With regard to the concept of "brand recognition" vs. the creation of a "brand identity" in relation to the Star Trek mega-narrative:
Personally, I do find it useful to discern between the two above mentioned terms, based on an understanding that the former refers to a marketing tool which seeks to focus consumer attention and interest on a particular media property by relying on its (suggested) audience familiarity, whereas the latter describes a distinct story-telling approach specifically designed for Multi-Media (mega-)narratives.
Informed by the perception that the often complex and sprawling story-worlds of various contemporary media properties do, or at least could (and should?) represent actual brands in and of themselves similar to other, non-narrative products, an additional facet of creative franchise management on a text-intrinsic level seems to be taking shape.
This, at least to my knowledge, relatively new and still mostly theoretical understanding of narrative construction postulates the need for the existence of a tightly controlled and strictly maintained, yet periodically up-dated, discernible, narrational brand identity.
Operating under the working assumption -as I am currently unaware of any public statements on this subject by the various parties involved- of an actually existing rights' owners' mandate given to the current creative team to formally (re)build such a brand identity for the Star Trek mega-narrative, I do find it quite intriguing to contemplate some of its possible implications.
For instance, the at present very disproportionate ratio between the amounts of preexisting and newly produced story content characterizing the current Star Trek franchise, might add a particular significance to the decision of if and how to include and effectively integrate any previously produced narrative material into a modern(ized) brand identity. Based on certain, largely anecdotal observations, personally, I do see a variety of indicators*, that the rights' owners might try to preserve the older branches of the mega-narrative as an integral part of a new Star Trek brand profile, rather than to merely treat them as otherwise outdated, background generators of brand recognition markers.
However, irrespective of any specific choices made with regard to the issue, in my personal opinion, the inclusion or not of the saga´s old(er), Prime-Verse narratives as a core part of the larger brand identity might ultimately exert considerable influence on future, narrative content, both inside and outside of the immediate narrational space of the franchise´s newest addition.
From where I sit, it certainly seems too early and, due to a significant lack of reliable information, too speculative (particularly with regard to the Prime-Verse) to try and predict the nature of specific new narratives and story motives, or to anticipate possible types of primary/secondary media formats and channels utilized for their delivery.
In contrast, on an inter-textual level, I do feel more confident to postulate that the actual positioning of the Pre-Abrams et.al. portions of the story world inside or outside of a modern(ized) Star Trek brand could come to dictate to a large extent a dominant interpretation of the New-Verse´s narrative content as either a fully integrated part and extension of the traditional Star Trek "Shared Universe"** approach to storytelling, or as the beginning of a new narrational strategy.
Based on the latter understanding of the new creative team´s current and future narrative contributions, one might perhaps then call the New-Verse a first example of "Signature Trek", a term I would use to describe an alternate narrational approach which prioritizes the emphasis on individual preferences concerning storytelling and film-making techniques (as employed by a specific group of content creators during their time as curators of the franchise) over the preservation of a largely coherent "Shared Universe" authoring strategy.
*such as the recently announced CBS/NETFLIX distribution deal for all of the existing TV-series, or the design/organization of the official Star Trek website, which grants equal importance and the same amount of presentational space to each of the various primary incarnations of the larger story world (and which also includes information on those portions of the mega-narrative conventionally still regarded as secondary [literature, comic book series, games] or even as peripheral and unauthorized [prominent independent/fan
productions])
**a fictional, multi-faceted story world constructed and developed by different authors/creators, who use its various narrative elements in a more or less internally consistent manner
Personally, I do find it useful to discern between the two above mentioned terms, based on an understanding that the former refers to a marketing tool which seeks to focus consumer attention and interest on a particular media property by relying on its (suggested) audience familiarity, whereas the latter describes a distinct story-telling approach specifically designed for Multi-Media (mega-)narratives.
Informed by the perception that the often complex and sprawling story-worlds of various contemporary media properties do, or at least could (and should?) represent actual brands in and of themselves similar to other, non-narrative products, an additional facet of creative franchise management on a text-intrinsic level seems to be taking shape.
This, at least to my knowledge, relatively new and still mostly theoretical understanding of narrative construction postulates the need for the existence of a tightly controlled and strictly maintained, yet periodically up-dated, discernible, narrational brand identity.
Operating under the working assumption -as I am currently unaware of any public statements on this subject by the various parties involved- of an actually existing rights' owners' mandate given to the current creative team to formally (re)build such a brand identity for the Star Trek mega-narrative, I do find it quite intriguing to contemplate some of its possible implications.
For instance, the at present very disproportionate ratio between the amounts of preexisting and newly produced story content characterizing the current Star Trek franchise, might add a particular significance to the decision of if and how to include and effectively integrate any previously produced narrative material into a modern(ized) brand identity. Based on certain, largely anecdotal observations, personally, I do see a variety of indicators*, that the rights' owners might try to preserve the older branches of the mega-narrative as an integral part of a new Star Trek brand profile, rather than to merely treat them as otherwise outdated, background generators of brand recognition markers.
However, irrespective of any specific choices made with regard to the issue, in my personal opinion, the inclusion or not of the saga´s old(er), Prime-Verse narratives as a core part of the larger brand identity might ultimately exert considerable influence on future, narrative content, both inside and outside of the immediate narrational space of the franchise´s newest addition.
From where I sit, it certainly seems too early and, due to a significant lack of reliable information, too speculative (particularly with regard to the Prime-Verse) to try and predict the nature of specific new narratives and story motives, or to anticipate possible types of primary/secondary media formats and channels utilized for their delivery.
In contrast, on an inter-textual level, I do feel more confident to postulate that the actual positioning of the Pre-Abrams et.al. portions of the story world inside or outside of a modern(ized) Star Trek brand could come to dictate to a large extent a dominant interpretation of the New-Verse´s narrative content as either a fully integrated part and extension of the traditional Star Trek "Shared Universe"** approach to storytelling, or as the beginning of a new narrational strategy.
Based on the latter understanding of the new creative team´s current and future narrative contributions, one might perhaps then call the New-Verse a first example of "Signature Trek", a term I would use to describe an alternate narrational approach which prioritizes the emphasis on individual preferences concerning storytelling and film-making techniques (as employed by a specific group of content creators during their time as curators of the franchise) over the preservation of a largely coherent "Shared Universe" authoring strategy.
*such as the recently announced CBS/NETFLIX distribution deal for all of the existing TV-series, or the design/organization of the official Star Trek website, which grants equal importance and the same amount of presentational space to each of the various primary incarnations of the larger story world (and which also includes information on those portions of the mega-narrative conventionally still regarded as secondary [literature, comic book series, games] or even as peripheral and unauthorized [prominent independent/fan
productions])
**a fictional, multi-faceted story world constructed and developed by different authors/creators, who use its various narrative elements in a more or less internally consistent manner
