…is to release it on X360, PC and DS. Why?

When you are designing a game, it will be interactive to some degree. The means of interaction are going to be an integral part of the experience of the game that you are creating.
That means is usually “using a controller” (e.g. a Wiimote) on the player’s side of the interaction, which has two aspects:
The first one is the actual hardware of the controller (e.g. a piece of plastic); the second is the game’s reaction to a certain controller input (e.g. “Jump”). In order to provide the best experience possible, it is necessary for those two aspects and the rest of the game to be as consistent as possible.

Let’s have a look at the hardware first. The controllers available on the market have certain strengths (and weaknesses) regarding what kinds of experiences they are best able to provide for the player, simply because of how they are constructed.
Each of the functions of those controllers has several properties, including, but not limited to, the triggering mechanism, size and location on the controller, ease of activation, sensitivity and width of input spectrum (e.g. binary, analog etc.), and last but not least how all those properties’ values compare to those of the other functions of the controller.

No matter how good you are at getting the best out of a controller, some games just may not work very well because of hardware limits. A game that simulates an activity based on analog input (e.g. real-time driving) isn’t best played with a purely digital input device (e.g. a digital pad), but rather something that resembles driving as much as possible (e.g. a steering wheel).

The other part of the equation is how the game reacts to controller input. Unless the game is extremely primitive, there will be multiple reactions that can be caused by the player (e.g. running, jumping, shooting), which will be different in terms of importance for success, frequency of use, how time critical they are and the level of association with different gameplay elements (e.g. enemies), among other criteria, and how all of those relate to the other existing systems.

In order to achieve the best experience possible, which requires high levels of consistency and transparency throughout the game, those game reactions need to reflect the controls which cause them, and vice versa – in absolute terms as well as in relation to all the other control/game-function pairs there are.

As soon as any design meets the real world, i.e. constraints of the controller (and of course the platform overall), there will have to be tradeoffs in relative or absolute consistency, or probably a bit of both. Suddenly, you will wish for another face button, and you would gladly trade the excess analog stick for it, or everything would be perfect if the trigger weren’t analog, but digital.

The two extremes of how to deal with this are as follows:

You could live with the inconsistencies and assign functionality in a way that causes the least overall problems. This will get you a large degree of freedom regarding your game design, but won’t make your less flexible potential customers very happy.

You could also choose to focus on the controller as one of the very first hard constraints. This will severely limit your freedom as game design choices go, but for the typical consumer the experience will be that much more consistent and transparent.

Wherever your game ends up on that scale, please just make sure your vision does not read “Reach huge audience by having newbie-friendly controls on all six different platforms”: Does Not Compute.

You can’t accuse Poynter of not understanding the power of social media. You also can’t scold the media resource institute of using the platform to promote anything but good journalism.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at Poynter.org’s latest multi platform venture, “100 Things Journalists Should Never Do.”

In fact, don’t just look-contribute. They want you to!

The feature, inspired by a popular The New York Times list, encourages journalists to contribute to the discussion by commenting to the Twitter hashtag (#100things). Poynter staffers also will contribute to the list. Poynter staffers then will choose which “dos” and “don’ts” to post based on how many times each suggestion is retweeted.

The concept is interactive, uses online and social media, and it’s just plain fun. The list also could be used as a learning/teaching tool for journalists and educators. Some of my favorites thus far:

• A journalist should never: Wonder how to rewrite a press release before wondering how to fact-check it.(@JoshHalliday)
• A journalist should: Give voice to those who cannot make themselves heard. (@paulbradshaw)
• A journalist should: Get out of the office & out of the house. Don’t hide behind your job or computer. (@poynter)
• Journalists should be comfortable with silence during interviews. You’ll hear & learn more if you’re not talking. (@poynter)
• Journalists should follow the facts where they lead, especially if that’s somewhere unexpected & uncomfortable. (@poynter)

EA have admitted that they’re struggling with profitability on multi-platform ports for the Nintendo Wii.

The company cites the most recent edition of the Madden franchise as a shining example of this, with sales figures far from meeting EA’s initial expectations.

“To be honest, the Wii platform has a been a little weaker than we had certainly anticipated and there’s no lack of frustration to be doing that at precisely the time where we have the strongest third party share. We’re reaching out to Nintendo to find ways to partner to push third-party software harder. I frankly think they [Nintendo] need more beats in the year than what they get out of a first party slate to be able to have the Wii software platform perform as well as they would like.”

“Wii is where we’re missing it, I really do think that the opportunity exists to find different ways to partner with the first party [Nintendo] in this case to help establish in the minds of the consumer legitimacy of some of these other brands when they’re going out multi-platform because very, very few multi-platform titles are succeeding on the Wii so far.”

- EA CEO, John Riccitiello

Source

Ubisoft have confirmed that another Ghost Recon game is in the works but they haven’t gave us any details what so ever. No name, no release date, no teaser, no screenshots, no nothing. The Austrailian rating site, however has recently listed Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Predator as an MA15+ which suggests that this could be the latest addition to the Ghost Recon series.

The OFLC listing for the game states that it is multi-platform which isn’t much of a surprise and also says it contains strong violence, which again isn’t unexpected. This isn’t a confirmation of a new Ghost Recon game but it the rating sites are normally correct anyway.

I wrote about BumpTop shortly after Anand Agarawala, its founder, was featured at TED in 2007 and demonstrated the awesomeness of this 3D user interface that enables natural organization and sharing.

I predict BumpTop combined Apple’s eventual slam dunk product, the Tablet, will change the computing experience as we now know it. Can’t wait to watch it happen.

Anthony E. Zuiker, the creator of CSI, has created a new way of intergrating books, the web and movies into one. Meet Level 26. The website level26.com and the Level 26 books (3 titels currently) combine to form a “digi-novel,” a multi-platform experience that moves the reader from passages in the books to videos and interactive content: “As you read the book, you’ll see calls-to-action that direct you to the website to enter codes that unlock Cyber-bridges. These Cyber-bridge movies take the experience to the next level, immersing you in the action and putting you inside the minds of a twisted serial killer and the man sent to take him down.” as they put it on their website. Sounds a bit Hollywood, but the concept is pretty interesting. Besides the story itself there is a large community of readers too. Could this be the future of books?

With the start of the American Football season upon us, one of the big things that surrounds the actual sporting events is Fantasy Football. And while the past couple of entries have been titles I’ve gushed over, this one doesn’t follow suit.

Fantasy Football

There is some slight appeal to the game, when playing with a bunch of friends, and not one of the versions that is the equivalent of gambling (contest ones) or those when playing in a faceless, nameless, friendless league. However, usually after the third week, interest wanes from some participants, and the ones that have fared the best are the only ones left actively playing.

Most of the league management now is done via some form of internet service, like Yahoo, EA, or ESPN, so that cheating is mitigated and scoring can be done in real time. However, this is what changes how people watch the actual American Football games. I fall into the same camp that many of the ESPN.com Page 2 columnist also reside, stating that the Fantasy Football is EVIL.

If I am a NY Jets fan, and during the real world week the Jets are playing the New England Patriots. However, Tom Brady is the quarterback for my fantasy team. This brings the dilemma that do I want to see the team that I normally cheer for completely obliterate their division rivals, or do I want to see the person on my fantasy team have a great game and score lots of points so I can beat my friend?

This little dilemma is what makes those that play fantasy football BAD FANS! Its plain and simple, if there’s any reason you would want to see any damage done to “your” real-world team, you are a bad fan. Period.

There was a lot of stuff on Twitter by the end of last week, spreading the announcement of the worlds first video in paper magazines.

The very fact that we had to talk about ‘paper’ magazines is in itself indicative of were we are now. In all my time as a reader of everything from Shoot! to Homes & Gardens I’ve never once felt it necessary to clarify I was picking up a ‘paper’ magazine in much the same way I’ve yet to ask for a ‘liquid’coffee at Starbucks.

But times change & obviously marketers feel generation Y needs no ambiguity before they can have new innovations sold to them.

It’s a joint venture between CBS, Pepsi and Entertainment Weekly in the States. According to the CBS press release, readers will be able watch video straight from the printed page via a paper-thin interactive video player featuring ads for several CBS programmes as well as a video promoting a Pepsi diet cola in select copies of Entertainment Weekly’s Autumn TV preview issue.

http://thenextweb.com/2009/08/20/video-paper-magazine-worlds/

At the moment, to me, it all comes across as a short-sighted rather than innovative. The current rush within the media to multi platform at all costs reminds me of those games where you make ridiculous fantasy animals by sticking different parts of them together just to see how it’ll look. Hippopotobirds, donkeyguins, videopapermagazines….

The shame of it is that this is all about advertising rather than content. Turn the idea on it’s head and look on it as a new opportunity to create content rather than just sell things, and it suddenly becomes a whole lot more interesting. I could read an in dept interview with the Artic Monkeys in Q Magazine and watch their new video on the adjoining page. Alternatively I could flick through an Annie Leibovitz fashion shoot in Paris and on the last page check out a behind the scenes viral.

Additional and repackaged content is what propelled the home buyer DVD market a few years ago. But in forgetting that and going for the short term advertising novelty the magazine industry might be missing a trick.

Post by Tim Kerr (Director & Picture Editor PA Photocall)

Yes, we provide marketing services to both action sports and non-endemic companies that wish to get their foot in the door. Marketing is broad and people outside of the industry often don’t understand what we exactly do. They expect us to specialize in one thing. But what does Marketing exactly mean nowadays? We are being provided with so many different platforms to work from that it became hard to just specialize in one thing. What matters more than ever before are the understanding of the market you are tapping into, how to leverage each platform to reach your marketing and financial objectives, and how you use all these platforms in synergy so that you provide a cohesive brand message.

Modern marketing became an equation of different initiatives that will bring value to your brand while accomplishing multiple objectives.

An event itself doesn’t do anything anymore for your brand. “Hopefully” it brings a great experience to your audience, but in 99% of the cases, it will be forgotten very soon.  However an event coupled with a PR and online campaign where you build hype around the event and give the opportunity to your audience to emotionally connect by affiliation with your brand has a greater chance of not being forgotten. There are plenty of opportunities to do around events. PR and online became common but there is so much room for creativity that every single event you create should gather numerous marketing initiatives, so that your audience will have a harder time to forgetting about you.

~  CG

What do Vince Young, Matt Leinart, Jamarcus Russel, Mark Sanchez, Mathew Stafford and Tim Tebow all have in common?

They all attended the Elite 11 Quarterback Camp.

Unless you are a real football nut (much like myself) you might not know what Elite 11 is.  Elite 11 is an organization that goes across the country each year, searching through thousands of high school quarterbacks to find the best 11 of the very best; The Elite 11.

These best 11 quarterbacks go to a football intensive 4 day camp taught by some of the nations best quarterback coaches.  It is a chance of a lifetime.  If you get invited to this camp, every Division I football school is offering you a scholarship; you are that good.

This year Elite 11 is doing something they had never done; opening their doors.  In the past years the camp took place in closed facilities where no one besides the players, coaches and their families could attend.  This year Elite 11 and ESPN are changing that.

ESPN announced that they teamed with Elite 11 to have coverage like never before on http://www.elite11.com.  On the site they will have bi-weekly webisodes going over what happened as the camp progressed.  Along with the webisodes they will release weekly interactive QB Competition games.  These games will let users compete against each other through their virtual Quarterback which they create, level up and improve throughout the release of the three games.  The whole camp will wrap up in a one hour finale on ESPNU.

This is very exciting for football fans, a chance to get a glimpse of the next great quarterbacks.  Unless you attended one of the 12 Nike Football camps (one of which I was lucky enough to be a participant in the year 2003) or one of the 11 EA Sports Elite Regional Camps, you couldn’t get a glimpse of the top prep stars competing in this exclusive camp.

Kudos to ESPN and Elite 11.  Their multi-platform coverage of the camp is one of the first of its kind.  The fact that it spans TV, internet episodes, and interactive gaming is an interesting  attempt at gaining attention to a camp which was so secret for so long.  They are doing a good job making sure that their portal is going to receive lots of traffic throughout the whole series.  The teared release of episodes and games is a very strategic play which will keep users returning to the site for the multiple weeks.

The games will give users a tool to connect with Elite 11 and compete with those all over the world with those that have the same interests that they have.  It really will keep the bounce rate to a minimum and ensure they have lots of repeat traffic.

As media keeps becoming more prevalent in our lives, ESPN and Elite 11 are setting the trend for media coverage in the future.  No longer will you see just tv coverage or just internet coverage.  You will see multi-platform integrated media which will draw the user much deeper into their coverage.  Elite 11 is starting this tomorrow, but who is next?  Sports and entertainment are both good fits for this type of coverage, and you will probably be seeing more of this in the future.

This will be a big hit with Gen Y because of their need for interaction with their media and need for the deepest coverage possible.  If ESPN does a good job with the episodes it will be a hit.  ESPN’s planning has been great, lets hope they can execute it well too.

Now excuse me when I go cry, wishing that 6 years ago I was invited to the Elite 11 camp and instead didn’t almost fall on my face while running the 40 at the Nike Combine.

Glory Days!!!

Follow Todd on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/toddliss

What is the definition of an Executive Producer 2.0?  Being that this is the name of our blog, and our total belief of this new era of content creation, we will explain…but that said, we welcome your comments as well. 

Perhaps the best way to define an Executive Producer 2.0 is to first take a look at the traditional, or “old school” approach.  First, when we speak of EP’s, we are not talking about the “soft” title only role, but about the leader of a project, the one responsible for securing the funding and distribution, which is the traditional role.  For many EP’s, in the “old school” way of thinking, it starts with the idea from which they see through development, and in many cases, work with their agent to then pitch for distribution.  Once this is all secured, the production is in full swing.  The main focus in the “old school” model is the storytelling of the content, and it’s “point of content” meaning the distribution model.  So, a television EP will focus on his/her property as it relates to the distribution on a network.  While the EP will review the other facets beyond the “point of content,” it is often times left to the distribution partner to produce and implement these components, including the website, mobile, PR and promotion, licensing and merchandising, etc…  In many cases, a GOOD EP will ensure they share in the many revenue streams, but many times their production company is ”work for hire.”  (this is at least the desire of distribution outlets…to control and own the intellectual property).

An Executive Producer 2.0 is a visionary and able to see an entertainment property through its many applications, capable of weaving the story through the many forms of media, with each enhancing the overall property.  This day and age, just about ALL content is multi-platform, meaning while it has its “point of content” be it film, television, digital…there are now the other elements that have become critical to the success of a property.

Old school EP’s may say “sure, my show is going to be distributed online after its initial airing on network, and they are handling that,” which IS certainly old school thinking.  In a multi-platform world, the EP2.0 doesn’t rely on its distribution partner to activate these anciliary activities, he/she doesn’t just allow a brand to be integrated per network request…he/she DRIVES it.

The Executive Producer 2.0 sets forth the plan, during development, of how an entertainment property is released across multiple platforms, how it lives in the various media available, and how they all relate to the overall storytelling/consumer experience.  He/she understands every aspect of his/her content and carefully plots out the overall DNA.  It’s not a “control” issue, or taking away the responsibility of a distribution partner and its many divisions, but, in fact, is enhancing the efforts, providing the resources and ensuring the content message remains consistent to their vision.

So, quite frankly, an Executive Producer 2.0 is a multi-platform producer, and one that is well versed in every possible revenue stream for their property.  Typically, beyond the various media outlets, components like licensing, merchandising, brand partnerships/integration and extensions are all “after thoughts” to the original “point of content”, but in today’s world, if Producers and their companies want to realize the greatest revenue potential, they need to, first, be involved, and more importantly, be ahead and drive this thinking.  Again, not in a manner to off put a distribution partner, but more as a solid resource to ensure the greatest success.

I spoke with a very successful, award winning producer the other day on this concept, and he said “we focus on producing a quality piece of programming, and let them figure out the rest.”  I’m not going to quote his name, but I quickly replied, “right, that’s old school thinking, and do you participate in the revenues from the licensing or the tour.”  His answer was “well…umm…no”.  The same thinking holds true at the network level and their executives.  I’ll never forget a meeting I had at NBC/UNI where they admitted they had only bought (or licensed) the rights for a show called FAME (remember?), and were kicking themselves for not having any rights to all the other extensions, including a popular tour.  I don’t think they’ve made that mistake again, but I’m not sure.

It’s not about WHO controls the rights, or trying to shut out any partner, it’s about how the production and distribution companies work TOGETHER to realize the greatest success and revenue of any property.  Another quick example…did you know that FOX, who licensed American Idol, does NOT participate in the success or revenue from the Tour…that is why the tour is called “IDOLS LIVE TOUR” not “AMERICAN IDOL TOUR”.  In this case, a pretty tricky way for the production companies to shut out the network on that revenue stream.  To add insult, have you ever noticed Kellogg’s Pop Tarts has NEVER been mentioned in an American Idol broadcast as the TITLE sponsor of the Idols Live Tour for over 7 years?  While everything to do with IDOL is a huge success, this is a good example of how NOT working together, or playing fair, could impact the success of an entertainment property.

So, to wrap this up, an Executive Producer 2.0 is a multi-platform, multi-revenue stream thinker, and manages the overall vision of an entertainment property throughout its multiple executions.  And, in this world of “who controls what,” it’s the EP2.0 who plans each component of a multi-platform strategy during the initial development stage,  to not only ensure their participation in the revenue, but the overall control of the message.  An EP2.0 is an incredible resource to every division within a distribution partner, whether it be the digital group, ad sales, or licensing.  He/she has already built the plan for each of these components to share and build with their partner.  He/she is the author of an entertainment properties long term business plan, which includes every possible revenue stream available, from the properties “point of content” to its many extensions.

Please give us your comments, let us know what you think, and if you have something to add to the definition, we welcome it.  If you’re a producer, development exec, studio or network exec, or just creative, and would like to explore the mind of an EP2.0, check us out at www.multibrain.net.  It’s how our brains work, it’s our passion…and as always…[BRAIN]STORMS are free.

The internet is still a  cold medium and despite modern technologies it isn’t the same as watching television on your grande sofa. Watching streams online is done by many but for many of us it is still easier to just ‘flip the channels’ on your television.

So what do you do if you were a productioncompany and the BBC came up to you and said they want to increase their online presence in the form of a narrative for their series Spooks? You use the thing that has made the internet and the computer succesful from the start: interactivity, gaming.

The following example of perfect digital storytelling comes from productioncompany Hoodlum based in Australia. They and co-producer Kudos Film and Television (UK)  ”created a 10-week narrative journey integrating both existing and new characters and storylines. Users, inducted as agents into MI5 headquarters, played mission-based games, accessed bonus content and fed back into the television narrative.”

This is a perfect example of how classic story (Spooks) meets interactivity and technology.

Spooks Interactive has won both the BAFTA Television Award for Interactivity and the BAFTA Craft Award for Interactive Innovation – Content in 2008.

Check www.hoodlum.com.au and go to WORK for more info on what they do.

As the American Idol machine rolls into Los Angeles today for auditions, I thought it would be a good time to write about the 12 [months] of American Idol, and the brilliant positioning of the American Idol brand as a YEAR LONG property for brands and consumers to participate.  That’s right, you thought Idol was just a series on Fox that aired from Jan – May, but, in fact, the Idol brand is a year round money making machine.

I first had the pleasure of becoming involved with American Idol while at CAA, when they brought a lil show in Britain…called POP IDOL…over to the US.  Not sure if many of you knew this, but 19, the owner of Idol, tried to bring the American version over the pond, but failed to find a buyer.  ABC and others all turned it down.  It wasn’t until 19 decided to partner with FremantleMedia, in what I’ve learned is the 50/50 (for better or worse) that the show was sold to Mike Darnell at FOX (career booster for sure).  So, with the first season well on its way, our job was to begin to think about ways to monetize the American Idol brand “off network,” so the obvious first extension was an Idol Tour, featuring the top ten from that season.  Looking back, I remember, the tour was in jeopardy of never happening (imagine that), unless we were able to secure a presenting sponsor to offset the production costs of the 30-city tour.  I had about three weeks to make this happen, or no tour (no pressure heh).  I’ll never forget getting the call from Laura-Caricolli Davis of Starcom.  I was on location for the first day of the Sprite Liquid Mix Tour (another project we built) at Jones Beach in NY, when she called to say “Pop Tarts is IN,” and for MORE $$ than I had quoted (as the basement fire sale pricing).  That is what is so cool about Laura, Tom and the team at Starcom, they could see the long term value and were willing to make the investment at the infancy stage of the series, and it’s first year touring.  Well, that was [wow] 8-9 years ago, and Kellogg’s Pop Tarts continued to be the presenting sponsor of one of the most successful tours every summer, playing now nearly 70 SOLD OUT shows across the country.  So, this was the first of many “brand extensions” behind the American Idol brand.

After year two, I left CAA to start my own firm that would focus on actually activating the deals we put together.  OK, so it was also the realization that I was NOT an agent, and if I put together a deal, I wanted to see it all the way through to completion, which is the mind of a producer…not an agent.  Then, about a year later, and no longer working on Idol, I was approached by Olivier Gers, who headed up FremantleMedia Enterprises, and asked if I’d like to work with them and 19 on developing the American Idol business beyond the series, or this notion of American Idol being a year-round entertainment property.  It’s his forward thinking that truly re-engaged my team into taking on this challenge…strategically develop new ways to generate revenue with the Idol brand, AND if our ideas worked, we would get to produce them. 

Initially, our team worked closely with the Fremantle and 19 teams on developing an overall strategy around American Idol.  It was not a 360 degree approach, but more of a 365 day approach, meaning, how could consumers and brands participate in the American Idol brand year round. 

We had to think not only “beyond the show” but also beyond the existing sponsors, which included AT&T, Ford and Coca-Cola.  So in analyzing the current assets available throughout the year, our team began developing “new” platforms for generating revenue, not only through compelling extensions from the show, but with additional brand partners as well.

Developing the concepts was the easy part, finding ways to turn them into self-sustaining revenue producing businesses was the challenge.  We looked at the available categories for brand partnerships (e.g. fashion, consumer products, fast food, etc…) and then built full blown multi-platform packages.  We took our ideas, and then matched them to every possible “asset” available to promote the extension, thus bringing the greatest value to a brand partner, resulting in bigger revenue deals.  We built out what will forever be termed the “Wheel of Love” (credit Michele Welch…and congrats to her on her best brand extension yet…her new son…Oliver) to provide a quick snapshot of assets surrounding the Idol brand, which was used to initiate development of new programs:

Our success was substantial, and only realized by working so closely with the great folks who were at Fremantle and 19 at the time.  Here come the shout outs…of course, Olivier Gers, who can truly take responsibility for building the Idol franchise, in fact, he was named Entertainment Marketer of the Year for all this great work.  Plus, Shannon Pruitt who ran the integrated/partnerships business, and gave us a long leash to develop “out of the box” ideas, and Keith Hindle, who shared the “big picture” thinking with Olivier, and is now the new CEO of FremantleMedia Enterprises, and Jason Turner, who ran the digital side, including Star Style, which gave consumers the opportunity to buy the fashions seen on the show (which became a pillar to our Idol Style program), and last, but definitely not least, Felicity Carr (aka Flic) who was such an amazing client, as well as friend, and a whole brain thinker.  Flic’s best deal at Fremantle was the partnership with Disney to create the permanent Idol attraction.  In fact, Flic, now married and living in SF, is now part of our multibrain team, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to continue to work with her.

To expand on a few of our successes, I’ll call out the strangest deal, as well as the most creative one.  First, Idol Style, a platform for a fashion oriented brand, which gave consumers the opportunity to purchase the fashion from the show.  We built this plan for Macy’s, an obvious partner, and were well on our way to a deal, until Macy’s went through a major agency shift, which killed the deal.  Enter Patty Ganguzza from AIM Productions (and one of my favorite people in the business), who took the Idol Style program and brought it to ALL detergent…I know, odd heh, but not really.  We retro-fitted the concept to “get the look, keep the look” centered around the fashions of Idol.  ALL Detergent was launching their new product with the main benefit of keeping your clothes looking new longer.  So, ALL became the partner in our Idol Style platform, including custom content and tips from the Idol Stylist Myles Siggins, and a slew of other custom activations and promotions across the Idol assets. 

By far, the most creative and definitely most rewarding platform we created [and produced] was Idol Camp.  The challenge  from Olivier Gers and his team, at the time, was to create an Idol extension that was geared towards a younger demo, say 12-16, being that kids could not audition for Idol until they reached the age of 16.  We wanted to create something important, educational and FUN.  Thus, Idol Camp was born, and during a hot August in Massachusetts we produced the first ever Idol Camp, complete with 300 kids from all over the country, past Idols and a group of impressive educators.  The Idol Camp extension was a huge success, and included brand partners as well, including:  Apple, Sony, Coca-Cola (w/Dasani Water) and Kellogg’s who provided the healthy snacks. The success was also noted in Variety, who name Idol Camp as one of the “best extensions to come off a television show” in 2007.

The American Idol machine probably has more revenue streams than any other entertainment brand in the world.  Billion dollar properties are rare, but amazing to experience.  The examples I’ve written about in this story are just a mere tip of the iceberg, but critical in sustaining the Idol brand and further engaging it audience.  The Idol machine generates its multi-billion dollars with:

• Sale of format in 38 countries around the World
• International distribution of the US version
• Licensing and merchandise (a story unto itself)
• Digital, including profitable website, mobile and lucrative ITunes partnership
• Property extentions, including the Tour, Camp, Idol Gives Back and other television “offshoots” (e.g. Idol Tonight, Idol Rewind, etc…)
• For 19, management and record label for chosen Idols (which then leads to all of their own extensions)
• and the beat goes on…

If you’d like to learn more about what the team at multibrain can do for your entertainment property, please visit our website at www.multibrain.net, and we’d be more than happy to schedule a [brain]storm, which is always free.  Thanks for taking the time to check out this post, and we welcome your comments and thoughts.

The Vaults saved us all
Mutants traverse the wasteland
My only friend is dead meat

Speedy Gonzales, what a great character to work with, and I have to admit this post is about a project our team created and produced, however it is a great case study for building a major multi-platform program.  We were thrilled when Warner Bros. Consumer Products approached us to strategically develop a campaign to re-introduce Speedy Gonzales to a youth demo as part of their innovations group initiatives. 

First, full immersion into Speedy (“the fastest mouse in all Mexico”) and his career, which spanned nearly 20 years.  Did you know he won an Academy Award, and starred in over 40 cartoons, matched up with classic list of characters, including: Slowpoke Rodriguez (“The slowest mouse in all Mexico”), a buzzard named “El Vulturo the Bandito Bird,” Sylvester (“Greengo Poosygato”), Coyote & Roadrunner, and Daffy Duck (which was considered an odd pairing).

Then, after reviewing his character traits, including: supersonic speed, a ridiculously thick stereotypical Mexican accent, usually found wearing a yellow sombrero, virtuous and caring, a mouse superhero of sorts who uses his speed to help others, clean living (no drink, no smoke) and only vice to be weakness for pretty girls (the poosygatos…lol), we all decided he was a great fit within the popular subculture of skateboarding…yep…he would re-emerge into the skate community.

If you’ve noticed, in other posts, I always include an icon for the medium of discussion, and in this case, being a multi-platform programming strategy, included: film, digital, mobile, live events/tour, music, photography and merchandise…so here you go:

[KABLAM]…So this is how we put it all together.  We went out and struck deals with three professional skateboarders, Danny Gonzalez (duh), Patrick Melcher (deserves his own show) and the legendary Steve Caballero, and would send them on a cross-country tour to skateboard parks from Orlando to Orange County. At each event, they would judge young skaters who would win a spot on the Andale Posse team.  Our partner for this project was Grand Central Marketing (Matthew and team are amazing with events), who handled all the event production logistics while we focused on the content…and a LOT of it.

Prior to the tour, we pulled together some members of the Black Eyed Peas and the lead singer from Yellow Card to write and record a Speedy theme song entitled ‘Gotta Get It Now.  The collaboration turned out to be something special, and the song was made available for free downloads, as well as distributed during the tour.  This truly captured the essence of who Speedy Gonazales is, and helped establish him into this subculture.

The main “point of content” was a feature length DVD following the tour and our pros, plus 22 other pros who made guest appearances along the way.  To further describe, here’s the write up from Amazon, where the DVD is still selling well, and spent many weeks atop the best selling skateboard DVD’s:

Andale is packed with some solid street skating from Danny Gonzalez, Patrick Melcher and skateboarding legend Steve Caballero. Shot in letterbox HD during the Andale Posse Tour, Gonzalez, Melcher and “Cab” host some pretty gnarly shred sessions to find new “posse members” while skating their way across the southern U.S. Kicking off in Orlando, FL and ending in Orange County, CA, this feature length skateboarding lifestyle film is filled with hilarious moments on the road and some next generation ripping from Andale Posse members.

Lee Levin did an amazing job directing this film, in fact, we’ve been working on stuff together ever since.  I’ve also gotta give a shout out to JonJozuf Hadley, the producer (we’ve worked together for many years) and Oscar Lobo, our uber-talented DP.

You’d think producing a feature-length DVD was enough for the crew during the six week tour across the country, but in addition to the DVD, the guys captured content and interacted with the skateboard community online with a…shall we say…wealth of content along the way.  This included a full digitial distribution plan, including a website (of course), daily blog from each of the pros, plus video and photos uploaded three times a week to the andale posse site, on mobile, and syndicated to a target network of social media sites, including: Friendster, Broadcaster, Xanga, Ignition Skate, Yahoo Video, and You Tube, which has amassed over 1.3 million views to date.  All the web design, blogs, viral video player, custom social media sites, etc… were designed by my go to guys at Origami Studio (whom I’ve had the pleasure of working with for over five years).

Then, and we’re almost done, there was the merchandise.  Of course, with this being a Warner Bros. Consumer Products initiative, the merchandise was substantial, and had to be cool, so the team over there partnered with Caballero and Junk Food to create a line of Andale merchandise to be sold in skateboard stores around the country, as well as on tour.  The board was a limited edition, and sold out fast.

So that’s pretty much the skinny on the project.  An undertaking for sure, but such a great time, and amazing results.  I think anyone would agree this is a good definitioin of a multi-platform program, and it’s what we like to do at multibrain…it’s how we think…it’s how we roll.  You can learn more about us at www.multibrain.net, or better yet, reach out to us and we’ll schedule a BRAIN[STORM]…it’s free.

In conclusion, I’d like to thank everyone at Warner Bros. for the opportunity and I can only wish all celebrities in Hollywood were as cool to work with as Speedy Gonazles.  I leave you with a few pictures captured by…once again…and I’m going to say it…uber-talented Oscar Lobo for editorial distribution…good stuff…and…Andale Andale Arriba Arriba…long live Speedy.