Last Friday, I stopped by the Kidscreen Summit here in New York to get a feel for what’s on the horizon for kid entertainment targeted towards tweens and younger. It left me thinking about the upward trend in media-multitasking recently cited by the Kaiser Family Foundation study, and how if all goes according to plan for the speakers and panelists I heard from, we’ve only just started to see the potential of this new breed of media consumer.

I first started to get this impression during a keynote on “Transmedia and the New Narrative Paradigm” delivered by cross-platform strategist Jeff Gomez whose credits include “Avatar” and “Transformers.” It was interesting to hear Jeff emphasize the distinction between branded content and transmedia storytelling — noting that while the former doesn’t add to a fictional universe so much as simply piggyback on a successful franchise [i.e. those eternally lame screen-to-page novelizations], the latter continues to expand on established themes and storylines through “the artful or well planned use of multiple media platforms,” creating an immersive experience that not only connects fans to the fictional world, but also requires their participation.  A thrilling prospect for innovators in the field like Jeff and diehard fans who have a long history of eagerly self-organizing similar efforts IRL [think: Trekkies] and online alike. But also one that [much to the chagrin of those former groups] still encounters some resistance from media conglomerates who are just starting to learn the true value of that type of investment and accessibility to their properties [note: Jeff estimates a well envisioned transmedia initiative could potentially add 15-25% in revenues beyond the original platform]. In the meantime we’re seeing moves that range from small scale like Fox creating/rebranding dedicated digital divisions, to major shakeups at Disney including the recent promotion of Tron producer/transmedia guy Sean Bailey as head of Walt Disney Studios. As for who will ultimately win the digital footrace? Hopefully that will be the aforementioned fanboys and girls.

This theme of breaking down the wall between content creators and content consumers continued with a slight shift as a panel of new media forces spoke to the benefits of  building up equity and a potential fanbase by bypassing traditional TV altogether for a more direct-to-kid connection online. The session introduced the concept of moving from broadcasting to narrowcasting in order to engage with viewers on a more personal level before moving to that other screen. The discussion reinforced the importance of breeding communities vs. audiences through well-developed characters, a certain degree of story-guided UGC, social networking and a platform-neutral brand — all elements that echo the recent buzz we’ve heard around those distinct “iGeneration” character traits of  hyper customization, constant connectivity and (of course) multitasking.  With that said, panelists still agreed that despite these new roads and new niches, the TV itself wasn’t going anywhere so much as  just evolving  to connect to and extend new media platform experiences…and involve viewers in the process. In fact, one panelist (a creator of the web-based UK soap Sophia’s Diary) recalled fans of the series actually congratulating the fictional characters on making a “well-deserved” jump when the series eventually did get picked up for television.

I’d say my biggest takeaway from the event just built on the earlier conclusion we drew around young media consumers evolving from passive viewers into a community of players/collaborators just waiting to be properly embraced and consulted by brands and/or individuals forward thinking enough to not only create a good story, with developed characters that attract a fan base on the scale of Star Trek, Twilight and the like…but also the digital channels rich enough and deep enough to go with them.

For more coverage of the tween space, check out the Ypulse Tweens Channel.

Categorized under: Tweens

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