I’m sure you’re grokking this already. So I won’t blame you for skipping this post. ;-] But sometimes I need to type something out to really understand it, and rewrite my creative DNA.
You know all that web content that’s been created under the marketing umbrella? To support the launch of your favorite MOVIE, TV-SHOW, and CD? That stuff is not ephemeral. That stuff is evergreen. It’s awesome content. And it needs to be taken seriously. And given a home.
The ARGs. Teaser websites. Prequel comic books. Webisodes. All that content that has been created for viral marketing campaigns, it shouldn’t be discarded by the companies that pay for it. It needs to be re-purposed, and supported. With so many TV SHOWS having a shelf-life, there is no reason new consumers shouldn’t have access to that narrative content in the future. And after all the hard work, creativity, and money that went into making the stuff, to abandon it seems… wasteful. We need a more sustainable model.
One HEROES example — Our awesome marketing team gave us money to create the 9thWonders website to help launch the show. It was designed to be a place where all the fans at The San Diego Comic Con could come together after seeing the pilot, and chat. 9thWonders grew into an amazing fan community. But because it was built with marketing cash — there was no plan for how to pay for the site to be updated post premiere. Thanks to some amazing admins, the site still has a vibrant community — but they deserve more updates, cool stuff, and exclusives.
Sometimes HEROES gets it right — The video commentaries, and documentaries that were created as web content, were used on the DVD. Kind of a no brainer. Right?
But what if from the very beginning a business model took into consideration how the marketing content would live-on, alongside the franchise? I’m sure that would complicate how the production of the content was paid for. But I’m also sure it would be more profitable for its investors in the long run.
I was motivated to crank out this post after checking out all the stuff BAD ROBOT has been doing for CLOVERFIELD. Those guys are brilliant. And I’m sure they have a plan to bring the story of Tagruato, Chuai Station, and Dr. Nightingale, off of scattered websites, and share it with the broad audience it deserves. A book. A DVD. Something. And when they do — I’ll buy it. And I think others will too.
Amen. This reads a fair bit like the proposal for my book. I guess I should hurry up and write it now, eh?
I can’t wait to see all the Cloverfield stuff, they did a fantastic job.
Also you’ve done some awesome work on Heroes, glad I found your blog thanks to Javi.