A couple of our guys were invited along to coach at a really interesting training day put on for BBC producers. The idea was to help producers think move beyond broadcasting programming to developing ideas and concepts that engage and connect with a fan base across many communication platforms.
The BBC is a mature digital news and entertainment brand, which has had great multiplatform – web, red button and mobile - success with www.bbc.co.uk and the iplayer. With recent programme strands like ‘Bryony makes a Zombie Movie’ ‘Lily Allen’ and ‘Born Survivors’ though, they’re demonstrating a real commitment to push beyond simply creating supporting websites or putting programmes onto new devices. By providing these new forms of multiplatform programming that empower their audience to represent themselves, be heard and reflect issues that are genuinely important to them, the BBC can begin to liberate themselves from the linear schedule, collaborate with audiences to create content and provide more participative experiences.
To deliver on this commitment though, multiplatform thinking has to be at the centre of the programme making process, so ideas don’t always start with or even centre on the TV experience. Which is where Crosswise, their multiplatform lab tasked with providing training and support, My Agency and an intensive day of rapid prototyping comes in.
The aim of the day was for BBC producers to demonstrate what they had learnt from the Crosswise training course by working in teams to develop an idea for a multiplatform programme and then pitch it to BBC 3’s commissioning editors. Granted that’s not a lot of time for a lot of work, but they were given the support of a Crosswise mentor, our senior designer Paul McDermid and Digital Creative Director Alistair Knight to help refine and bring their ideas to life.
During the day the teams scoped out their ideas, looked at the audience need, user experience, benefits, competition and discussed their ideas with real audience members. Paul and Alistair each worked with a team, using their knowledge and experience around creating engaging interactive experiences to get them thinking about how and why the audience would interact. They then hastily pieced together concept maps and key visuals to support their pitches.
Despite being very intense, the day proved to be a great success, with all the producers managing to develop new and exciting multiplatform ideas that the editors loved. Both our guys thoroughly enjoyed the day and meeting everyone from the BBC. Big thanks to Simon Smith for letting us get involved.
Posts
