“Transmedia storytelling” is telling a story across multiple media and preferably, although it doesn’t always happen, with a degree of audience participation, interaction or collaboration.
In transmedia storytelling, engagement with each successive media heightens the audience’ understanding, enjoyment and affection for the story.
To do this successfully, the embodiment of the story in each media needs to be satisfying in its own right while enjoyment from all the media should be greater than the sum of the parts.
"We are surrounded by an unprecedented ocean of content, products and leisure opportunities. The people to whom we wish to tell our stories have the technology to navigate the ocean and can choose to sail on by or stop and listen.
Technology and free markets have allowed unprecedented levels of customization, personalization and responsiveness such that a policy of “one size fits all” is no longer expected or acceptable.
Telling stories across multiple media – transmedia storytelling – allows content that’s right-sized, right-timed and right-placed to form a larger, more profitable, cohesive and rewarding experience.
- Robert Pratten
The term “immersion” is often used in transmedia circles to mean that the audience is surrounded by or engrossed in the story.
However, I think that immersion is the wrong word to have in mind because it can tend towards clutter - just content (or countless websites) for the sake of having a lot of content and usually dull exposition.
A better mindset is to aim for engagement. Engagement requires each media to be compelling and rewarding.