Put an Emmy Award winner to work for you.
It takes little time and little effort, but having a solid backup plan can save you in the end. Equipment breaks down, you could face travel delays, you just never know what’s going to happen.
Take 15 minutes the day before a shoot to check your gear and make sure everything works. Find a weather report and confirm all’s clear. Then make sure you have a backup plan in case something goes wrong.
You’ll thank me later.
–Tony Gnau
Snow happens. So when you’re shooting a marketing video, you better be flexible. That goes for “you” the client, as well as “you” the production team.
We shot a video last week during a snowfall. A video where the client would prefer not to show any snow. That’s a tough task with four inches on the ground and more falling throughout the shoot.
The solution… since there’s a deadline, shoot a complete video now that includes snow and go back for a mini-shoot when the weather breaks and the snow is gone.
We’re not charging for the extra shoot, so it’ll cost us some time and money. The client will have to settle for a video with some snow until they get the updated version, so for them it requires some patience.
Not the situation either of us planned for when we scheduled the shoot date, but hey… snow happens. Instead of fighting it and ending up with an inferior product, better to be flexible and get the best possible video.
That’s true for snow or any other unplanned circumstance.
–Tony Gnau
Computer tablets like the iPad are on the rise, and that’s good news for marketers. Static ads are out, interactive ads are in, and eMarketer reports that a new study clearly shows people prefer messages that engage the reader… or should I say, “viewer?”
That’s because these tablet ads can include video, and no surprise that’s something attracting consumers. A separate study done last fall reveals iPad users are 86% more likely to look at a marketing message that contains dynamic images like video.
Yet another medium where the power of video prevails.
–Tony Gnau
I met with some potential clients yesterday who get it. They understand the power of video and want to make it a part of their marketing strategy.
Even better… they know their audience and where to find them. They’re targeting young people who use social media, so they want a whole series of short videos.
The key word here… short. Many businesses make the mistake of trying to cram too much information into their marketing videos and stretch them out so that they’re unnecessarily long.
Longer than a commercial, short enough for the web. 60-seconds can work wonders.
–Tony Gnau
60-SECOND VIDEO EXAMPLE: Sovereign Healthcare
Corporate America… we get it. You want carefully scripted corporate videos, most likely approved by your executives and possibly your legal team. Guess what? We’re not listening.
You can spend lots of time and money controlling your message, but if nobody’s paying attention what’s the point? People surfing the web can spot these canned corporate messages a mile away and won’t be influenced.
An authentic message on the other hand can win them over. Produce a video that features your employees, and let them talk about the company unscripted. Ask a loyal customer if you can feature them in a video, and let them tell people what it’s like working with you.
Authentic messages like these will connect with an audience and help win new customers.
–Tony Gnau
This one’s specifically for those people posting boring videos. More to the point, businesses posting canned, carefully scripted corporate messages on social media. Stop it!
Video is a brilliant medium and social media is a great way to share it. Here’s the deal thought, if you’re a business leader who wants to post a video just to be able to say you posted a video. Don’t do it. You might be doing more harm than good.
Your video needs to be purposeful, and it better be authentic. If you’re sharing videos with canned messages, nobody’s going to pay attention. Worse, they’ll probably be irritated with you for wasting their time.
Instead, find a good storyteller, a video artist, and turn them loose on your company. You won’t be disappointed.
Video is great way to communicate, and these days anyone with a camera and computer can do it. That’s a good news, bad news type of thing.
It’s great because companies can save some cash and produce their own stuff, but they do it with varying success… in both the budget and production quality departments.
These DYI videos usually involve finding someone in-house who has a little bit of video knowledge and stretching them as far as they can go. It does work occasionally, but the result can also be a big drain on productivity. The in-house person may spend twice as much time on the video while their normal job is forgotten.
Having a professional produce a video may cost you a little cash, but it results in a good product and keeps an employee focused on what they were hired to do.
Self-serving? Sure, but for those of you who really can’t afford a pro, I’ll have some tips for your new in-house video team in the coming days.
–Tony Gnau
So… you’re a beer drinker and not a champagne fan. That can make for a disappointing New Year’s Eve. I mean, who wants to ring in the new year with the same old beer you drink every week?
All is not lost! Goose Island Beer Company has some festive options for you. The company’s brewers suggest Sofie and Matilda as a couple champagne substitutes. You can click those links to watch the videos.
Video marketing strategies… beverage consultation… all in a day’s work.
Cheers and Happy New Year!
–Tony Gnau
I went to nfl.com last night and was surprised by what I saw, but after further review… I guess I shouldn’t be.
The Chicago Bears are headed to the playoffs, so I wanted to check where they rank in the standings for home field advantage. In the past, the National Football League’s website listed the Standings category in the top bar on the home page… usually one of the main selections looking from left to right.
Not any more. The first selection is News. The second selection is VIDEO.
That’s not all. Click through the main story box on the home page and you’ll find video. Scroll down the page a bit and there’s an entire box devoted to even more videos.
Is there any question the NFL knows how to market? Hardly. And those who know how to market, understand the power of video.
Now, your company might not have as many video opportunities as the NFL, but trust me there’s certainly a few. At the very least, you should consider producing a company profile.
Hut, hut!
–Tony Gnau
Watch videos at the links below.
It’s the holidays and the time of year when lots of people decide to give money to charities.
T60’s fortunate to work with some great groups that rely on charitable donations. If you’re looking for a worthy Chicagoland organization, the following are some that T60 produced videos for in 2010.
Happy Holidays from T60 Productions!
–Tony Gnau