Courtesy: Virgin America

This isn’t the first time I’ve blogged about Virgin America. I’ve never flown the airline, but I can’t wait to give it a try.

One of the reasons, I keep getting these videos via Facebook that do a great job of promoting the airline. Yesterday’s video featured a partnership with Google allowing travelers to check-out a laptop to surf the web during their flight.

Just another great example for businesses. The video itself is nothing special, but I watched and now I know about another service the airline provides its customers.

Could Virgin leaders have done this with a simple text post? Yes. Would it have had the same impact. Doubtful. Video doesn’t just provide the information, it transports you to the airport and gives you a sense of what it would be like to actually use the laptop.

That’s the power of video. That’s why you need to put it to use promoting your business.

–Tony Gnau

VIDEO: Virgin America/Google Laptop Service

CEOs, COOs, CMOs… no matter the letters, one of the toughest calls you may have to make if you want a great PR/marketing video is to exclude those people.

A key to producing a great video is selecting the right people to participate. Now, if you have a charismatic CEO, maybe he/she is the right choice. If they’re not, it may be time for a heart-to-heart to let them know they didn’t get the part.

Who should you pick? I don’t know. Who’s the person at your company everyone loves to be around? Who’s the person who puts a smile on everyone’s face? That’s the type of person you need.

If it’s the CFO, great. Maybe it’s the receptionist. It could be the janitor for all I care. Happy, likable people are infectious. Those are the people you want representing you company.

–Tony Gnau

Southwest Airlines clearly understands social media. I found their latest YouTube video when it popped up in my Facebook feed… only to watch and leave unfulfilled. A shame because they missed a real opportunity to educate their customers, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Rangers Trading Place is about some members of the Texas Rangers baseball team trying out different Southwest jobs at Dallas Love Field. As a producer, this has all sorts of great storytelling options.

The only problem… they really didn’t tell much of a story. I mean, you get the gist of what’s going on, but there’s no real storytelling technique here. The result as an audience member is leaving the video apathetic. Some baseball players scanned some tickets. Big deal. How does this impact me as a traveler? It doesn’t.

Or does it? Here’s one quick idea. Really feature the Southwest employees teaching the players their jobs. Make sure the employees emphasize why they do things certain ways and how that benefits travelers.

Apply just a little storytelling technique like this and you have an entirely different experience for the audience.

Having the technical ability to put together a video isn’t enough. Businesses need real storytelling to make their videos relevant so the audience has the opportunity to connect with what they’re watching.

–Tony Gnau

VIDEO: Rangers Trading Places

I was cheering-on Gini Dietrich yesterday as I read her post at Spin Sucks. In short, she wrote about how difficult it is selling change-resistant business leaders on the ongoing digital revolution.

It’s something we often face as well since the majority of our videos are bound for the web. One of the consistent arguments Gini hears is one I’ve heard a time or two myself. Company leaders say they don’t need online videos because their clients aren’t 20-somethings surfing the web.

Oh yeah? Right after reading Gini’s blog I came across this little ditty at eMarketer.com. A recent study shows Gen-Xers (34-45 year-olds) are watching more online videos than any other age group. More than 74% will watch online video at least monthly this year.

After I got over the fact that my fellow Gen-Xers and I are now in our 30’s and 40’s, I realized how important that information is for business executives. This notion that only 20-somethings are surfing the web, using social media, and watching online video isn’t based in reality.

If Joe or Jane CEO isn’t willing to accept it, maybe their competition will be interested.

–Tony Gnau

I was excited to see one of my doctors doing some work on a Hollywood A-lister… Jim Carrey. Dr. Ramin Modabber works out of the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Group and the Surgery Center of the Pacific.

SMOG and SCOP are T60 clients, and on a personal note… Dr. Modabber is the man I trusted to repair a damaged nerve in my left hand.

My hands are crucial to my profession… manipulating a camera… working an editing keyboard… so I flew halfway across the country to put my hand in Dr. Modabber’s.

Carrey had some work done on his elbow, and he shot a video for his fans. Pretty funny stuff. No big critique here. It’s Jim Carrey being Jim Carrey. You can count on it being funny, right?

Kudos to him for being proactive and taking his fans along for the experience. How much more effective is this video than simply writing about it? Words are tough to capture a guy like Jim Carrey, so I love that he turns to video.

I’m sure his elbow will heal as well as my hand.

–Tony Gnau

VIDEO: http://www.jimcarreytrulife.com/video-post/james-and-giant-peach

Do-It-Yourself marketing videos are a double-edged sword for a video producer like myself.

One the one hand, I love the fact that someone has recognized the power of video and wants to make it work for their company. One the other hand, there’s only a slight chance a non-video-pro is going to create something good enough to grab an audience’s attention.

That means they’ll probably spend lots of time creating something people won’t be interested in watching, and they won’t get the PR/marketing benefit from having produced a video.

I’m not discouraging you from trying, but I don’t want you to get discouraged if your DIY video project doesn’t work out as intended. The power of video is an amazing thing, but sometimes it take a professional touch to get the desired result.

–Tony Gnau

Know your target audience. Don’t buy email lists. Do your best to practice permission-based marketing.

Why? So you don’t send your mass marketing email to your competitors.

Yes, I just got a mass email at my work email address (tgnau@t60productions.com) from a video production company telling me about how high-quality video can help my business. It’s even a Chicago-based company.

I love my fellow video producers. We’re competitors, but we also network with one another. I’m happy to recommend others if I feel like they’re a better fit for a project, but this really irked me.

No, I’m not going to tell you the company. This isn’t a personal attack. It’s just a great reminder how blind marketing can backfire.

–Tony Gnau

Everyone’s budget is tight. We run into it all the time. Business leaders want a professional video production, but they say they can’t afford it.

Video production costs are actually very reasonable these days. What would have run you 20-grand ten years ago costs half of that now. The average video we produce these days comes in between $4,000-$8,000. That’s a high-quality, professional video production.

Even so, I realize times are tough. Budgets are smaller and if you don’t have the money, you don’t have the money. That leads me to a couple of suggestions.

First, companies need to plan ahead. Research your video project in advance, keeping one eye on the next fiscal calendar. Get a proposal from your video provider before budgets are made so that you can work the production into it in advance.

“Hi Joe Video Producer, we’re working on next year/quarter’s fiscal budget and we want to have a video produced. Any way you could give me an estimate?”

Trust me, they’ll be happy to help.

Second, look for sponsors. Every business is different, but think about vendors your company works with and see if they have any interest in contributing.

“Hi Jane Vendor, we’re producing an online video for YouTube, other social media, and an email blast. We’d love to get a few of our vendors some exposure as well.  If you’re interested in participating, we can do product placements for $100 or even interview someone from your company for $500 and include a few sound bites.”

Those are just random numbers I threw in there, but you get the point. Would that be tacky? I don’t know, you tell me. I’m just brainstorming here. Keep in mind, I’m suggesting contacting the vendors you purchase from, not customers you sell to.

I’m certainly open to other ideas. In fact, I’d love to hear how businesses are getting creative about paying for any content they’re creating… so let me know!

–Tony Gnau

It’s not what camera is being used, it’s who’s behind it. There’s no doubt about it.

Give an amateur videographer the best camera in the biz, and you’re still going to get an amateur production. It’s not a slam, it’s just the truth. Amateur videographers are capable of great things, but it can be hit or miss.

Video professionals have the know-how and experience to get it right almost every time. If you can’t afford them, looking for a qualified amateur may be the only way to go.

Otherwise, I’ll take a video pro with a standard-definition FlipCam over an amateur using a high-definition RED camera any day of the week.

–Tony Gnau

One of the great new features many mobile phones provide is the ability to shoot HD video, but having quality video at your fingertips isn’t a guarantee you’ll shoot good video.

A whole generation of people have grown accustomed to shooting photos on their phones, and they do it holding the phones upright… vertically. That’s fine for photos, but not for video.

If you’re shooting video on your mobile phone, please turn the phone so that you’re shooting video horizontally. Think about the screen where you’ll be displaying your video. TV screens… horizontal. Computer screens… horizontal. YouTube… horizontal.

Flip the phone 90-degrees counterclockwise and you’re on your way to shooting better video.

–Tony Gnau