(Here is another draft chapter from Lean Media 1.0. Please leave comments below)
Lean media techniques are flexible enough to be used by everyone from one-man bands and startups to well-funded production teams at big studios. While there are lessons for folks who are working in the trenches, managers and corporate media executives will come away with new perspectives on how to promote innovation and product development.
Further, I’ve written Lean Media 1.0 with a range of media businesses [formats?] in mind:
- Advertising
- Book publishing
- Broadcasting
- Gaming
- Film
- Mobile applications
- Music
- News
- Online media
- Video
Basically, if you create/produce content (song, album, game, film, video, website, book, app, serial publication, TV show) associated with some sort of brand (either new or established) then this book applies to you.
Some readers may think that the scope is too broad. What could an actor, a news editor, and a front-end Web developer possibly have in common when it comes to creating new media products?
My response: While professionals in various media fields have different creative considerations and employ different processes, there are commonalities in the way media products are planned, produced, and launched. This allows a lean media framework to be applied, although producers of different formats will leverage different processes and tactics to achieve their goals.
This brings up another issue: my use of the word “product.” It appears frequently in this book, and will likely frustrate some readers. Media is not a commodity—it incorporates art and creativity and branding and other intangibles in ways that are difficult to shoehorn into a formula. In addition, media has incredible variety, and can include anything from advertising campaigns to video content. Some creators may object to their favored format being grouped with other media—how dare online video be lumped together with film!
As someone who has worked in many different media fields, I understand many of these the sensitivities. But at the same time, a new framework for media production needs a term that can be applied to different types of media. “Product” is intended to be a general term that treats all formats equally, rather than a crude term that attempts to commoditize what we do. In the spirit of lean media, I welcome any reader to suggest alternate terms to use in future editions of this book.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Use the comment form below. You can also sign up to be alerted when the book is released.