I’m a big Pete Carroll fan, as a coach and as a motivator. I’ve been fortunate to have met him and you can’t help but walk away from the experience feeling good.

He’s a forward thinking guy, so it should come as no surprise he’s onboard the social media train and that includes using video. It’s a big part of his Win Forever series, and I love what his team did with this “About Us” video.

If you’ve read this blog before, you know I’m big on keeping web videos short. The Win Forever video isn’t short. It’s over 7-minutes long… pushing 8-minutes.

The reason why it works is thanks to a smart little trick. They break it into two segments. The first 1:20 is a basic introduction video. If you stop watching at that point, you at least got their core message. If you continue watching the next 6:00+, you get an extended look at the program.

Doing this satisfies the casual viewer, as well as the person who’s especially interested.

Great idea! How great? Don’t be surprised if you see some future T60 videos done this way.

–Tony Gnau

I was at Chicago’s historic Palmer House Hotel yesterday, and I came across something pretty cool. The hotel has a series of iPads set up just off the main lobby giving guests access to hotel services.

The startup screen features video of a woman welcoming visitors to the hotel, then there are all sorts of links to everything from hotel amenities to the hotel’s rich history.

Very cool. Although, I couldn’t help but think how it would have been even better if they had incorporated more video, especially about the building’s history and massive renovation. It was a little hard to hear the startup video, but nothing some subtitles couldn’t solve.

The Palmer House draws hotel guests as well as tourists who simply wander in to check it out. Video would be provide an even better tool to promote the hotel.

Just another example of how easy it is these days to find ways to work video into a PR or marketing plan.

–Tony Gnau

They’re all over the web. Big companies producing safe and uninspired internet videos. There’s nothing wrong with them. They’re just… well… boring and easily forgotten.

I started thinking about this over the weekend. I went to the U.S. Postal Service website to track a package. What I found was a newly designed website and a video.

No surprise I clicked the video.  It contained a voice over and a series of graphics explaining the new website. It’s professionally done, looks good, sounds good, and a day later and I really don’t remember much of the content.

That’s why playing it safe often ends up being a waste of time and money. The postal service spent good money to produce that video. I watched it and forgot it instantly.

What’s the point in producing a video if it’s not going to impact your audience?

–Tony Gnau

Yesterday, I blogged about moving beyond the “About Us” video. Today, it’s one way to do it.

The first thing companies need to do is change their mindset. Focus your company videos on the audience, not your company. The idea is to address issues facing potential clients, as opposed to simply tooting your own horn.

Lead the conversation and turn your company into the experts. Do it on a regular basis and the benefits will follow.

Once a week, once a month, once a quarter… whatever time frame you choose stick with and keep it up. One of the best parts of video is the more people see, the more credible you become.

People turn to experts to help solve their problems, so be a leader… be that expert.

–Tony Gnau

I attended an interesting PRSA Chicago luncheon yesterday. Author John Leavy talked about some of the ideas behind his book Outcome-Based Marketing, and a lot of what he touched on really got me thinking.

I know I’ve written before about businesses pushing their video boundaries. Going beyond the “About Us” video and producing videos that will really appeal to clients, but now I’m more convinced than ever.

If you’re a business leader, act like one. Lead the conversation. Use well-produced videos to tell stories about the issues facing your industry.

Don’t worry so much about promoting yourself. Your expertise will speak for itself. When people view you as an expert in your field, their business will follow.

Any good examples out there?

–Tony Gnau

Posting video on YouTube isn’t enough. Facebook, Twitter… all social media need to be in play. Businesses have to share their videos using these tools if they really want some benefit in the end.

There’s even new research to prove it. ReelSEO reports that videos shared through social media outperform those that don’t. One of the key reasons is allowing others to share your videos gives them more credibility.

People trust their friends. If someone you know posts a video, you’re more likely to watch it than if a business sends you the link.

Getting your videos out into the social web could turn a fun marketing project into a profitable investment.

–Tony Gnau

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.”

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