Integrated communication and transmedia storytelling

Abstract

In the midst of so much information, getting the attention of the audience is not a simple task for companies, as the audience is altering its consumption, communication and sociability practices, especially due to the possibility of integrating physical and virtual spaces and the multi-directionality of messages.

 It is in this scenario of media proliferation, information overload, flexible attention to participatory culture and a globalised market that integrated communication is allied to transmedia narrative as a competitive strategy and as a multimodal experience, to generate a continuous and lasting communicative relationship between brand and consumer, enhancing the effectiveness of the purchase.

 This is justified because the technological advantage of products does not last long as it is quickly copied by the competition. Companies need to look for competitive advantages other than technology, and working on integrated communication is one of the competitive paths. For Castro (2011, p. 177) "communication and consumption are configured as important axes of analysis of contemporary culture".

 Nowadays, products have gone from being merely consumer goods to being consumer experiences. This requires, therefore, the development of communication strategies by companies, which are increasingly attentive to the perception of consumers in relation to their brands. Moreover, for the author, consumption "understood as a system of representation and symbolic classification, is part of the socialisation rituals through which individuals modulate their subjectivities and relate to the social environment" (CASTRO, 2009, P.43).

 In fact, we live in a very complex consumer context, where different groups of consumers are perceived as plural in their identity profiles, demanding types of products that meet their needs, as well as companies that dialogue with their consumers and understand their socio-cultural and consumer practices.