by Kate Moody | Stornaway Communications Assistant, May 2023
Stornaway’s creators Kate Dimbleby and Rupert Howe have released the first episode of their new interactive video podcast ‘Story Islands’. Covering all things creative and immersive, Kate and Ru set out to talk to creatives big and small, learning all about how interactivity has revolutionised their way of storytelling. Viewers can choose what questions they ask and who answers the questions: from how the team settled on the name Stornaway, to what’s next in store for Stornaway users.
In the first instalment, Kate and Ru talk to Natasha McKenzie, Stornaway’s CMO. Natasha was there at the start of Stornaway, bringing with her previous experience for multinational agencies McCann Erickson Worldgroup and M&C Saatchi.
So how did we make it?
Using Stornaway’s revolutionary no-code interface, we were able to break up the recorded podcast in to bitesize clickable interactive sections, allowing users to pick and choose what they wanted to know about. A crucial part of this was using invisible hotspots to create the menu screens, giving the control back to the users.
We also used our either/or game logic to change these menu screens based on what users had already seen, allowing for even more interactivity. This integration of gamified content opens a whole new door for creators and podcasts – bringing an audience into the story.
Podcasting is currently a booming industry- with over five million currently available, with seventy million episodes between them. Video podcasts are also becoming increasingly popular, with small snippets of conversations making rounds on TikTok and Instagram Reels.
This industry is giving creatives so ways to connect with their audiences on a more personal level. So we thought, why not further that experience.
Adding interactivity into a podcast allows an audience to prioritise certain topics that interest them- allowing for deeper connection with podcast creators. It also allows audiences to consume as much or as little of a podcast as they like.