Managing the Artist Through Transmedia Storytelling

So we can all nod to the fact thattransmedia and storytelling is the future of content and that brands are the main drivers of this progression. When you begin to look at brands or media as conveyorsor a narrative, you begin to understand the intrinsic social fiber of media, audience or market behavior, sentiments and actions (including insight into the influencer segment ofyour audience) and breakdown the brand story and messaging construct across all platforms.

You will note that some platforms such as mobile and emerging media, is left out of this diagram, but should be included.

Transmedia storytelling can come across as a fairly convoluted

theory, but Gunther Sonnenfeld does a pretty good job or chopping up the Beyonce brand into cerebral bite sizes.

But how is understanding this narrative helpful when managing an artist's brand? Well, if you understand the potentiality of all the various dialogues and conversations that

can and will include your artist/brand, then you'll be able to help craft and evolve those stories and complex interactions. Being an effective steward of your artist's brand is more than facilitating album deals, branded clothing or perfume lines, or the occasional endorsement deal, its about massaging their brand narrative through intertextual dialogue between the fans and community that are interacting with the story (or creating one).

Huh?

I will once again point out Sonnefield's breakdown of the Beyonce brand, using the baby bump announcement as an example, we can begin to see how her team helped evolve her brand story (these of course are based on a her stellar management and marketing team's stewardship over the years):

Other artists doing a great job of purveying their brand narrative across transmedia platforms - Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas, and Janelle Monae.

Like I said before, it seems very difficult to understand, transmedia storytelling, transmedia branding, transmedia marketing and messaging, but if we first know that our artist's brands are going to be visible across all media platforms (whether we want them to or not), and begin to understand what drives the fan's sentiment, behavior and subsequently their actions across these mediums, we can tap into transmedia storytelling to transform their careers and brands.