Multimedia Communication Across Disciplines: A Best Practices Approach Ian P. Hurley A Capstone Project Presented to the Faculty of the School of Communication In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Public Communication Supervisor: Professor Caty Borum Chattoo April 25, 2012 2 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Professor Caty Borum Chattoo for her guidance, professional insight and enthusiasm throughout the capstone process. To my mother, Doreen S. Hurley, I thank you for your support and copyedits, both of which proved to be invaluable and are very much appreciated. 3 COPYRIGHT Ian P. Hurley 2012 4 Abstract The fields of journalism, nonprofit communication and advertising have gone through tremendous change over the last decade. New digital platforms have given producers, photographers and other creative professionals innovative tools to better connect an audience with a compelling story. Despite the rapid increase in digital videos, a fundamental framework that establishes best practices for developing and producing multimedia content that informs, engages and ultimately motivates an audience is needed. This capstone project set out to assess multimedia communication across the journalism, nonprofit and advertising fields through a literature review and case study analysis. Additionally, in-­‐depth interviews with leading communications professionals, photographers and video producers from these three sectors were conducted to determine personal and organizational multimedia best practices. A commitment to a high level of audio, video and photo production; teamwork within and across departments; in-­‐depth research; strategic (not tactical) thinking; and fully developing story ideas were all recognized as fundamental elements of successful multimedia projects. 5 Table of Contents
Introduction Literature Review Theories of Persuasion Narrative Framing Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) Entertainment Overcoming Resistance Model (EORM) Semiotic Analysis Branded Entertainment Evolution and Trends in Multimedia Communication Journalism Nonprofit Communication Advertising Existing Literature of Best Practices for Multimedia Best Practices: Journalism Best Practices: Nonprofit Communication Best Practices: Advertising Methods Results Semiotic Analysis of Three Case Studies The Washington Post: “Coming Home A Different Person” Médecins San Frontières: “Starved for Attention Old Spice: “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” In-­‐Depth Interviews Lessons Learned Medium/Platform/Channel Research Team Dynamics Best Practices Discussion Summary and Implications of Case Study Analysis The Washington Post: “Coming Home A Different Person” Médecins San Frontières: “Starved for Attention Old Spice: “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” Theoretical Underpinnings Best Practices Framework Conclusion References Appendix A. IMAGES FROM WASHINGTON POST PROJECT Appendix B. IMAGES FROM MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES CAMPAIGN Appendix C. IMAGES FROM OLD SPICE CAMPAIGN Appendix D. INTERVIEW SCRIPT 6 7 7 8 8 9 10 11 13 15 15 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 27 27 27 29 31 33 33 34 35 36 37 39 40 40 42 44 44 45 48 51 54 55 56 57 6 Introduction Advances in digital technology and the Internet revolution have transformed the communication field. Where there were once only the major print newspapers and magazines, the big three broadcast television stations and landline telephones, there are now innumerable ways in which people can access news and information. Part of this transformational process includes the development of multimedia communication. Within this context, multimedia communication most often refers to a project, campaign or story that is produced with and distributed in different ways across more than one digital platform. Silvia and Anzur, writing from the perspective of journalism and public relations, define it as an approach to storytelling that bestows new power, both on the storyteller and the audience (2011). The digital revolution has and will continue to impact society at large. As the ubiquity of personal computers, mobile telephones, tablet devices and the Internet becomes a reality, digital communication platforms will play an even larger role in the evolution of all aspects of commerce and culture. Many industries, including the fields of journalism, nonprofit and advertising have made use of documentary and scripted video, audio photo slideshows and photo galleries to craft multimedia campaigns. It is within that environment that both a problem and opportunity seem to simultaneously arise. While communicators have been blessed with the advent of rich storytelling tools, reaching and impacting an audience is harder than ever as the number of images, stories and videos continues to increase exponentially. For public communications professionals, it is now incumbent to understand how and why successful projects work. In this fractured and ever-­‐changing communication environment, messages need to stand out, be informative and persuade the viewer. While grounded in theory and the history of multimedia as a communication platform, this study 7 seeks to ascertain what the key components are in making an effective and persuasive multimedia project to impact and influence the viewer and hopefully elicit a behavior change. The key research question of this project focuses on creating a deep understanding of what the key elements are for successful multimedia communication projects across sectors. Despite what we know about theories, techniques and our audiences, there is a critical need to come to a better conclusion to define a framework for success. A fundamental objective of this work is to propose a framework of best practices for multimedia communication that will be relevant for today’s practitioners who work as writers and photographers, videographers and producers and creative professionals and strategic communication specialists. It is the author’s hope that this work will provide these professionals with the context in which to make informed decisions as to why, how and what digital storytelling tools can be harnessed to inform, persuade and motivate an audience. To reach that objective, this research begins with a review of the literature and research about theories of persuasion, semiotic analysis, branded entertainment and multimedia communication. Next, the primary research method is explained. Finally, the findings and a proposed best practices framework for multimedia communication are presented. Literature Review Theories of Persuasion For any such study of multimedia communication, and the role of persuasive storytelling, it is necessary to examine the important theoretical underpinnings of persuasion and evaluate the depth to which theories of persuasion can help to explain and 8 influence the relationship between the medium (project or campaign) and the audience. Persuasion is a human communication that is designed to influence others by modifying their beliefs, values or attitudes (Simons, 1976, p. 21). Narrative Narrative storytelling by its nature is a function of being human. Humans are social beings and the narrative is the basic essential genre that characterizes human actions. (MacIntyre, 1981). In Walter Fisher’s 1984 study of narration as a human communication paradigm, he explains that through narration, symbols are created and communicated ultimately as stories meant to give order to the human experience and to induce others to dwell in them. It is also instinctive, natural and universal. His work on narrative paradigm was important because he made the case that the narrative paradigm should be viewed with as much importance as the rational world paradigm which presupposed that argument was the process and means of being human (Fisher, 1984). A narrative convinces an audience of the “good reasons” for taking a particular action or subscribing to a certain belief (Dainton, 2004). Narrative is extremely influential in the field of journalism and non-­‐profit communication as much of work that is produced follows a narrative storytelling format. Framing Politics presents an interesting introduction into the concept of framing. The way in which candidates position themselves (liberal, conservative) and also the method by which they choose to do so (public appearances, op-­‐eds, TV and Internet ads) give substance to the term “framing.” This could take the form of a candidate or elected official speaking at a Ford plant to show his or her support of the automotive industry or writing about a preferred economic platform in an op-­‐ed for the Wall Street Journal. (Scheufele, 2007) defines framing as both a macrolevel and microlevel construct. In terms of the communication field, and as a 9 macro construct, framing refers to the modes of presentation that journalists and other communicators use to present information in a way that resonates with the underlying schema among their audience (Shoemaker & Reese, 1996). Gans and others have also described it as a means with which to make reduce the complexity news issues to the audience. Framing is important as it shapes the way the public views news and information and interprets its significance. Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) People have all levels of involvement with messages. They may care and be highly engaged in an issue and ready to hear a message or perhaps have almost no interest all in what the communicator is trying to convey. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), a seminal communication model, introduced the idea of the both a central and peripheral route to persuasion (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). The belief was that the producer of the messages could use either one of the routes to better target a message to an audience. Elaboration was defined as the extent to which a person carefully thinks about an issue, and in the context of persuasion, it refers to the degree to which a person scrutinizes a message (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). The central route, also known as the elaboration route, seeks to use lots of information, rational arguments and evidence to support a specific conclusion (Dainton, 2000). There are several advantages to messages that use the central route. They are much more likely to produce a long-­‐term change for the recipient. In order to achieve that, Petty & Cacioppo state that the audience must be motivated AND able to process these types of messages (Dainton, 2000). The model’s peripheral route seeks to use different cues to target those who are unable or unwilling to process centrally routed messages. These messages often seek to target the audiences by way of using an emotional appeal. Opposite of the central route, 10 long-­‐term attitude and behavior change with a peripherally routed message are almost non-­‐existent. It is important to remember that any change the communicator is able to effect among the target audience using the peripheral route will be short-­‐lived. In the communication context this model is incredibly important as often messages and campaigns seek to influence a wide swath of the populace. Entertainment Overcoming Resistance Model (EORM) As an extension of both the Extended Elaboration Likelihood Model (E-­‐ELM) and the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), the Entertainment-­‐Overcoming Resistance Model proposes several propositions to more effectively overcome barriers to resistance (Moyer-­‐Gusé, 2008). She argues that the narrative structure of entertainment-­‐education messaging will overcome reactance by diminishing the audience’s perception that the messaging is intended to persuade them. Entertainment-­‐education messaging, which is the foundation of this model, is a popular strategy for incorporating health and other educational messages into popular entertainment media with the goal of positively influencing knowledge, awareness and behaviors (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004). Parasocial interaction (PSI) is a face-­‐to-­‐face relationship an audience believes they have with a character (Horton & Wohl, 1956). Moyer-­‐Gusé asserts that an audience that has a pararsocial interaction with and liking towards a character can help to enhance the message’s persuasive effects. Identification, the emotional and cognitive process whereby a viewer takes on the role of a character, can also be utilized to overcome selective avoidance of a message due to the viewer’s unwillingness to change attitudes or behavior (Moyer-­‐Gusé, 2008). Relevant to the field of journalism and non-­‐profit communication, the model as well asserts that identification with a vulnerable character can enhance persuasion by increasing the audience’s perceived vulnerability. This is as well in line with the idea of transportation, 11 introduced in the E-­‐ELM, whereby the audience gets swept and immersed into the narrative by way of cognitive, emotional involvement (Green & Brock, 2004). While this model, proposed in 2008, has been most often applied to prosocial and health messaging in broadcast and cable television mediums, as in the television show Friends, for example, there is reason to surmise that it might be applied to more forms of narrative persuasive storytelling. Semiotic Analysis In the field of communication, a clear and defined process should be used to evaluate all components of a campaign. It is through the evaluation process that practitioners can attain a realistic picture of what worked and what did not with the campaign and also help to inform future efforts. This process also helps to systematically review not only the objectives of a particular plan but the finite details that make up the larger project. Specifically within the field of communications semiotic analysis is often used as an evaluative method to analyze projects regardless of the medium in which it was delivered. Broadly speaking, semiotics analyzes the structures of meaning-­‐producing events, both verbal and non-­‐verbal (Mick, 1986). The author also states that semiotics stands apart from other social sciences because of its more intense focus on meaning and main subject. Although the roots of semiotics date back to the time of Hippocrates, 20th century scholars Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce are credited with developing the research technique (Mick, 1986). Visual semiotics emphasizes the ways visuals communicate and the system dominating their usage (Parsa, 2004). The most often used terms are signs and codes. A sign is defined as anything that refers to something other than itself and exists in three different forms – an icon, an index (where the picture directly relates to the subject) and a 12 symbol. Codes are formed from signs and are explained in a larger context (Finan, 2002). Parsa’s work provides us with a very good framework with which to deconstruct visual communication campaigns across sectors. The author also incorporates denotative and connotative, which are used to describe what is photographed and how it is photographed, respectively. Importantly, Parsa points out that this method does have its flaws in that everyone interprets images, or signs, differently and also that as a methodology there is an underdeveloped system of analytic and descriptive categories. Semiotic analysis could be employed to help evaluate the textual elements, such as camerawork, and the social codes such as body language and how their placement affects the larger narrative of the story. For example, in an analysis of California politician Diane Feinstein’s television advertisements for governor and United States Senate, semiotics has been applied in a real-­‐world scenario. According to Sullivan, Feinstein relied on non-­‐
traditional coding to construct a campaign persona that redefined competency toughness and leadership. Her communication strategy as well emphasized her potential to be a ‘breakthrough’ candidate – the first female governor of California (Sullivan, 1998). The initial categorization of the ads by ad type facilitated further grouping by theme (e.g. general topics) and key discursive units (e.g. specific arguments and message appeals) (Sullivan, 1998). Thematic groupings included competency/toughness; competency/leadership; outsider/anti-­‐politician; caring/inclusion. The visual components of the campaign included her talking about jobs and attacking her opponent while at a construction site with a hardhat on. This was described under the competency/leadership code. Sullivan notes that the images Feinstein cultivated, together with their televisual coding within the womanly narrative did help, albeit in a limited way, traditional conceptions of leadership in California. Furthermore, Sullivan suggests that the mother and 13 grandmother images used in the TV campaign worked because the image’s coding transformed them from mere images to embodiments of motherhood and grandmotherhood (Sullivan, 1998). The possibility then existed for the viewers to develop a parasocial affinity to Feinstein. The author does caveat that the paper’s finding cannot be interpreted as gospel as there are a myriad of different factors that could have influenced her perception among voters. Branded Entertainment Product placement, which first appeared in films with Lever Brothers soaps in the 1890s, has been defined as planned entries of products into movies or television shows that may influence viewers’ product beliefs and/or behavior favorably (Balasubramanian, 1991). One of the more notable campaigns of the past thirty years was the use of Reese’s Pieces in the 1982 film E.T. the Extra-­‐Terrestrial. In the story about friendship, the main character, Elliott, played by actor Henry Thomas, lures the alien character, E.T., to his home by leaving Reese’s Pieces through the forest to Elliott’s bedroom. The film became the highest grossing of all-­‐time, a distinction it held for 11 years. Hershey, the candy manufacturer, saw a 65 percent increase in sales as a result of the movie (Van Bierna, 1983). Branded entertainment has been identified by scholars, including Hudson & Hudson, as the next evolution in product placement. Branded entertainment is defined as the integration of advertising into entertainment content, whereby brands are embedded into the storylines of a film, television program or other entertainment medium. This involves co-­‐creation and collaboration between entertainment, media and brands (Hudson & Hudson, 2006). Currently, many brands have integrated their products into reality TV shows. This has coincided with many major advertising and marketing firms opening brand entertainment 14 divisions. In order to have more control over placements, an increasing number of marketers are creating entertainment themselves (2006). Old Spice’s collaboration with the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy has received widespread media attention, winning a Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, and generating more than 20 million views, according to Procter & Gamble (P&G) the parent company (Neff, 2010). The premise of the Old Spice campaign, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” featured a shirtless Isaiah Mustafa in various locations including – in the shower, on a tropical beach, on a yacht, on horseback – talking in a fast, witty tone of voice directly to the camera about his manliness and the idea that “if your man used Old Spice Body Wash,” he, too, could be like him. It launched with television and print ads and banner display ads on websites but became an Internet sensation over YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The campaign launched again with Mustafa answering real time messages via Twitter, Facebook and YahooAnswers with 186 personalized response YouTube videos. Many of videos targeted opinion leaders in the social media sphere, like Digg founder Kevin Rose. It generated 34 million aggregate views and a billion PR impressions in a week, according to Procter & Gamble (Neff, 2010). The campaign, using humor, and sex appeal – entertainment – was targeted towards women, who P&G believes are the people in the house making those types of purchases at the store. As successful as this campaign was at generating enormous social media buzz, it has also elevated the debate as to whether branded entertainment truly resonates with an audience and can ultimately be measured to drive sales. This paper includes a semiotic analysis of this campaign in the methods portion of this paper. 15 Evolution and Trends in Multimedia Communication An examination of the evolution multimedia communication is in order to gain a broad understanding about its past, present and future significance across the journalism, nonprofit and advertising sectors. To put this revolutionary shift into perspective, from 1995 to 2011, Internet adoption in the United States increased from 15 % to 78 % among adults (Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2011). This sharp increase over a relatively short period of time is a direct product of that shift and has fundamentally changed the way these three sectors now operate. Journalism Long gone are the days and (nights) spent in the newspaper’s darkroom processing rolls of film and running prints through different chemical baths, watching as photographs slowly take shape before the staff photographer’s very eyes. That process has been replaced by digital photography and the capability of shooting and processing images on location and transmitting them within seconds around the world via the Internet. The first digital camera was designed by Steven Sasson of Eastman Kodak in 1975 but reluctance by the company to affect its profitable film business forced the company to shelve the project (Associated Press, 2012). It is interesting to note and maybe not without coincidence that in January of 2012 Eastman Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in large part due to its failure to enter into the digital photography market until much later than its competitors. In the fall of 1999 Nikon introduced the D1 digital model, which produced better results that previous $10,000 (and up) digitals, and was about half the price. With the D1, digital suddenly took the upper hand over film (Evensen, 2005). The theme of increasing quality and decreasing price occurred across the consumer product space – from cameras to televisions. By 2002, almost all newspapers in the United States and Canada were online 16 (Singer & Thiel, 2002). Increased technological developments such as improved production software, new multimedia delivery formats and a larger population of broadband users was certainly major factors in driving newsrooms to adopt multimedia formats to tell the news (Lillie, 2011). Specifically, the advent of audio slideshows, an arrangement of photos automatically displayed, one at a time, sequenced to an edited audio track (Lillie, 2011) and an increasing commitment (and reliance) towards short and long form video by newspapers, have changed the traditional view of what a newspaper is. Newspaper videography is most often used in breaking news coverage, sports, feature profile and more in-­‐depth projects. Newspaper websites ranging from The New York Times to suburban Maryland’s The Gazette all have dedicated areas of their website for videos, photo galleries and audio slideshows. Information graphics, commonly called infographics (Freebase, 2012), have been begun to be used more often in journalism as a way of translating complex information in a more easy to interpret medium. The most recent push has been to bring multimedia content to mobile platforms like smartphones and tablet devices. This involves reformatting the content so that it shows up properly and is easy to navigate on a mobile device. Many regional and national newspapers now have mobile applications, called mobile apps, which feature multimedia content along with general news stories. While newspapers do not seek to advocate a point of view or for a specific action, they nonetheless have the power to influence the public to petition government and businesses to change based on the subject matter of the story. For example, The Washington Post’s 2007 investigative project about conditions at the U.S. Army’s Walter Reed Hospital, entitled “Walter Reed and Beyond” led to a public outcry, sweeping changes and top Army 17 officials were relieved from duty. The project appeared in the print newspaper and featured audio slideshows, videos and infographics on the Post’s website. Nonprofit Communication One-­‐way communication outlets like brochures and annual reports, with a focus on success stories, have been a component of strategic communication efforts of nonprofits for years (Waters & Jones, 2011). Print publications were a tried and true method for getting the organization’s name out to its supporters and defining its identity. Non-­‐paid television news stories and print media coverage, called “earned media,” has as well been a communication objective for nonprofit organizations, many of which do not necessarily allocate large budgets for paid advertisements and news coverage. Direct action has also been a way nonprofit organizations have used to garner media and public attention. Greenpeace, one of the most recognizable nonprofit activist organizations, was started in 1971 to “bear witness” to U.S. underground nuclear testing off the West Coast of Alaska (Greenpeace, 2012). Participants sailed to the area in a makeshift were intercepted but garnered public interest. While many organizations do not take the direct action approach that Greenpeace does, technology has dictated changes in how nonprofits communicate with the public. Now, nonprofit organizations have embraced and often times excelled at not only telling success stories online with videos, photo galleries and audio slideshows, but also by building their brand and motivating people to take action on behalf of a social cause. These campaigns are often a combination of online and print materials. They have done this in large part by embracing Web 2.0 – the new era of Web-­‐enabled applications that are built around user-­‐generated content, such as wikis, blogs, podcasts, and social networking sites (Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, 2012). This technology gave birth 18 to the concept of two-­‐way communication where users can interact with and contribute to existing content put out by the nonprofit organization. The rise of social media sites Facebook and Twitter has been incredibly important for nonprofit organizations like the American Red Cross. They have over 415,000 ‘Likes’ on Facebook and over 640,000 ‘Followers’ on Twitter1. Not only can they reach out with and interact with their online followers about breaking news and their disaster relief efforts, but can as well notify and share multimedia content through these sites. Advertising “The challenge for the advertising community is that we have spent most of our history developing strategies that aim to deliver marketing messages by interrupting consumers’ daily experiences whether it be a television program, a newspaper page, or even a bus wall. Delivering value as part of an advertising strategy is not naturally part of advertiser/agency DNA (Kim, 2008).” Although the very first newspaper advertisement in the United States appeared in the Boston News-­‐Letter in 1704 (Advertising Age, 2005), the industry’s post World War II arch is of more importance to this study. During that time the advertising industry tended to rely on print, television and radio for the majority of its campaigns. In advertising the message is put into words and images by a creative team, approved by a purchaser, distributed through a medium like radio, television or magazines, and is decoded by the targeted audience. The messages of advertisements have to use appropriate signs and symbols to stimulate the individual’s perceptual system into action (Parsa, 2004). 1
These estimates were made as of Friday, February 25, 2012 and retrieved from http://www.facebook.com/redcross and http://twitter.com/#!/redcross 19 Advertising campaigns did run across multiple platforms during this period, most often a combination of print and television but could not be considered multimedia without the present of a digital portion. The move to online advertising began to take shape in 1994. That year pay-­‐per-­‐click keyword advertising debuted at GoTo.com but was widely mocked by critics (Schomer, 2009). As consumer demand for broadband Internet steadily rose, advertising firms followed suite and began to cater campaigns more to the average Internet user. This is particularly relevant with the rise of branded entertainment and utilization of the Internet and social media as a platform for advertising campaigns. Rather than having to produce a 30-­‐second advertisement, this medium allows creative professionals the time to develop longer form commercials that could include plots and more character development that you would get in a television ad. Existing Literature of Best Practices for Multimedia “Having an understanding of how persuasive messages work (or don’t work!) is central for surviving in today’s advertising and media-­‐blitzed society (Dainton, 2004).” It is within this context that all communication professionals should have a firm understanding about the current research and literature detailing “best practices” in visual persuasive communication. With almost all creative endeavors there is rarely one way to approach a project, problem or opportunity. Journalists, communication professionals and advertising creatives can use methods that define their individual style but the professions in which they work allow them the freedom to be insightful, to be original, to be artistic and to make a statement. Journalism schools, professional communication programs and other similar institutions of higher learning exist to instill the fundamentals of persuasive storytelling. 20 While the fundamental principles of storytelling – strong characters, good plot development, persuasive messages – long help to guide, the very nature of communication has changed. Audience’s media consumption trends have rapidly shifted. Internet users of all ages are much more likely now than in the past to say they go online for no particular reason other than to pass the time or have fun (Rainie, 2011). It is to each organization’s benefit to better learn how to produce messages that reach and resonate with today’s audience. Best Practices: Journalism In the examination of best practices for photojournalists, producers and newspaper writers, there were a general list of skills and techniques that have been identified to not only remain competitive but to give the audience a more complete experience. Understanding your audience – know what your audience knows, what they don’t know, what they need to know, what they want to know and as well their value system (Silva & Anzur, 2011). It could be argued that journalists in general do not spend them time to understand their audience in favor of producing the highest quality work. Along those same lines, the authors suggest that practitioners should try to focus on people not property and follow a storyline that resonates with audience like crisis, conflict and resolution. While music in multimedia photo and video project has been in award-­‐winning projects, there have been differing opinions as to how best use music to enhance a project. Consider for example the quotes of two visual journalism leaders, Tom Kennedy of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and Rick Beckman, Knight Chair for Visual Journalism at the University of Miami as they spoke with Regina McCombs of the Poynter Institute. 21 “Sometimes a bit of well-­‐used music can set up a sublime counterpoint to the movement of the images themselves and be a real point of focus for a piece that owes more to art than journalism (McCombs, 2009).” “ I believe that the growing use of music in documentary multimedia storytelling has the potential to cast doubt on the impartial nature of our reportage. Folks need to understand how to use ambient audio to add mood and emotion to their stories, not rely on the crutch of canned music (McCombs, 2009).” Despite disagreements between these two professionals as to the place of music in newspaper multimedia, McCombs contends that music has power and also the power to hide flaws within the production or storyline of a project. She goes on to make several key statements about the proper use of music in journalism multimedia projects. In general, a journalist or producer should not add music to what he/she has gathered from the scene. In the rare cases in which a reporter does add music, it should be used to enhance or further the narrative, not to compensate for incomplete reporting. Music is not a universal language. A reporter or producer must understand the craft of scoring music if he/she adds it to stories (McCombs, 2009). The uses of ambient audio, also known as natural sound, along with interviews of the story’s subject have been one of the main reasons for widespread adoption of multimedia. Lastly, Silva and Anzur note that, research shows that viewers will tolerate less than perfect video, but they are more likely to click away if they can’t hear what going on or the overall quality of the audio is poor. Adding well-­‐placed sound, where it works in concert with the visuals, can give the story more depth and substance. For video journalism, always keep the editing process in mind and lead with the most compelling footage. Whereas the traditional or ‘old school’ of visual storytelling dictated leading with an establishing shot, the videographer and producer’s ability to initially engage 22 and bring in the viewer is paramount (Silva & Anzur, 2011). Most importantly, stories that have people as the main subject should keep the narratives simple and try to give the audience a parasocial relationship with that character. Best Practices: Nonprofit Communication When forming a communication plan, there needs to be a serious discussion as to the objectives of your campaign, a composite of what your target audience is like, how you can reach them and what type of messages will be the most influential. Video as a branding and advocacy tool for nonprofits gives the organization a mechanism in which to give their audience and stakeholders the opportunity to develop a stronger relationship with the public. Using YouTube is a wise marketing and public relations strategy for nonprofits as it is the fourth most visited website in the United States. Seven in 10 adult Internet users, or roughly half of all adults in the United Sates, have watched streaming videos on the web (Purcell, 2010). YouTube as well gives the organization a mechanism for responding to feedback from the audience on the website. Médecins Sans Frontières “Starved for Attention” interactive multimedia nonprofit multimedia campaign was one such campaign. It featured well-­‐composed shots, good quality audio, and a strong storyline and high production value. Importantly, creative professionals should be willing to build narratives around that organization’s stakeholders as spokespeople rather than outsiders (Waters, Jones, 2011). Since most nonprofits are discussing a real topic, with real-­‐life consequences, many of the same best practices concepts for the field of journalism can be applied to the nonprofit sector. Waters and Jones emphasize that by sharing video content through social media channels helps to not only see where the multimedia content is being seen but also what the tenor of the conversations that surround it. It gives the organization more ability to build its brand with its key publics. 23 Fundamentally, multimedia best practices for nonprofits should speak to four key points, according to Kardas (1993), videos (multimedia) should seek to inform and educate the audience about the programs and purpose of the organization, entertain the audience, increase the viewers level of personal involvement with the organization and inspire the audience. Best Practices: Advertising It seems like almost every week there is new advertisement that goes ‘viral’ and explodes across the Internet and social media platforms. Viral marketing can be defined in this context as the process of getting customers to pass along a company’s marketing message to friends, family and colleagues (Laudon & Traver, 2001). In the third quarter of 2011, Internet advertising revenues in the United Stated reached $7.88 billion, representing a 22 percent increase over the same period in 2010, according to an analysis by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Viral video advertising campaigns are part of this equation. (Dobele et al., 2007) argue that successful viral campaigns trigger an emotional response amongst the viewers and that emotion helps to spread the message. They also introduce several points of suggestion for the use of emotion for viral marketing success:  Viral marketing campaigns that use joy are best suited to irreverent or fun brands.  Viral marketing campaigns that utilize sadness are best suited to social marketers who seek an immediate response to disasters, particularly natural disasters.  Viral marketing campaigns that employ anger are best suited to single-­‐issue crusades that seek an immediate reaction to injustice.  Viral marketing campaigns that center on fear must be used carefully and sparingly. 24  Viral marketing campaigns built on foundations of disgust or bad taste are most effectively targeted toward young males.  Cultural influences on viral marketing campaigns need to be taken into account. And while advertising’s main goals can seem to be inherently different than the journalism and nonprofit sectors, it is important to note that as this study’s broad framework is multimedia communication, viral marketing campaigns are more than ever using multimedia formats to produce and distribute them. Methods This capstone project employed two separate research methodologies. First, three case studies were conducted using a semiotic analysis, one each from the fields of journalism, nonprofit communication and advertising. In the larger framework of this study, semiotic analysis provides the opportunity to dissect the specific role, categorization and meaning of specific photographs, videos, graphics and their place within the larger framework of the project. For all three of these analyses a code document was created to help classify and organize relevant themes found in each case study. The Elaboration Likelihood Model was used as a means to assess the types of tactics employed by the producers of these three unique projects to engage and hold the attention of their audience. For journalism, The Washington Post’s multimedia project about United States military personnel struggles with traumatic brain injury (TBI), “Coming Home A Different Person,” was investigated. The analysis examined the special section of the newspaper’s website that contained five video stories, one photo slideshow, infographics and a written story. Each individual component of the project was researched and specific codes were assigned to correlate their meaning and importance. 25 The nonprofit communication case study analysis investigated the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) “Starved for Attention” campaign. The aim of the campaign was to raise awareness about childhood malnutrition around the world, the advances that have been made in this fight and to motivate the audience to lobby governments to improve the quality of their food aid. All of the photo and video content on the Starved for Attention website was analyzed. For the field of advertising, the Wieden+Kennedy campaign on behalf of Procter & Gamble’s Old Spice brand was investigated. The campaign was a series of Internet, television and print advertisements promoting Old Spice’s body wash. This capstone specifically investigated the Internet-­‐based “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” advertisements. In-­‐depth interviews were conducted as the second research method for this capstone project. Leading communications professionals from the journalism, nonprofit communication and advertising fields were interviewed. This included Washington Post interactive projects editor Kat Downs and staff photographer Jahi Chikwendiu, New Media Strategies senior strategy manager Joe Gizzi, Nasuti + Hinkle creative director Woody Hinkle, Bread for the World multimedia manager Laura Elizabeth Pohl, Oxfam America creative director Jane Huber, Kaiser Family Foundation senior program officer for Health Communication and Media Partnerships Caroline Herter and University of North Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communication assistant professor Chad A. Stevens. Each person interviewed was directly involved in the production of multimedia content for his/her respective organization or was charged with its distribution to the public domain. It was the goal of this specific method to learn more about their individual experiences with multimedia communication, what they have each learned since integrating 26 it into their work, and what the specific processes are for them in creation of such projects that help to reach their specific goals. It is the opinion of the investigator that this primary research process provided insight into creating a deeper understanding of what the key elements might be a for successful multimedia communication projects across sectors. Fundamentally, it was important to be able to personally speak with a diverse group of professionals who each bring a unique perspective and years of experience to the capstone project. This process allowed the interviewer to build rapport, probe the subject’s answers and help clarify the investigator’s own personal thoughts and opinions about the subject matter. Interviews were conducted both in-­‐person (4) and over the phone (4) over the course of five weeks in March and April of 2012. Each interview was approximately 45 minutes to one and a half hours in length. All interviews were audio recorded for the principal investigator’s personnel recall ability. Handwritten notes were also taken at each session by the investigator. The data was analyzed by drawing similarities between each interview. Although several follow up questions did vary slightly given the specific professional field each interviewee works in. The theoretical underpinnings of this methodology were originally intended to explore the relationship of the Elaboration Likelihood Model and the role of the model’s central and peripheral routes of persuasion as tools consciously used by the creative professionals interviewed for this project. Through the interview process it became more apparent of the importance of narrative as the underlying tenets of multimedia communication practiced by these professionals. While the investigator did probe each participant as to the theoretical underpinnings of their own work, there was no direct 27 consensus as to the role ELM played. It was through a more cursory approach that some of the underlying tenets of ELM were revealed. Results Semiotic Analysis of Three Case Studies The Washington Post: “Coming Home A Different Person” Fig. 1 Coming Home A Different Person Project The overarching aim of writer Christian Davenport and the members of the photo, video and graphics team was to inform their readers and share real-­‐life stories of soldiers and families affected by traumatic brain injury. The message tactic was cognitive in that it was attempting to use a variety of information to help present five deeply personal stories as symptoms of a larger problem. 28 The newspaper used experts, the soldiers themselves, and their family members as the principle storytellers. Dr. David Williamson, recognized in this capstone project as an authority/expert, helped explain the physical and neurological problems associated with a traumatic brain injury. The soldiers and family members then reinforced that information by confirming their own accounts of the damage the injury has done. Narrators were used in all five of the videos. An independent female narrator was used in three of the five videos. For example, the mother of US Army 1st Class Chris Lynch helped tell his story and the father of Lance Corporal Jeremy Mercado talked about the three brain injuries his son sustained over the course of a year. Character development was achieved through the use of narrative episodic framing as each individual story described the soldiers before and after their traumatic brain injury, a commonality shared among each character. Specifically, the written story and photo slideshow follow the recovery of Army specialist Robert Warren with facts, expert testimony and his own personal statements as he recovered from his injury. Visual and textual codes in the introductory video, including the opening scene where Humvees driving down a road in Iraq narrowly avoid being blown up by an improvised explosive device (IED) that explodes right in front of the camera, set the framing that is used throughout all of the other story’s components. Information graphics – infographics – use textual codes like red font to draw the audience to the number of soldiers who suffered a TBI from 2000 to 2009. Techniques employed by the producers of this series most likely fall under the Elaboration Likelihood Model’s peripheral route of persuasion. All of the videos were under five minutes in length. Interactive infographics the viewer can roll over with his mouse help 29 to more easily explain the complexity of traumatic brain injury. Individual descriptions of each portion of the brain are explained by only one paragraph of text. Médecins Sans Frontières: “Starved for Attention” Fig. 2 Starved for Attention Campaign The Starved for Attention website features a variety of content well suited for analysis through semiotic means. The overarching theme of the project was to inform. The message tactic was a call to action, as connotatively phrased, ‘195 million stories. Rewrite the story’. Emotional appeals, expert characters, audio, visual and textual cues, and affected families were used to reinforce the main theme of the project. Emotional appeals using resolve and contempt were used to convey the attitudes of the characters in the videos and photographs. Visual and auditory cues are used to help express the emotional appeal. For example, in the introductory video, one of the main characters, MSF International Council President Dr. Unni Karunakara, the expert, is shown working in the field and giving his assessment of MSF’s efforts to eliminate childhood 30 malnutrition around the world. The presence of the expert denotes that what is being discussed is credible and important thus when he describes the challenges to progress, and the advances made in the fight. The use of testimony by MSF field staff, the patients and families affected by childhood malnutrition is another tactical technique and cue that leads the viewer to think of credibility. Textually, the individual story titles reinforce the persuasive intent of the producers of this project. “Why Do We Have To Wait For a Crisis,” “Frustration,” Terrifying Normalcy,” “The Malnutrition That Shouldn’t Be,” “A Mother’s Devotion,” “Invisible,” “A Solution From Within” and “The U.S. Standard and a Double Standard” all cue the audience to think of these stories in terms of contempt and resolve for these individual stories of childhood malnutrition. Auditory cues used by the principle storytellers, in particular the medical field staff, helped to reinforce the overarching themes of the project. Words like status quo, lack of income, possible, share and something needs to change all played an important role. Dramatic music and natural sound reinforces the power of the visual elements throughout each story and helped to advance the story. Visually, there were many denotative and connotative methods employed in the videos and photo slideshows. In the video “Frustration,” black and white photographs incorporated into the videos and photo slideshows tell the story of a 35-­‐bed field hospital in Djibouti. Some of the photographs of children in the hospital where they are hooked up to medical equipment are blurry and slightly out of focus. In Part Two of “The U.S. Standard and a Double Standard,” black and white photographs show the process of creating corn-­‐
soybean cereal blend food aid. 31 With respect to connotative methods, the composition of photographs is important as the viewer works to formulate an opinion of the issues based on what they are seeing. Specifically, there are many photographs, including those of Natasha and her son Alexei from Burkina Faso, in intimate moments together, photographed at a close proximity as they struggle to find food to cure his case of malnutrition. Techniques employed by the producers of this project use the Elaboration Likelihood Model’s central route of persuasion. The photo slideshows and videos each require a high degree of commitment from the audience. Each video is five to nine minutes in length, several minutes longer than the norm for journalistic-­‐style projects of this type. Despite the widespread use of emotional cues in this project, the producers used lots of information, rational arguments and evidence to support their point of view and persuade the audience to share their opinion. Old Spice: “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” Fig. 3 Old Spice Campaign 32 The creative advertising firm Widen+Kennedy launched the Old Spice advertisements featuring actor Isaiah Mustafa as the ‘man your man could smell like’ in February of 2010. The overarching theme that defined this campaign was persuasion that used episodic framing and the Elaboration Likelihood Model’s peripheral route to influence the audience. More specifically, there were a number of emotional appeals that helped to define the presence of persuasive techniques. The emotional appeals of humor, desire, lifestyle, money and body image were all used. Humor was expressed through the main character’s words and their meaning. Desire was expressed through the association of using his body as the object of that desire. The advertisements feature only one character, the Old Spice guy. He is a young African American male, who is physically well built. Initially he was not recognizable but by the second series of advertisements he became a notable and remembered character. While character development is an often-­‐used tactic, these series of advertisements show only the character changing physical appearance and location, not negotiating through a personal experience you find as the basis of traditional narrative storytelling. Visual cues as well extended to the use of diamonds, a yacht, and a hot tub. These cues help to reinforce the association to money and lifestyle. The sequencing of events that unfold in front of the audience also speaks to the use of humor. There were several auditory and verbal cues used to help reinforce the emotional appeals discussed above. The character’s authoritative tone of voice and use of rhetorical questions helped target the key audience for the ads, women who shop for personal care items for their boyfriends or husbands. The way the words were framed impacted the 33 intended emotional pull by the ads creators. The use of music was reserved to the jingle at the very end of the commercial. In the first advertisement, the use of the bare-­‐chested main character in the shower, on a yacht and on a white horse was denotative of the emotional appeals of desire, body image, lifestyle and money. The second advertisement used depictions of lifestyle and accomplishment to appeal to the target audience. They were expressed through the adventure you could have with ‘your man’, the gourmet cake baked by ‘your man’ and the dream kitchen built by ‘your man’. In-­‐depth Interviews Lessons Learned Among many of the professionals interviewed there was recognition that the practice of multimedia communication was a constant learning process (Downs, 2012; Huber, 2012; Stevens, 2012). Those respondents recognized their personal development as a producer of multimedia content was influenced by their evolving understanding of the storytelling process. In addition, respondents posited that the introduction of new technical tools and tactics were significant in their learning. Nonprofit producers have learned the importance of educating other people within their organization, which include non-­‐communications staff and management, of the impact of strong visual storytelling and using multimedia as a means to that end (Huber, 2012; Pohl, 2012). “If you want quality you need to put time and resources into it because there’s a lot of bad video out there and I don’t want to contribute to it” (Pohl, 2012). There was recognition by nonprofit producers that powerful photographs are needed to resonate with an audience and that organizations need to be committed to paying for photographers to create them if they want their content to be widely shared by their audience. 34 Journalism practitioners interviewed for this project noted that there learning curve for being able to collect and produce multimedia projects was fairly low. Both had been involved in some phase of the collection and production of multimedia content for over six years (Chikwendiu, 2012; Downs, 2012). Washington Post photographer Jahi Chikwendiu has learned to be selective with the way in which he collects audio, takes photographs and compartmentalizes his time accordingly while working in the field to best balance the need to properly tell the story. There was recognition that the newspaper industry is a business with finite resources and that the nature of daily deadlines can hinder ones ability to spend as much time developing, creating and producing interactive multimedia projects. On the other hand, nonprofit communications professionals remarked that the learning curve for developing and producing multimedia was a greater challenge (Huber, 2012; Pohl, 2012). Huber posited that there were institutional barriers that contributed to this. “Having to work within the constraints of a nonprofit organization can be incredibly painful. People don’t honor the production process. There have been incredible successes but it has also been very tough,” she remarked. The importance of simplifying the complexity of the user experience was also recognized as an important lesson learned (Downs, 2012). Medium/Platform/Channel There was widespread agreement amongst those interviewed that the communication project’s overarching message was more important that the individual platform through which that story was told (Chikwendiu, 2012; Downs, 2012; Gizzi, 2012; Hinkle, 2012; Huber, 2012; Pohl, 2012; Stevens, 2012). 35 In advertising a determination needs to be made as to what platform makes sense for the client and what makes sense based on the campaign budget (Gizzi, 2012). There also needs to be consideration as to what communication medium will most resonate with and be seen by your target audience (Gizzi, 2o12; Hinkle, 2012). Often times the campaign will use a variety of media to get their message out. This could include television and radio ads, coasters at a bar, bus ads for example (Hinkle, 2012). For nonprofit communications professionals interviewed, they recognized that whatever platform the message was on, it needed to be presented where their key audiences are (Herter, 2012; Huber, 2012; Pohl, 2012). For example, the Kaiser Family Foundation manages the Greater Than AIDS campaign and its accompanying Facebook page. It is an active community with over 150,000 supporters and the content produced for that platform is reflective of that specific audience. Research The importance of research was mentioned as another critical element when formulating a framework for producing multimedia projects or communication campaigns across all three fields. Target audience research – what communication platforms does the key target audience use, what is the best place to reach them, what appeals might they respond to -­‐-­‐ were deemed important (Gizzi, 2012; Hinkle, 2012; Pohl, 2012). Research as well should be conducted with the help of other experts at the organization (Pohl, 2012). It was believed that this would better inform the overall quality of the final project. This also extends to reaching out to other outside experts and people who are knowledgeable about the subject matter you are investigating (Huber, 2012; Stevens, 2012). For his film project on mountaintop removal, which was started in graduate school, Chad A. Stevens relied on a literature review to help him establish a network of 36 people to speak with about the topic. These contacts then assisted him in reaching out to others who could help him in the development process (Stevens, 2012). “I wanted to take the dialogue to a new place and I think that’s where the research came in,” Stevens said. Advertising professionals use existing client data, lead focus groups and message testing and now measure social buzz when formulating their strategic communication plans on behalf of their clients (Gizzi, 2012; Hinkle, 2012). Phone and email research are still used when working on some client accounts as well (Hinkle, 2012). Focus group testing is also performed by nonprofit organizations to periodically assess knowledge and awareness of the issues as well as brand awareness of the campaign and organization (Herter, 2012; Huber, 2012). Online measuring tools like Google Analytics are used as a both a research and evaluation tool to measure the relative effectiveness of multimedia communication projects. Interviewees believed that it was helpful to have an understanding of what content the viewers’ accessed, how long they stayed on the page but also recognized its limitations as a truly accurate measure of effectiveness. (Huber, 2012; Stevens, 2012). Team Dynamics When working in a creative environment, developing positive working relationships with your coworkers is crucial according to all interview subjects. Building relationships are important so that people (on the team) feel comfortable giving up some form of control of their work (Downs, 2012). This process can also be fun, according to Downs, an interactive projects editor at The Washington Post, because the editor or producer is able to help photographers, graphic designers and videographers see possibilities where they might not have seen any before. An important component of working as a staff photographer at a 37 newspaper is recognizing that the photographer is not the ultimate decision maker but can give their input to help the editor produce the best possible work (Chikwendiu, 2012). Whether working with management within an organization or working with a client, it is important to make them aware of the benefits and pitfalls or taking a certain course of action (Gizzi, 2012; Huber, 2012; Pohl, 2012). In advertising this can mean advocating for a particular communication platform that is more appropriate for the target audience. It also includes working with a client’s legal team when assessing the implications of the campaign (Gizzi, 2012). In nonprofit organizations this extends to educating management as to the benefits of producing in-­‐depth, high quality multimedia projects and campaigns and the value they add to connecting with the audience (Pohl, 2012). Interviewees also discussed the level of commitment to the cause, topic or organization as a beneficial attribute a team member could bring to bear. Best Practices Despite the differences among the professional fields of each of the interview subjects, several themes were mentioned with frequency. When starting a project you must have an understanding of what your message is and how you can best inform your audience with that message (Chikwendiu, 2012; Gizzi, 2012; Herter, 2012; Hinkle, 2012; Huber; 2012). In the field of advertising, the creation of a creative brief is important as a best practices technique, as it will help inform the rest of the campaign (Hinkle, 2012). Any campaign needs to be built on a creative strategy and this process will help to do that (Hinkle, 2012). High production value, with good editing and audio production were recognized as an important best practice to use in the production of project and campaign materials. The 38 material also needs to be digestible but sharable to the audience (Gizzi, 2012). The editing process extends to the development of interactive materials. The producer needs to establish a way to help easily lead the audience through the story using traditional and interactive graphics and other visual material (Downs, 2012). According to the interview subjects their needs to be a concerted effort among producers and creative professionals to full develop the story when creating a project. Responses from both the journalism and nonprofit professionals indicated the importance developing a storytelling arch (Downs, 2012; Pohl, 2012). “Very simply something needs to happen. So often in journalistic multimedia pieces nothing really happens. It’s all past tense. It needs to be in the present tense,” remarked UNC assistant professor Chad A. Stevens. Interviewees recognize that a story needs to include a character going through change. It was also their belief that audience engagement and retention levels would suffer as a result of incomplete or poorly developed story (Herter, 2012; Pohl, 2012). Enough time must be spent with the subject so that the producer can develop a rapport with the subject and build trust (Pohl, 2012). It was also noted that as a best practice, story subjects should be chosen that could help to clearly articulate their own personal point of view. This extends to using the main story subjects as the experts. In the case of Oxfam America, the organization seeks opportunities to “elevate local voices” (Huber, 2012) and – when possible – to use a story’s main subject as its principal storyteller. Who is more knowledgeable than local people about the land, local conditions and problems that affect them? “Oxfam’s ultimate goal is to change the way people [in the United States] look at poverty. People living in poverty anywhere in the world are capable people. They are motivated and hard working,” Huber (2012) states. She aims for Oxfam’s video and 39 multimedia pieces to reflect that reality with the hope that the public will recognize that investing in the capacity of local individuals is worthwhile. Another related best practice that was discussed was the development of stories that are universal to the human experience (Chikwendiu, 2012). Fundamentally, humans want to solve problems and figure things out (Stevens, 2012). Along with that, Chikwendiu discussed the importance of determining what story is appropriate based on the professional’s assessment of what the actual story is. Whether that story lent itself just to visual storytelling (photo slideshow or video) versus photographs and audio (audio slideshow). Lastly, these stories should ideally include something that surprises and informs the audience (Downs, 2012). Despite all of the lessons learned, research methods utilized and best practices currently being used by these communications professionals, there was widespread recognition of the relative infancy of multimedia as a communication platform. Most viewed this as an overall positive for the communications industry and would help lead to higher quality work. Washington Post photographer Jahi Chikwendiu stated that, “As a viewer my understanding of the world broadens because of multimedia.” Discussion The purpose of the primary research process, first through a case study analysis, was to thoroughly analyze successful multimedia communication campaigns from three different communication fields. By dissecting each project’s individual components, similarities and differences among them were found. Second, in-­‐depth interviews were conducted to gain the insight of practitioners who could offer important voices in helping develop a deeper understanding of what a framework for best practices for multimedia communication might include. The implications from this research process could have a 40 direct effect on how practitioners decide to establish their own multimedia communication best practices framework. Summary and Implications of Case Study Analysis The Washington Post: “Coming Home A Different Person” Combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan has taken a dramatic toll on not only on those who have served and survived traumatic brain injury, but their families as well. The Post’s editorial, photography, videography, graphics and web departments collaborated to present a compelling story of five survivors and their families. According to producer Kat Downs, the level of commitment and drive from the team members in helping to tell the story was an important factor in producing a powerful, high quality, integrated multimedia communication project. She expressed a sense of duty she believed was shared among the team to do the story justice (Downs, 2012). In the field of journalism, possessing these qualities appears to be an important personal trait that could be advantageous for producers of multimedia projects. The majority of the profiles used a hybrid of constructed documentary format and vérité documentary format, whereby formal interviews were conducted with the soldiers and their families. The interviews included recollections of past events and those that were occurring at the time of filming. The combined audio slideshow and video of Army specialist Robert Warren used a vérité documentary format where staff photographer, Marvin Joseph and staff videographer, Whitney Shefte followed Warren’s brain surgery and recovery. The “fly on the wall approach” used in this particular segment provided the viewer a front seat to the action as it unfolded. Despite the introduction of a female narrator, Warren’s personal account of these events, combined with the narrator’s important contextual information, provide an important centrally routed message for the audience. 41 As mentioned earlier, it could be argued that this project used episodic framing to convey a link between the event-­‐oriented conditions each man was suffering from and how they were a reflection of a larger public issue, traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The motion graphics and infographics used in the introductory video highlighted the prevalence and severity of TBI incidents in the military. Narration is used extensively throughout the project as a centrally routed cue to remind the viewer that something important was being conveyed. Importantly, the family and spouses of the soldiers interviewed for this project offered their personal stories, which not only shared important information, but also helped establish an emotional appeal by means of auditory cues. The cues, which used words associated with traumatic brain injury, military service and personal relationships, worked to show the human side of war and its aftermath. The overall production quality of the project was very high. The motion graphics and infographics were well done and were used in the appropriate places – in the beginning of the introductory video to introduce the context and scale of traumatic brain injury and also in a special section of the microsite that was devoted to explaining the different parts of the human brain. Some of the photographs that showed the soldiers prior to, or during, their deployment were of only average quality. The photographs lacked interesting compositions, a wide tonal range and could be viewed as family snapshots rather than high caliber photojournalistic photographs. This is not to say that they should have not been included. On the contrary, they were quite important in giving each soldier’s story more context. The photographs showed aspects of the soldiers’ lives that would have been impossible otherwise for the producers to reconstruct. 42 Photographs produced by Marvin Joseph showed the intimate moments between Army specialist, Robert Warren, and his wife, Brittanie and their newborn daughter. Photographs like this could possibly make it easier for a viewer to establish a connection with him, defined as identification, because many people can relate to the birth of a child. The photographs also served to visually show John Barnes’ struggles to adapt to everyday life following his own traumatic brain injury in Iraq. Both video and audio were crucial components of this project that literally brought the story of traumatic brain injury to life. These tools worked together seamlessly and furthered the overall theme of the project. The message and aim of the project were simple. Traumatic brain injury is often not visible, but is causing long-­‐lasting effects for our veterans. Médecins Sans Frontières: “Starved for Attention” Campaign The MSF campaign, through the use of thematic framing and vérité documentary style, told the story of the millions of children around the world suffering from malnutrition. The ultimate campaign objective was to raise the public’s awareness about childhood malnutrition and call on donor governments to improve the quality of food aid for malnourished children. The campaign featured stories that showed the successes and failure of governments and people to act in the interests of children and families affected by this issue. The organization places an emphasis on high quality photography to help inform their audience about humanitarian, medical and manmade crises occurring around the world. Photographers from the photo agency VII, which is versed in covering stories like this, were commissioned to create photographs and several of the Starved for Attention campaign videos in nine countries. With expertise in documentary narrative storytelling 43 format, the majority of the campaign’s visual materials were produced and presented using that style. As in most other nonprofit communication multimedia pieces, interviews with experts were conducted using a constructed format. While interviews and narration were primarily with experts from Western countries, several of the interviews included testimonials from local MSF medical field staff. With what appears to be a growing emphasis within the development and health fields to build local capacity, and ultimately give local control over projects, it will as well be important for organizations like MSF to include more local experts in multimedia projects. It is possible that the perspective that local experts provide would give the viewer more value and potentially increase greater audience engagement with, and support to, the project. Additional narration came from the photographers themselves. VII photographer, John Stanmeyer, narrated the story he photographed and shot video for in Mexico about the gains achieved in the fight against childhood malnutrition through improved rural child and maternal health services. The tone and cadence of his voice seemed to work well as he gave perspective of the situation there and what he witnessed. This “fly on the wall approach” appears to be successful despite lacking any other professional perspective. The introductory video, which summarizes the campaign, used the Zoë Keating song “Optimist.” The song begins with a single cello softly playing and culminates with what could be described as uplifting music of several stringed instruments, which was choreographed perfectly with the narration that described the progress made in the fight against childhood malnutrition. The producers of this comprehensive project were wise to place an emphasis on a variety of keywords that helped reinforce the main point of the story. These included the 44 key messages that the problem of childhood malnutrition is combatable, should not be happening on the scale that it is, and gains have been made need to be implemented around the world. Old Spice: “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” The Old Spice body wash campaign with “The Man Your Man Can Smell Like” has been one of the most visible and successful advertising campaigns of recent memory. While coded and discussed earlier in terms of its emotional appeals, there are other aspects of the commercial that are worth elaborating on. Fundamentally, this campaign was made in the constructed reality format. All of the scenes were storyboarded and meticulously produced. Episodic framing was used to present the Old Spice guy as a unique character who was discussing a larger issue – women buying their men’s body wash. The most visible implication resulting from this campaign appears to be the professional debate surrounding the overall effectiveness of the campaign. While there was widespread recognition of the originality and high production value of the campaign, many in the advertising world wondered how much the series impacted Procter & Gamble’s overall sales of the product. It is a relevant debate that could likely be evaluated using a cost-­‐benefit analysis-­‐style of measurement. Practitioners would want to know whether the social buzz surrounding the campaign was enough to meet the client’s specific campaign objectives. Theoretical Underpinnings A fundamental underpinning of this capstone project was the contention that the Elaboration Likelihood Model could help to explain some of the ways in which communication professionals develop projects and campaigns to engage and motivate an 45 audience. While not explicitly acknowledged by the interview subjects, their answers to interview questions, along with the case study analysis, would seem to suggest that there are elements of the model at work across each sector. In the nonprofit and journalism fields the predominant objective is to inform the viewer. It most often is expressed through multimedia elements – video, photography, graphics and audio – that make it easier for an audience to understand the complexity and significance of an issue. They rely on using these mediums to centrally route messages they hope will engage the audience as well as remember why the story is important. It would appear the audience would have at least a passing interest in an issue to seek out the content and go through the process of watching it. For the advertising field, research performed through this work would seem to suggest the short-­‐term objectives many campaigns can have. It many instances it would appear that the goal is to have the message be noticed, remembered and acted upon by the audience. The use of periphery routed messages that use emotional cues may be better at achieving this objective. The use of such appeals is often predicated on the fact that in order to be remembered, they need to be repeated often. It is also worth noting that the importance of a narrative, and the process of narrative storytelling, was recognized by interview subjects from across the three communication fields surveyed in this capstone project. Best Practices Framework The key research question stated in this study’s introduction is to formulate an answer to what the key components are in making an effective and persuasive multimedia project that resonates and influences an audience. A framework for success can include many things, particularly depending on the specific goal and scope of a project. 46 The overall findings and implications of this capstone are wide-­‐ranging and help to establish a deep understanding of what a best practices framework could include. It should be acknowledged that there are no ‘rules’ and that professionals must decide what is realistic for themselves and their own creative vision and their organization’s overall goals. Drawing on the perspective of the case study analysis and those interviewed, this process illuminated the differences that sometimes exist between communications and non-­‐
communications professionals at an organization. Despite the commitment of people to serve the greater good (most often the organizational mission and goals), working relationships can be tested by a lack of understanding of how communications professionals can be best utilized to advance the strategic goals and objectives of that organization. This extends to recognizing the time and resources it oftentimes takes to produce multimedia projects across the journalism, nonprofit and advertising sectors. There is, however, the ability of mutual education, where members of departments make a committed effort to develop relationships of respect. All of the interview participants stressed the importance of recognizing one’s role within that organization, respecting that role and working passionately and collectively to achieve, stated goals, and showcasing the benefit that powerful multimedia projects can have. Fundamentally, it is incumbent for communications professionals, particularly those working in journalism and nonprofit communication, to place great emphasis on developing messages, stories and characters that have the ability to stand on their own without the aid of technical effects like overly dramatic music, startling images, graphics and overtly emotional appeals that are sometimes used. This is especially true because a guiding philosophy would suggest that the professional’s goal would be to tell stories as accurately as possible. 47 While those elements are sometimes crucial as peripheral cues to help capture a segment of a target audience, it should be noted, that according to the Elaboration Likelihood Model, their effects would most likely be short-­‐lived, and possibly ineffectual, for advancing a long-­‐term strategic organizational goal. That is not to say that they should not be used, but a judgment must be made to determine if, and how, they are appropriate to adding depth to the project and engaging the target audience. For advertising professionals, this capstone’s research would seem to suggest that there exists greater latitude for creative risk taking that could allow for such elements as dramatic music, highly impactful imagery and emotional appeals. Along with fully developing messages and stories, practitioners should be mindful that the medium or channel through which the campaign is distributed should not take precedence over that message or story. It is possible for communications and non-­‐
communications professionals alike to fall into the trap of believing that the tactic is more important than the strategy. Exciting new visual tools must be used to serve the message, not the other way around. There was widespread recognition by interview subjects of the importance of a commitment to high-­‐quality photography, videography, graphics, audio collection and music. In a hyper-­‐competitive media environment, where audience loyalties are never assured, it can often be the reason why someone decides not to engage with the material. All three case studies featured strong visual imagery, effective narration and music, which in some part led to acclaim and several national awards. This includes a commitment to staff training and education as well as investments in the best equipment possible to ensure that the final product is of a high professional standard. Photographs should be well composed 48 within the frame, use dynamic lighting (either natural or artificial), and use layering with the photographs to add information that will help to inform the overall story or campaign. Audio narration should serve as an additional element that helps to inform and enforce the overall message. An internal debate about its use would be beneficial for nonprofit organizations, especially those working internationally, so as not to play into existing stereotypes of Westerners “knowing what’s best.” Most often, music should work as complementary tool with the visuals. While music is very rarely used with journalistic pieces, attention should be paid to how the use of music is being incorporated as the field of multimedia communication continues to evolve. Finally, a commitment to the research process was seen as an imperative by professionals surveyed for this project. Importantly, gaining specific knowledge about the key target audience for the project is important. This will help to inform how and if they will, in fact, engage with and respond to projects and key messages and a call to action. It was recognized that at a very basic level, if this is not conducted, the final product might not be as effectual. Secondly, multimedia communications practitioners should invest time into learning as much about their topics and subjects as possible. Seek out experts within and outside the organization, company or client you are working on behalf of. A deep understanding of the variables that impact the project would be advantageous in the conceptual and production phases of multimedia campaigns. Conclusion The advertising, nonprofit communication and news media landscape has been profoundly impacted by the digital revolution. As technology and audience viewing habits continue to evolve, it is important for practitioners to gain an understanding for what the components of a successful multimedia communication campaign might include. 49 The aim of this capstone project was to research theories of persuasion important for multimedia communication, examine existing literature on the history of multimedia communication across the journalism, nonprofit and advertising sectors, and perform original research to highlight current practices and articulate a possible framework based on this research. This capstone project will be a worthwhile addition to current research on best practices in multimedia communication. This study will be beneficial for both communications and non-­‐communications professionals alike to further their understanding of what are the multitude of factors that need to be considered when formulating a multimedia communications campaign. The secondary research process analyzed a large collection of work that spanned several theories of persuasion, the evolution and trends in multimedia communication and existing literature of best practices for multimedia. This process was crucial for the author to not only inform the primary research process but also serve as the foundation for a proposed best practices framework. The primary research for this capstone was significant because, through the use of a semiotic analysis of three case studies, entire multimedia campaigns could be dissected to not only determine what each campaign consisted of but also the underlying significance of those elements. This capstone produced several important findings. First, the development of multimedia campaigns should be predicated on in-­‐depth research, both of the topic or story, and the target audience. Second, a commitment to the highest quality photography, videography, infographics and video production, were deemed important for successful campaigns. Third, the overall message strategy should be given more importance than any 50 tactical tool used by content creators and producers. Fourth, despite the institutional nature of organizations in these three sectors, mutual education about how multimedia is produced is important. Lastly, tenets of the Elaboration Likelihood Model were identified when examining three case studies. Emotional, auditory and visual cues of varying degrees appeared in both central and peripheral routed messages. The in-­‐depth interview process was an important component of this capstone project as it helped to inform the investigator’s primary research process, results and discussion section. However, given the limited timeframe, interviewing more communications professionals from across the advertising, nonprofit and journalism fields along with independent videographers and photographers could have led to a more substantive primary research and best practices framework. The present study highlights several aspects important in developing a conceptual framework and production techniques for multimedia communication projects and campaigns. To advance the line of research it would be worthwhile for a deeper analysis of the technical components that might help to aid visual communication professionals. While this study did address that in a broad sense, it would be especially important for those professionals interested in refining their skills to have a more detailed understanding of how to conceptualize and produce multimedia projects. 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IMAGES FROM OLD SPICE CAMPAIGN 57 APPENDIX D. INTERVIEW SCRIPT Please note that changes were made based on the individual’s field of employment. Interview Script 1. What role does multimedia communication play at ______________? 2. How long has ____________ been using multimedia communication? 3. What have you learned since you first incorporated multimedia into your communication strategies? 4. How do you determine what type of medium _____________ uses – photographs, videos, graphics, posters, audio, are appropriate for the specific message/campaign? 5. How do you determine what platform to use – existing organization website, YouTube, television, print materials, blog? 6. Do you get feedback from your viewers about your multimedia campaigns? What has been some of the reactions from the audience? 7. What underlying principles or theories do you or your organization utilize to ground the foundation of the projects you implement? 8. What do you believe are indispensable elements of multimedia communication? 9. What do you believe are indispensable elements of visual communication? 10. What technical rules/best practices do you subscribe to? 11. What role does research play within the development and execution of communication campaigns? 12. What do you see as the future of multimedia at _______________? 13. Personally, what do you like/dislike about multimedia? 14. What are the challenges you face in getting the organization to realize the potential of good storytelling? 15. What are the dynamics of getting a project done? 16. What’s the approval process? 17. What is the context around the creation of a project?