What is a mediaverse? A mediaverse is an immersive group of media platforms centered around one brand. The purpose is to continue expanding a popular idea/brand by branching out with more platforms to further engage the user down the rabbit hole.
Ok, let’s see if we can clarify that with an example. One of the best case examples of a mediaverse is NBC’s Heroes brand. The world started with the TV show itself, but shortly after the launch reached proof-of-concept metrics, a variety of supporting platforms were launched. As the show progressed, the platform group evolved, grew larger, and became more interconnected. Here’s a dissection of the Heroes mediaverse:
Feel free to explore in Heroes | NBC
oThe main TV show Heroes.
This is obviously the cornerstone of the whole group. All episodes are available online so people who miss the show or are more web-oriented can be drawn into the gravity of the show. The added bonus of being able to watch it online again is that
-gave fans a reason to visit the website
-made the program shareable with friends
-reinforced loading dock for all future platforms
-provided an additional channel of advertising revenue
oGraphic Novels: The website offers users free access to serialized graphic novels about the show. Novels began to bridge the gap between weekly episodes. This gave eager viewers, eager to see what’s next, the ability to dig deeper into the middle plotlines and gain additional insight into the characters. Again, this provided an additional revenue channel by having Nissan Versa sponsored ads on all downloadable content.
*Side note* Nissan in Season 1 was its own key player in the Heroes media verse and did a great job of picking the right horse at the right time. The rented Nissan that Hiro uses on the show became an accepted product endorsement that resonated with several of the Heroes Mediaverse channels.
oBlogs and websites
This is really where the immersive factor of the world of Heroes started to spread in more directions. The brand launched a series of websites and blogs related to the world. Many of the characters are represented, as well as influential companies. Here is a list:
Primatech paper
Vote for Petrelli
Yamagato Scholarship
Activating evolutions
Corithian Casino
Hanna’s blog
Video surveillance Primatech
Claire’s Myspace
And I can’t find it now but there was a Hiro blog
The point here is that the mediaverse grew based on the actualization of the fictional world. Furthermore, they chose channels that were relevant and made logical sense. For example, the Vote Petrelli site was perfect for both the media dominating the electoral climate this year and Nathan Petrelli obviously having a political website. As well as a myspace page for teenage superheroine Claire fit the bill. Site Collections provided more ways to get deeply involved with the program.
oThe Heroes Wiki
The Wiki was another well-organized idea. A good chunk of superhero fans love to learn the dark details of the show and the wiki provides an avenue to compile all of that information. Also, anyone who wants to get summaries and relevant production information could jump in and purchase those details. And since the wiki platform is open source and free, it took relatively few resources to put this piece together.
*Note: Heroes Wiki is a fan site that is gaining enough popularity to be included on the official NBC site. See the explanation in the comments of this article.
oTutorials
The site provides a series of tutorials week by week from all seasons. Tours interconnect many of the other platforms and provide a place for users to comment and ask questions. This resource is great because it creates a timeline blog that catalogs the most important events in the world week by week.
oHistory
The Story feature is an interactive narrative platform for the brand that allows users to make decisions that affect the narrative provided. This is a solid reworking of the classic page-turning books that used to be very popular. Everyone speculates during movies and shows about what they would do in a given situation and now fans have that opportunity. All of the characters are story-specific, so again, fans have another means to engage more deeply with the brand, and producers get feedback on what kinds of things they’d like to see happen.
oWebisodes
Yes, the platforms keep coming. Webisodes in their own right are becoming a marketing meme. I love this idea as webisodes are cheaper to produce and provide valuable testing and data collection opportunities to push concepts to the max through other channels. Another example I know of that made it from the web to TV is the Sanctuary series on SciFi. In any case, the Heroes webisode again creates another avenue for users to participate. Even the webisodes themselves get leaked, as users can access behind-the-scenes videos, photos, and wallpapers related to the platform.
oCreate your own hero
This platform directly called users to give their opinion on which character they would like to see in the world of Heroes. I love it, trying it out and launching it with the bonus of hooking the users who voted for the character in the first place with the option to bring finalist winners. It looks like the selected character will get their own spin-off show or webisode.
oMicroseries
Santiago, the winner of the create your own hero platform, gets a microseries. I think now you are starting to see the pattern of how one platform stimulates another and creates an interconnection between other platforms in a self-sustaining mechanism.
Interactive SMS
The SMS tricks that many brands have used typically don’t count toward building a mediaverse, but live, during broadcast polls, quizzes, and trivia they do. The $5,000 raffle is a nice incentive, and of course the brand acquires phone numbers and texting privileges for numerous fans.
oHeroes Magazine
This is a web-only edition, but with so much going on within the world, it makes sense to have magazine angle coverage of all interconnections. The magazine also fills the void of getting interviews with the cast that are strangely missing from all other platforms. I guess this is because most of the platforms are working to create a fictional effect to reality and the cast interviews break the fictional dream so to speak.
oGames
As if you didn’t see it coming… All kinds of games and quizzes to immerse yourself in. Many brands have not done well, but games and superheroes fit perfectly into the world of heroes.
oMessage boards
Some of the above platforms provide the opportunity for fan interaction, but message boards focus on this. The speculation and all the wonderful fan activity that happens on message boards adds to the world. And again, you see the pattern. This is another platform to engage more deeply with the brand. And what do they talk about on the boards? All other platforms and elements of the Heroes mediaverse.
oTake It – Widgets and Icons
After all of the above, you’d think the mediaverse would be complete, but new platforms are constantly emerging. Countdown widgets, AIM icons, wallpapers, and eCards galore. This platform spreads the brand through fan distribution and owns small user real estate through various channels.
oStore
OK, you get the idea with the store, I hope…
Phew! So looking at the long list of platforms that are grouped into the Heroes mediaverse, you can see how it helped stabilize the brand and provide consistent content in a medium that normally thrives on eager anticipation.
Well, if you’ve made it this far, you may be wondering, how does this apply to more traditional brands? Can it work with something other than TV and movies? Certainly the idea of a mediaverse leans towards entertainment channels. It could also throw books into the mix, like the massive Harry Potter franchise, which has spawned a world of its own.
I think we’ve seen a lot of trying and poor execution in this area without having an overall strategy. The closest I’ve seen are some of the viral campaigns from movies like the latest Batman release.
So here is the challenge:
Choose a non-entertainment industry or brand (no movies, TV, or books) and explain your vision of a mediaverse brand or point to one that currently exists
My choice is Nikon. Nikon took advantage of photo-sharing technology such as Flickr to tag images taken with a Nikon camera and launched its own site showcasing user-created content. Photography contests have long been a good marketing arm for camera companies. I think I could extend this with deviant art-like sites to produce a lot of user-generated content for Nikon cameras. Also, exclusivity marketing would be huge, like buying key photography venues at events like celebrity awards or sporting events and only allowing Nikon cameras in the area. There are plenty of mini blog possibilities here for comical images or any other emotionally engaging topic. Just think how smart it would have been for Nikon to have released something as inducing as Ihaschzburger or the like.
Let me know what you think.