Earlier this week I blogged about a recent video Hyatt posted on Facebook. The theme of the post was about how Hyatt understands the power of social media video content, but I also mentioned that I would have done some things differently.

I didn’t get into what I would have done differently, but since then I’ve received a few questions about that so I thought I’d dive-in now.

FINDING THE VIDEO: to see the Hyatt video, visit their Facebook page, scroll down the Wall a bit and look for the video entitled, “Hyatt Thrive.”

First and foremost, I’m not here to rip other video producers. I mentioned in the previous post that the video is a solid effort. Most of the things I would have done differently revolve around style, so I’m not even going to get into those. Every producer has their own artistic style, and as far as I’m concerned it’s not a subject up for criticism.

My main complaint with the video is its length… 4-minutes. It’s way too long. I’m a big believer that if you’re producing something for social media, it better be short and sweet… 2-minutes or less for sure. In this particular case, I would have recommended to my client to aim for 1-minute, maybe 1-minute 30-seconds.

Web video is all about attention spans, which aren’t very long. Especially when the audience has the ability to simply point-and-click to leave. That’s something clients need to know going in to the project. It’s a delicate balance. Finding a way to provide information in an effient and entertaining way.

Now, it’s entirely possible the video was produced for a different purpose, and then shared on the web as well. If that’s the case, then no big deal. We produce videos meant for captive corporate audiences all the time that are then also shared via social media. Might as well, right?

However, if your main intent is to produce something for the web, especially your social media, keep it short and to the point.

–Tony Gnau

Courtesy: K-SWISS

K-SWISS has an interesting internet video campaign going on right now advertising its new athletic shoes. It features Kenny Powers… the lead character from the HBO show Eastbound & Down.

Let’s just say he’s a colorful character. There’s actually an uncensored version of the campaign’s main video floating around out there where he uses the F-word… a lot.

Normally, I love this kind of stuff. It’s great seeing a company take some risks instead of playing it safe, but in this case it just didn’t do anything for me. I snickered at one thing, but I never actually laughed at any of the jokes.

The campaign will probably get a lot of hits based entirely on its unique character. It’ll be interesting to see if it translates to shoe sales.

–Tony Gnau

As a semi-frequent business traveler, Hyatt is T60’s hotel brand of choice. Hyatt Regency McCormick Place also happens to be a client, so no surprise I follow Hyatt on Facebook and was excited yesterday to see them post a video (read below on how to find it).

It’s not a T60 video. I presume this was something produced by their corporate office, but it’s clear Hyatt “gets” video content. The video features the company’s volunteering efforts, and it serves as a great example of how employees give back to the community.

I have a few things I would have done differently with the video itself, but it’s a solid effort. More importantly, this is the type of thing all businesses should be doing.

If your company is involved in its community, there isn’t any reason you shouldn’t be sharing the news with your social networks… and there isn’t a better way to do than producing a video.

–Tony Gnau

FINDING THE VIDEO: to see the Hyatt video, visit their Facebook page, scroll down the Wall a bit and look for the video entitled, “Hyatt Thrive.”

People who host PR/marketing events have their checklist. Venue, caterer, decorations, photographer, et cetera. The problem is it rarely contains the one thing that will make the memory of the event last the longest.

A videographer.

People don’t think twice about adding a photographer to the budget, and they shouldn’t. However, while a photo captures a moment in time, a video can transport the viewer to the event. People who were there get a chance to relive it and people who couldn’t attend get a sense of what it was like being there.

The best part… since you’re going to post that video to your social media, share the link in an email campaign, and put it up on the company website… you are going to do those things… right?… chances are good viewers will share that video with friends, family, and colleagues.

A good video makes memories last.

–Tony Gnau

Some props today for public relations expert and blogging maven Gini Dietrich. She wrote about how all businesses these days have become media companies… and she’s right.

Thanks to social media, from Facebook to YouTube, business leaders need to realize they’re now a part of the media industry so they need to start thinking that way.

The number one thing to consider… why is our content relevant? Why should someone watch our videos? If your answer is simply… because they should be interested in our product or service… you probably don’t have many people paying attention to you.

Start focusing your content on the audience. Make it relevant to them and they’ll start showing up in greater numbers.

–Tony Gnau

Yesterday’s post discussed why companies might want to consider updating their videos and how they can do it on a budget. Today I’m showing you an example.

The Warrenville Police Department had a recruiting video produced this past winter. The shoot happened to take place not only with snow on the ground, but during an actual snowfall. The video was needed right away, so the shoot went forward but with an eye on updating it once summer hit.

Instead of shooting a brand new video, the decision was made to simply replace the winter scenes with summer shots. In this case, a nearly shot-for-shot replacement was accomplished.

It meant a half-day shoot instead of a full-day, a few hours editing instead of a day or two, and it all added up to big savings.

Same great video, only updated.

–Tony Gnau

VIDEO– Warrenville Police Video Splitscreen

Change is inevitable, and every time a company makes a change they might be dating their current video. Products they no longer offer, machinery they no longer use, people who no longer work at the company. All reasons many businesses scrap their video and create a new one.

Here’s the thing though… they don’t always need a whole new video. Sometimes all that’s needed is an update. Have your video producer shoot some fresh video and simply swap it with the out-of-date material. It’ll save your company time and a lot of money.

–Tony Gnau

p.s. tomorrow we’ll show you a great example of how this is done. Wait, was that a tease for tomorrow’s blog post? You bet it was!

Okay… I fell off the blog a couple days. We traveled to Champaign-Urbana this week for a shoot and my writing ended up a casualty.

The good news is I’ll soon be posting some really good stuff. One blog post will feature our recent update of the Warrenville Police recruiting video. Fun!

Anyway, just letting you know I’ll bounce back strong next week… so stay tuned!

–Tony Gnau

How long should my video be? It’s one of the questions clients often ask me.

One way to think about it is considering your audience and where they’re watching your video. Are they at home or work watching on their computers? Better keep the video short and to the point… maybe less than 2-minutes. Remember, you’re just a point-and-click away from losing them.

On the other hand, if you have a captive audience watching at a group event or meeting, you have a little leeway. Here you can let it go for several minutes, but you better hire a storytelling pro to keep that audience interested.

A boring video doesn’t get any better the longer you make it.

–Tony Gnau

Newborn baby in… house. Not… getting… enough… sleep.

Create videos focused on the audience. Zzzzzz.

–Tony Gnau