fLO specializes in helping small businesses and non-profits determine the social media/online content tools that are the most effective for their unique business and customer. They provide both high-level strategic planning and mechanical implementation of online content/social media marketing programs
The ultimate high concept we settled on is one story, told primarily through an ARG*, bookended by two live events and with a video to boot. The heroine of our story is a modern-day british lass who is determined to use her scientific smarts to clear the name of her ancestor, one of the Pendle Hill witches. Her quest is upended when she encounters a number of mysterious, possibly supernatural occurences which call into question all that she knows to be true.
As you may have noticed from reading our earlier posts, there is an extraordinary amount of time spent on planning and conceptualizing a transmedia piece. Necessarily - there are so many options available, even on a non-budget like ours. As you add in more factors, you learn more about what will work for a project, and what things (though you had your heart set on including them) must be left by the wayside.
We had initially thought we would play the story out through a combination of Twitter (for exposure) and texting (for intimacy). But we quickly discovered that we would be able to use neither.
We felt it was important to structure the experience in such a way that users could enter it at any time both prior to the show’s opening and during its’ run to encourage ticket sales throughout. This put a BIG limitation on us. Namely, that meant we could not use any social media or other real-time media platforms without damaging suspension of disbelief for subsequent entrants to the experience. This was not a decision we made lightly and one we went back and forth on for quite a while. TRUST.
The second bummer was discovering that without any dollars to spend on it, we would not be able to use texting as a medium. As I’ve mentioned, we’re using Robert Pratten’s Conducttr** to make the magic happen. We weren’t sure how the texting element worked - only that it had the capability. Conducttr partners with Tropo for SMS and even though the rates are incredibly reasonable ($.01 per message), we have no frame of reference to estimate the amount of messages the game might employ. Is there a calculation out there for this? Is there a way to quantify potential griefers and how many messages they might produce just to eff with the game? Inquiring minds want to know!
So that leaves us with the majority of the experience being played out on that old chestnut, email. (Do the kids these days still use email?) Now that we’re committed to it, we’re excited about it. We’re able to do everything we need to do, we can write longer missives and we’re keeping it simple - important for sanity!
The entry-point for the game went live last weekend and you can check it out here.
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* We debated about whether or not to call it an ARG. John said we can’t call it a game, because there’s only one way to play through. I say what we’re putting together meets the Wikipedia definition. He called it an ARG the other day so I’m putting it in writing.
** More about working with Conducttr to come in subsequent posts.