4. Build a world, not just a story. Jenkins’ fourth principle of transmedia storytelling focuses on the importance of creating a world for your story to live in, not just a story that works in this world. While creating an elaborate universe for characters is a basic element in most storytelling, brands outside of entertainment should consider it, too. What kind of world could you build around your brand’s story? Around your users? Around your mission? Maybe its fantastical (Coke’s “Happiness Factory“) or maybe it’s just our world, but better (Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty“).
“Transmedia isn’t new. What makes it particularly interesting to us now is the speed, variety, reach and interactivity of today’s platforms. We are on the frontier of technology and new forms of communication that are changing the ways we create, experience and share stories (take a look at Jonathan Harris’s Whale Hunt if you want a good example). The law of conservation of energy doesn’t seem to apply in this world—because the stories we create and consume are no longer defined by time, space or material object.”