Reviving London’s West End: Social media at play?

Posted by on March 17, 2008 · Leave a Comment 

Having somehow found myself watching ‘I’d do anything’, a TV show which aims to find the next music theatre stars of Oliver, I realised this canny idea to reinvigorate the West End is built on the same principles which have driven new media growth.

While the reality TV star search shows, and recent PR stunt which saw the new Sound of Music lead play a crossover character in TV soap Hollyoaks, weren’t web based or digital ideas they did bring social media elements into play.

Interactivity, creating a deeper audience engagement, and challenging the traditional process to provide a platform for new talent, are key differentiation points for web based media.

TV is still an extremely powerful medium but Lord Lloyd-Webber* has adapted his ability to appeal to popular culture to innovate, from Broadway to broadcast.

*I’m aware ideas like this are usually collaborative rather than solely attributable to an individual but nevertheless think his willingness to even try it shows great understanding of the opps where it might otherwise have been seen as too risky.

Filed under Opinion, Trends · Tagged with , , ,

Brand sponsorships create drama

Posted by on March 4, 2008 · 6 Comments 

my-story.jpgSofia’s Diary, Bebo’s new interactive drama to follow on from KateModern, has signed-up Pearl Drops as the first integrated brand for the series.

I think it’s exciting to watch how this type of advertising will create new channels for up-and-coming creative talent, particularly in broadcast/film.

On a recent trip to NZ I caught up with Bevin Linkhorn of The Gibson Group and brains behind ‘My Story’ a 2-minute x 40 episode drama series which aired on terrestrial television in NZ  & was delivered to fans via mobile SMS.

Bevin highlighted some interesting benefits to this type of work:

  • It was relatively cost effective vs. traditional production costs
  • Short episodes could be shot and turned around faster (allowing future opps for audience interactivity in the story)
  • Fans could virally share episodes by forwarding the clips

While MyStory did get some sponsorship on board it wasn’t essential as the project was funded by TVNZ.  [Update: Bevin got in touch to put me straight -  show was funded by NZ On Air's innovation fund ]. As projects like this become more commonplace though and funding gets competitive brand sponsorships could drive content creation and start turning production companies into distributors. We’re already seeing the music world changing distribution.

I also saw that at the recent 3GSM World Congress Robert Redford discussed the role mobile will particularly play in allowing independent filmmakers to reach new audiences. (The GSMA recently collaborated with the Sundance Film Festival: Global Short Film Project last year.)

If I was a film student right now I’d be all over this to get my work funded and out there – and if was a brand I’d be looking at the potentially attractive ROI of this type of activity.

Filed under Best Practice · Tagged with , , , , ,