REACHING NICHE AUDIENCES

the work of a digital writer in an online age

BY TIM WRIGHT

timw@xpt.com

MY CAREER IN 1 SLIDE

ONLINE CAROLINE: 2000

WEBCAM & EMAIL DRAMA

• 500,000 page impressions per month

• 2,500 emails to Caroline per month

• 100+ ansaphone messages per week

• 66,500 episodes viewed a month

• 7 average page views per episode

• 11,000 hours online in month 1

• £0 marketing spend

ONLINE CAROLINE: 2000

“Caroline – big commiserations on

your burglary! Do you know that it was

all set up as ‘extra entertainment’ for

viewers?...”

“I’ve let the police know but they

weren’t really able to do anything cos i

don’t know your address. I phoned

them again but they started getting a

bit shirty.”

AUDIENCE RESPONSE

ONLINE CAROLINE: 2000

AUDIENCE AMBUSHES

"Who the hell are you and

why have you been

sending messages to my

dad? He has got my mum

and would not want anyone

else!"

IT3C: 2000

“An aquarium 250cm x 100cm x

100cm”

“A really rich chocolate cake, a really

rich husband, a telephone that works

in the shower, a husband that works

in the shower, a really big diamond

ring, bigger boobs, did i already

mention chocolate cake?”

“Her back”

PERSONAL CONTENT

WITHIN A VIRTUAL SERVICE

“From Arnhem to Addis Adeba, from

Zapata to Zanzibar, our mission is to

give and take whatever is required in

order to ensure that each and every

client gets exactly what he or she

wants. A combination of sophisticated

storage, transport and logistics

expertise allows us to transport

anything to anywhere - by road, by

rail, by sea, by air. We deliver what

you want, when you want it."

XPT totalfulfilment: 2000A FICTIONAL BUSINESS

MOUNT KRISTOS: 2001

TURNING AUDIENCES

INTO PERFORMERS• Personalised storytelling & messaging

• Premium rate messaging & singing

• Opportunities to graffiti

• Peculiar star signs & fortune telling

• You are what you eat

• Merchandising (string!)

• Nightclub events

• Character & format rights

• Dating!

PLANET JEMMA: 2003

EDUCATION VALUE vs VOLUME: THE CHANGING OF A FEW MINDS

"I think it's so cool that you do astro-physics. I asked my science teacher about it, and he says

it's an extremely difficult subject. On that basis, i love a challenge, so maybe i'll give it a go!:-)"

 

"Your aim has worked (well on me at least) as before science seemed the most dullest thing

ever, but after watching and reading about your life, my mind has changed."

IN SEARCH OF OLDTON: 2004

USER GENERATED CONTENT

ONLINE – RADIO - PRINT"Do you remember the allotments? I

can't place them anywhere but our

uncles and our grandads had their

sheds there..."

"This park bench looks remarkably

like the one in your picture. I used to

hang out on it when i was bored with

nothin better to do than drink

cider and snog the local boys*..."

“

GOLFONTHEMOON: 2006

DIY PERFORMANCE &

PLAYMAKING KITS• Inhabiting social networking & media

sharing services

• Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr

• Searching, embedding & remixing thru

tags: #golfonthemoon

• Playing with Lego, Action Man, Golf

Equipment

• Playing in public, flashmobbing,

mapping out play spaces

BBC R4 TODAY: 2007/8

RETHINKING A FLAGSHIP

RADIO NEWS PROGRAMME• Making sure audio travels easily

• Staying in synch with broadcast output

• Working out where the listeners are at

different points in the day

• Using software that suits the staff

• Using software that suits the

organisation now & in the future

• Making audio easy to find, to travel

with, to share, to talk about.

TELECTROSCOPE: 2008

A PUBLIC DEVICE

DOCUMENTED BY

THE AUDIENCE

KIDMAPPED!: 2009

TAKING BOOKS FOR WALKS

RADIO 4 SWYWTH: 2010

RADIO DRAMA

WEB SERVICE

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

PERSONAL USE

"How do we do it? It's simple. You

write them down. You send them to

us. And we record them, publish

them on the web for everyone to

hear. And some of them get to be

included in the Afternoon Play."