When it comes to media consumption, we have arrived at an age of unparalleled consumer choice. Audiences are able to consume content whenever and wherever they want, in whatever form they choose. To the alarm of advertisers and marketers, this also means audiences are growing increasingly resistant to overtly commercial advertising messages and even outright blocking most forms of conventional advertising, from the embattled 30-second TV commercial to the mobile banner ad. Many brands see salvation in creating their own content, hoping that audiences will seek out, rather than switch off, their messages. Yet many brands get the content game wrong, resulting in embarrassing missteps or content that is greeted with resounding indifference. In Unlearn What You Have Learned, the author draws on lessons from strategies used by the modern entertainment industry, from classical storytelling to Transmedia strategies to building long term story platforms to fan activation, in order to help brands navigate today’s complex and overcrowded media landscape. Citing examples from major entertainment properties like Marvel and Star Wars, as well as major brands like GE and VISA, marketers will learn how to weave compelling stories and create authentic characters, enabling their brand to play its rightful role in any content they create. Presented as part of a content marketing masterclass for the Marketing Institute of Singapore.

1. mediacorp.sg
Unlearn What You Have Learned:
Rethinking Content Marketing with Lessons from Hollywood
Miguel Bernas
November 2017
mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 1

2. mediacorp.sgmediacorp.sg
ACT I
The Phantom Menace: industry disruption
19 November 2017 2

3. mediacorp.sg
Trust & Authority have shifted
19 November 2017 3Source: Edelman Trust Barometer 2017

4. mediacorp.sg
“Research and analysis has for years pointed to a lack of trust
for advertising and corporate America…upwards of 85 percent
of younger populations just aren’t buying it.
What is surprising is the speed in which Gen-Xers and even
Boomers are forming similar sentiments.”
Peter Mühlman
CEO
Trustpilot
19 November 2017 4

5. mediacorp.sg
Trust in Media has plunged to all-time lows
19 November 2017 5Source: Edelman Trust Barometer 2017

6. mediacorp.sg
Traditional Media shows steepest decline
19 November 2017 6Source: Edelman Trust Barometer 2017

7. mediacorp.sg
“Most ads are annoying. That’s why people pay to avoid them.
Want to avoid radio ads? Hello, Apple Radio or Spotify Premium.
Fed up of ads interrupting your favourite TV programme? Get on
Netflix and Amazon Prime or get a DVR. Magazine ads? Pay
more to go ad-free. Digital? The blocker’s on.”
Pelle Sjoenell
Chief Creative Officer
BBH Worldwide
19 November 2017 7

8. mediacorp.sg
No wonder consumers are blocking ads
819 November 2017Source: PageFair

9. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 9
In the last 15 seconds, another 75 hours of content was just added to YouTube…
By the end of today the Web will fill up with more information than what had existed in entirety
prior to 2003…

10. mediacorp.sg
“Space on the Internet is infinite.
Time and attention, meanwhile, remain finite.”
Steve Rubel
SVP, Director of Insights
Edelman Digital
19 November 2017 10

11. mediacorp.sgmediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 11
ACT II
A New Hope: lessons from Hollywood

12. mediacorp.sg
Loyalty comes from Trust
Trust comes from shared Values
Values are told through Stories
19 November 2017 12
Why master Storytelling?

13. mediacorp.sg
Why do companies take a stand?
19 November 2017 13

14. mediacorp.sg
“People don’t buy the products you create,
they buy the stories you tell.”
Richa Goswami
Head of Digital
Johnson & Johnson
Asia Pacific
19 November 2017 14

15. mediacorp.sg
Storytelling is part of our DNA
19 November 2017 15

16. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 16
People have been telling the same stories
throughout history…

17. mediacorp.sg
Seven Types of Stories
19 November 2017 17
Overcoming the Monster Rags to Riches
The Quest Voyage and Return
TragedyComedy
Rebirth

18. mediacorp.sg
Eight Character Archetypes
19 November 2017 18

19. mediacorp.sg
The Hero’s Journey
19 November 2017 19
Ordinary World
Return to the Ordinary World
Adventure World

20. mediacorp.sg
Are all movie plots really the same?
19 November 2017 20

21. mediacorp.sgmediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 21

22. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 22
Star Wars (1977)

23. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 23

24. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 24
Iron Man (2008)

25. mediacorp.sg
And so on…
19 November 2017 25

26. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 26
Hollywood has learned to invest in platforms for
the long term and sustain interest through the
years.
We have over 40 Years of Star Wars…

27. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 27
…And over 50 Years of James Bond.

28. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 28
Whereas brands tend to jump from one
campaign to another.

29. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 29

30. mediacorp.sg
Linear Storytelling
19 November 2017 30
Movie
TV Show
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
TIME
S01 S02 S03 S04 S05 S06 S07 S08 S09 S10

31. mediacorp.sg
From Timeslots to Touchpoints
19 November 2017 31

32. mediacorp.sg
Transmedia Storytelling
19 November 2017 32
Movie
TV Show
Story Universe
Video Game
Comic book
Ride

33. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 33

34. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 34
Transmedia map of the
Marvel Cinematic Universe

35. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 35
Saw Gerrera
The Star Wars character first appeared in
The Clone Wars animated TV show long
before he was played by Forest Whitaker
in Rogue One

36. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 36
Harley Quinn
first appeared in Batman
the animated TV before
she appearing in comic
books and the Arkham
video games before she
was played by Margot
Robbie in Suicide Squad

37. mediacorp.sg
Design for Fan Activation
19 November 2017 37
Congregations
through Social Media
Lore & content
“rabbit holes”
Crowd-sourced
content
CANON vs FANDOM

38. mediacorp.sg
“If you don’t pay attention to the audience and
engage the audience in some kind of dialogue,
you’re doomed.”
Jeff Gomez
Chief Executive Officer
Starlight Runner Entertainment
19 November 2017 38

39. mediacorp.sgmediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 39
ACT III
The Force Awakens: content marketing

40. mediacorp.sg
“We’re building a dystopia just to make people click on
ads. [Facebook] works great as a persuasion
architecture. But the structure of that architecture is
the same whether you’re selling shoes or whether
you’re selling politics.”
Zeynep Tufekci
Techno-sociologist
19 November 2017 40Source: TED.com

41. mediacorp.sg
Content = True Value
Good content is what the audience voluntarily consumes,
rather than something they are forced to see
mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 41

42. mediacorp.sg
“Content Marketing is a philosophy and we
must stop thinking of it as a tactic, or an add-on
to the existing marketing department.”
Andrea Edwards
Founder & CEO
The Digital Conversationalist
19 November 2017 42

43. mediacorp.sg
Del Monte Kitchenomics
19 November 2017 43

44. mediacorp.sg
Ultra successful content platforms
19 November 2017 44

45. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 45

46. mediacorp.sg
Transmedia for brands
19 November 2017 46
Website
YouTube
Story Universe
Facebook
Instagram
Content partner

47. mediacorp.sg
Singtel’s #Need4GSpeed
19 November 2017 47Watch the series on YouTube

48. mediacorp.sg
Mediacorp’s Tanglin
June
2015
#TanglinCh5
June
2016
March
2017
June
2017
Series launch with
extensive transmedia
content extensions
on Toggle:
• in-character blog
• Persona Instagram
Live-tweeting of content
during each episode on air.
• First maintained by Promo
team, then taken over by
show writers.
• Avg. of 100 tweets per
30min episode (at peak
times: 200-300)
Fan-meet event at the
studio with 30+ selected
daily Twitter “super-fans”
• 840+ mentions
• trending # for 2 days
• FBlive Q&A
Launch of webisode
spin-offs with start of
2nd season
500th episode
anniversary:
• T-shirt social media
campaign
• Live-tweeting

49. mediacorp.sg
Mediacorp’s Run Rachael Run
Run Rachael Run, a Toggle Original
Lead character Raechel comes “alive” Instagram
• Pictures reveal additional story layers
• Dedicated community managers post content
daily and respond to comments in character
Additional content on Twitter and YouTube
19 November 2017 49

50. mediacorp.sg
Mediacorp’s Run Rachael Run
19 November 2017 50

51. mediacorp.sg
Chipotle’s Farmed & Dangerous
19 November 2017 51Watch the first episode on Vimeo

52. mediacorp.sg
“If you're going to do Content Marketing well: the hero
is the content not the product."
Jeff Perkins
Commercial Director
Thomson Reuters
19 November 2017 52

53. mediacorp.sg
VISA’s #TokyoUnexpected
19 November 2017 53Watch the full movie on YouTube

54. mediacorp.sg
What is the brand’s role?
19 November 2017 54
The Hero
Is the main character
Held back by the ordinary world
Embarks on the journey
Tries to make the world better
Overcomes the challenge by changing himself
Is a better person by the end of the journey

55. mediacorp.sg
What is the brand’s role?
19 November 2017 55
The Audience The Brand

56. mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 56

57. mediacorp.sg
Lessons from Hollywood
1. Classical storytelling methods
2. Build on long-term platforms
3. Transmedia strategies
4. Fan activation
19 November 2017 57

58. mediacorp.sg
Intel & Toshiba’s The Beauty Inside
19 November 2017 58Watch the full movie on YouTube

59. mediacorp.sg
Hero’s Journey  Collective Journey
“With the advent of the Internet…we are no longer experiencing story as
an audience. The gulf between the stage and seats, the screen and the
body, the broadcaster and the masses, has been bridged…We can modify
the content. We have become participants.”
Jeff Gomez
Chief Executive Officer
Starlight Runner Entertainment
19 November 2017 59

60. Thank you
mediacorp.sg 19 November 2017 60
Miguel Bernas
@phatfreemiguel
https://www.linkedin.com/in/miguelbernas/