Transforming The Story In Unexpected Ways
Fan fiction is nothing new. For years fans have been adding to entertainment franchises by creating their own story extensions. One would think content creators and marketers would love this type of promotion, however this has not always been the case.
Prior to George Lucas’s complete adoption of fan fiction he was not a proponent of other’s taking part in his storytelling process. While this is certainly understandable, as marketers we need to be more sensitive to those who may want to tell our stories with us, as the way a consumer tells the story may be more inline with what they actually want.
Take the recent success of Transformers. While I have not yet seen the movie, and cannot judge it based on it’s cinematic integrity, I know is that it’s early success was due, in part, to the many stories told by fans.
Take this fan created clip for example (there is no mention that this was commissioned Paramount):
Fan fiction does not have to start and end with entertainment. Take the hype surrounding the recent release of the iPhone. I don’t have an official number on the amount of media Apple bought to advertise it’s new product, but I know that most of the hype was created for no money, by people not working for Apple. The result was a technology product release with more buzz than I can remember.
For example:
You never know who will want to tell your story with you. It is important to keep your eyes and mind open at all times!
Tags: transformers, fan fiction, marketing, co creation, apple, paramount, storytelling, iphone, technology, advertising, george lucas, star wars
Jul 05, 2007
There are evolutionary steps from the point of fan fiction but I think it a culture to celebrate (in the main).
Jul 05, 2007
I fully agree! Fan culture is a fascinating and wonderful thing
Jul 05, 2007
I love Bear McCreays music from BattleStar Galactica and I just did a YouTube search to see how people may have interpreted his music. A few interesting pieces for sure…one applied to arts works..one about a child..another of a game..but one depicting scenes from the Battle of Britain was rather stunning simply because the photography is exquisite, the scenes dramatic and evocative and the music paced to perfection.
My comment about evolution was aligned to greater integration and the use of fans and fan ideas in advertising.
Jul 06, 2007
I only just looked at the kids video. For me…annoying to the power of ten plus one. That is parents pushing kids. And the non sharing moment (re popcorn) added a subtle additional negative dimension that one would work to avoid if employing such a vid in advertising. For me this was Uncle Adam being kind. I bet experienced dad Adam would think..lordy, who gave these kids the script *grin*
The transformer example is more to my liking. People taking the trouble to develop scripts and work on costumes etc and offering concepts or concept twists.
Jul 06, 2007
Oh..it was also the loudness of the older child’s voice (that didn’t stop quickly) that was also a turnoff for me.
Jul 06, 2007
There will not be dad adam for a while
until then, let the kids run wild!