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

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