himym transmedia playbook

Introduction: What?

Transmedia: “One story over multiple

media where each makes a unique contribution.”

Chapter One: Easter Eggs & Entry

Points

“ How I Met Your Mother is pioneering the extending transmedia punch line.”

~Andrea Phillips

The Fake Websites 1.  Make a hilarious joke in the TV show. 2.  Make full websites in real life relating to the joke. 3.  Reference the joke/websites in future episodes. 4.  Your audience will fall in love with you more.

“One wonders how many new people gave How I Met Your

Mother a chance after the Robin Sparkles ‘ Let’s Go To

The Mall’ video.” ~Andrea Phillips

The Viral Videos 1.  Show a hilarious video (or part of) in the TV show. 2.  Publish the full video online, in a ‘real’ setting. 3.  The powers of the Internet make it spread/go viral. 4.  Your audience – old and new! – will fall in love with

you more.

“Each bit of the larger whole […]makes a contribution to the viewer’s

discovery of the story universe, and each piece is an entry point by which the

consumer can uniquely discover again a bit of the story world.”

~R. Eric Lieb

The Continuity Issue 1.  What happens to the experience when content is taken

down? 2.  What happens if expectations are set and not met?

Chapter Two: Phase Two

“ By channelling the voice of each fan, Story has cultivated a

community for WGN America that’s greater than the sum of its parts—

and perfectly in line with the fanatic TV viewers it serves.” ~Story Worldwide

The New Partner: Story Worldwide

1.  Create a Facebook page, Twitter account and YouTube channel

2.  Activate Superfans 3.  Discussion goes wild 4.  Fans tune-in during broadcasts

1.  Transmedia that is made to last 2.  Transmedia which is more aware that people will be

accessing the information after the fact 3.  Transmedia that aims to engage the fan over a long

period of time 4.  Transmedia to generate discussion

The New Partner: Story Worldwide

“It is hard to make different art forms work together in an elegant way, and I love that both digital and traditional media can work

together.” ~Christy Dena

Barney’ s Blog 1.  Have a TV show 2.  Expand its story world on digital platforms 3.  Delve into character (…?) 4.  Delight your fans so that they want to explore multiple

platforms

“A transmedia project should be designed from the beginning as such, rather than having the transmedia

component tacked on late in the development process.”

~Peter von Stackelberg

Making Transmedia 1.  Transmedia should be transmedia from the beginning 2.  Transmedia needs to be more than marketing 3.  Transmedia needs to offer new information on its other

platforms

“Online generated content doesn’t interact with the TV programme, or affect it in any way. They are two

separate parts.” ~Tess Wallis

Conclusion

References •  http://www.thewrap.com/media/column-post/r-eric-lieb-explains-

transmedia-thegrilltribeca-2011-video-26781 •  http://henryjenkins.org/2012/11/creating-transmedia-an-interview-

with-andrea-phillips-part-two.html •  http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=3039 •  http://how-i-met-your-mother.wikia.com/wiki/

How_I_Met_Your_Mother_Wiki •  http://transmediadigest.com/2012/08/13/story-story-story-the-

heart-soul-of-transmedia/ •  http://article.wn.com/view/2013/03/28/

WGN_America_s_How_I_Met_Your_Mother_Facebook_Campaign_Nomina/#/video-details

•  http://www.storyworldwide.com/wgna-award/ •  http://www.cbs.com/shows/how_i_met_your_mother/

barneys_blog/66418/ •  http://transmedia.ca/2012/10/dr-christy-dena-interview/