Who are your office superstars? Employees who shine. The type of people who make you smile whenever you see them.

Whether it’s a V.P. or the person who runs the coffee cart, these are the types of people you should be featuring in your company’s video content.

Video is all about emotion. When people walk away from viewing your videos, you want them to leave with the feeling… that looks like a pretty good company.

Notice I wrote, “feeling.” That’s what video excels at providing. A good video gives the audience a sense of what your company culture is like, so why not feature the people who make it what it is?

If you employ someone who puts a smile on your face, share that person with customers and potential customers alike… because your office superstar will probably do the same for them.

–Tony Gnau

Sometimes going low-tech beats going high-tech.

I got a reminder of this yesterday while meeting with a potential client. He wants all sorts of computer animation to demonstrate how his product works. The only problem is he doesn’t have near the budget it would take to get it done.

After listening to him for about 30-minutes, I came up with a low-tech solution to his problem. Can’t reveal it just yet… I don’t want to give a way my idea, but it’s likely you’ll get to see it sometime soon.

The point… you don’t always need flashy graphics to sell. Sometimes it just takes a little brainstorming and creativity.

–Tony Gnau

Producing a video is a good way to make a great first impression, but before you start make sure you’re on target with your budget.

I know, it’s a tight budget. Just about everyone has a tight budget these days, so why waste time? If you only have $3,000 to spend, ask the production companies you contact what they can do for that budget.

Why show them your cards? Giving the company a budget to work with from the start will allow them to custom tailor something to your needs. Without of budget, they’ll likely give you a proposal with all sorts of bells and whistles you can’t afford.

You’ll save yourself a lot of time and potential disappointment by telling them the budget upfront.

–Tony Gnau

I spent a couple of hours at the Apple Store on Friday morning waiting for help at the Genius Bar. During that time I watched the customers come and go, and about 50 of them left with iPads.

That’s 50 people in about two hours on a Friday morning. Wow!

The iPad is a great device to show videos. More to the point, it’s a great medium to show your marketing videos. They can turn every employee into a potential sales person. Just give them the file to run your marketing videos on their personal iPad and turn them loose.

This sounds like a good newsletter topic!? Wait… was that just a tease? Why yes… it was a tease! Sign-up for our marketing video newsletter now. We’ll have more on this subject when it drops next week.

–Tony Gnau

T60 Marketing Video Newsletter: sign-up

T60 is on the move today. Our world headquarters is making the giant leap… a few blocks south. We remain on Chicago’s north side.

Okay, we’re not taking over a floor in Willis Tower or getting a posh Michigan Avenue address, but it’s still exciting.  We’re hoping the new space will provide some creative inspiration and help us be even more productive.

Now… how in the world did we accumulate so many cords and cables!? This could take a while.

–Tony Gnau

I’m not a big fan of “under-promise, over-deliver.” Obviously, I don’t advocate the opposite, but under-promising to me seems like you’re holding back something from your client from the get-go. It feels little dishonest.

If you know in advance you’re going to deliver something to a client, lay it all out on the line from the beginning. Then once you’ve started, if you come across ways to give them additional value-added service, go for it.

Over-deliver… just don’t under-promise.

–Tony Gnau

If you’re at a small or medium PR/marketing firm, video can be a great value-added service you can supply to clients. You can even do it better than big firms that produce video in-house.

There are lots of terrific storytellers out there, and chances are they would jump at an opportunity to work with you and your firm. I’m speaking from experience here.

However, I stop short in referring to this as a partnership because you don’t have to tie your organization down to just one video producer. PR and marketing pros should maintain relationships with a few video professionals. They all have different styles and price-points, so it’s good to have a few in mind when speaking with clients.

This actually provides you with an advantage over big firms that produce video in-house. Having a choice of producers means being able to pair the right client with the right production team. That’s something a big firm won’t be able to offer.

–Tony Gnau

It sounds so obvious, but a lot of businesses fail to do it… highlight what they do best. If you’re ready to start having videos produced, this is a good place to start.

Many corporate videos get bogged down in the details. Company X shipped this many widgets to Y number of countries. Great… but tell me about the widget!

Isn’t that what you do best… build a good widget? Who came up with the idea? How is it made? How is it going to help me as your potential customer?

Don’t lose focus… show me the widget!

–Tony Gnau

Courtesy: Reuters/Dominic Lipinski/Pool

I usually take Friday’s off from blogging, but the royal wedding this morning got me thinking. Talk about the ultimate wedding video production!

How many cameras covered that thing? Not just inside the abbey, but along the parade route and at the palace. Wow! While everyone was curious to see Kate’s dress, I was more interested to see if they would find a way to put a wireless mic on her.

I know, I’m a nerd. No dispute on that point.

T60 has only produced one wedding video, but we’d like to do more. Of course the first one was pretty special… considering it was for Katie and I. 

I hope William loves his Kate as much as I love mine.

–Tony Gnau

WEDDING VIDEO: Tony & Katie Tie the Knot

Technology is ever-changing, prices are pretty reasonable, and that’s all good news for those of us that shoot and edit video. It also means content consumers need to be careful.

There’s all sorts of new cameras out there delivering stunning video quality, but there’s more to quality content than pretty pictures. When you pick someone to produce your video, make sure they have a creative heart and not just a technical mind.

You should be looking for the total package… someone who has the technical knowhow, but also the creative spirit needed to put together a video that will connect with the audience.

All flash and no substance isn’t a winning formula.

–Tony Gnau