Tag Archives: corporate communication

Gini Dietrich is an awesome blogger. If you’re looking for great information on marketing and/or public relations, spinsucks.com is for you.

She airs a vlog every Thursday answering her Facebook Question of the Week, and one day over lunch I told her T60 was going to take over production of the videos.

I didn’t ask. I pretty much insisted. Oh, she put up a valiant fight to continue to doing them on her own. The conversation went something like this…

Tony: I’ve been thinking… T60 is going to take over producing your Facebook Question of the Week videos.

Gini: Great! When can we start?

The videos weren’t bad, but they were just Gini looking into the camera. You’ve seen that type of thing before, but what I told Gini was that with a little professional polish… even those videos can have visual appeal.

If you have a small business, I’m all for people producing their own videos. It’s fun and certainly less expensive than paying a pro to do it.

Here’s the thing though, when you’ve reached a certain standing and built an impressive reputation… like Gini… your videos need to reflect that standing and reputation.

You’re not in the minors anymore. You’re in the big leagues. That means working with other pros… like those who’ll take your videos to the next level.

–Tony Gnau

FYI… you can see the first of the vlogs we’re producing for spinsucks.com at the link.

If you’re in PR, you probably read the blog spinsucks.com. If you don’t, start. If you’re not in the biz but want to learn a little something about PR or marketing, start reading it. It’s the first blog I read everyday.

Gini Dietrich is the CEO of Arment Dietrich and the woman behind spinsucks.com. She’s a real pro and I’m happy to announce that T60 is going to be working with her and her team on a regular basis.

Gini and I met via her blog. I started making regular comments… she kept responding… next think you know we’re trading emails and bouncing ideas off one another. It led to me basically insisting that she let T60 upgrade the vlog portion of spinsuck.com.

Every Thursday, Gini answers her Facebook Question of the Week using a FlipCam video (see past videos). Nothing was wrong with the videos, but there was definitely some room for improvement. She didn’t need much convincing.

Starting tomorrow you can see what we came up with… changing focal lengths, a few graphics, add some music… upgrade complete!

Why should you care? It’s a great example of how you can transform a “simple” talk-to-camera vlog into a visually interesting video (read more about that).

So… tomorrow… head over to spinsucks.com to see our handy work. We’ll be continuing to produce her Facebook Question of the Week vlogs for the foreseeable future.

–Tony Gnau

Vlogs are simple videos that do a great job of getting a message out to the masses. It’s one of the easiest things businesses can do to establish themselves as experts, and something I especially recommend to CEOs.

All they have to do is sit down in front of the camera… and talk from the heart. Whether it’s about something their company is doing, or something that’s affecting their industry. Creating a vlog is a great way to talk directly to customers, prospects, employees and peers in your field.

The key is to produce them on a regular basis. Once a month, once a week, whatever you choose… just do it on a consistence basis. The payoff is that the more people see you, the more they’ll begin to trust you. That’s the power of video.

A lot of people produce these videos themselves using the camera on their computer, a FlipCam or the camera on their mobile phone. I’m here to tell you though, even a vlog can use a professional touch. A pro can take a boring vlog and turn it into a polished message befitting the reputation your company.

Even better… a professionally produced vlog won’t cost you much.

T60 is working on a vlog series as we speak… for a very popular PR pro… but more on that tomorrow.

–Tony Gnau

I did something last week that a lot of people might think is a bit crazy. While bidding on a project, I also recommended a competitor.

The project in question is not the typical video we produce, as a matter of fact I wasn’t sure it was even something we wanted to do. After talking about it a bit, we decided it would be fun so we gave the client a quote.

She thanked us and basically told us she’s shopping around and would let us know. Once I found that out, I recommended she get in touch with a competitor I e-met through a business acquaintance.

The reason is simple. I want her to find the right person for the project. If that’s T60, great! If it’s someone else, that’s fine too. We just want to be a service.

The person we recommended specializes in the type of video the client would like to do. We might not get this particular job, but if we can still provide a service, i.e. a good recommendation, then I’m confident we’ll here from this client again.

Sometimes things that are bad for the bottom line in the short-term end up being a boom in the long run.

–Tony Gnau

The big news here in Chicago? Former Governor Rod Blagojevich is headed to the big house today. Anyone who blogs on a regular basis knows how the news of the day can drive traffic, and that’s something businesses should think about when it comes to their online content.

For example, right now every Illinois politician should be vlogging about Blagojevich going away. Assuring constituents they’re working to make Springfield a more ethical capital.

Business leaders should do the same thing. They should follow the news of the day, and anytime something relevant pops up… they should go on-camera and tell customers and prospects how their company is responding.

Sure, they could do the same thing in writing, but it carries much more weight when someone looks into the camera and speaks from the heart.

–Tony Gnau

Access to the world of video has never been more abundant. The video camera on your iPhone produces a better image than professional cameras did just 10 years ago.

Maybe this fact is tempting you to produce your own company videos? I’m not going to try and talk you out of it. Go for it. Keep something in mind though… this is your company’s reputation you’re putting out there.

I’m frequently surprised by how willing business owners are to turn over their company’s image to an amateur. Whether it’s themselves, or someone else on their team.

They’ll hire a graphic designer and go over several proofs before approving as much as a business card design, but the company video… we can have Ted in accounting do it.

What!? Video is an art. Storytelling is a skill. Ted might be a wiz with numbers, but there’s little chance he’s going to create a video that captures an audience and leaves them feeling good about your company.

There might be small video projects you can create on your own, but it’s better to turn to a pro when your company’s reputation and professionalism is on the line.

–Tony Gnau

Courtesy: Goose Island Beer Company

Goose Island Beer Company is celebrating a milestone. On 3/12, they rolled out 312 Urban Wheat Ale in cans. They look GREAT!

312 is the company’s signature beer. It’s been promoted by everyone from… well… us… to the President. Yeah… of the United States.

We’ve done a couple of videos surrounding 312, but the one that stands out is 312 Events. Company leaders had us running around (literally in some cases) all over Chicago to 312 sponsored events. They wanted a video to show wholesalers and retailers how passionate and excited they are about the brand.

You see… passion and enthusiasm are catchy. The folks at Goose Island understand this, and they also understand that video is a great way to demonstrate those emotions.

What are you passionate about at your company? Where’s that video?

–Tony Gnau

Ikea perplexes me.

On one hand, I’ve blogged about how smart the company’s leaders are to use video in their displays to help market their products.

On the other hand, I’ve blogged about them creating the worst-ever customer experience by holding me hostage.

Now, another interesting experience, this time while I exchanged something.

I walked in… pretty confident they’d allow me to leave this time… and took a number to wait my turn. They had a seating area featuring some of their own chairs (good move). They also had some flat-screen TVs to keep people occupied while waiting.

On this day and at this time, those TVs were tuned to a regular over-the-air channel where customers got to watch a celebrity poker game.

What a waisted opportunity! Think about it. Inside, the furniture displays have TVs tuned to an in-house channel featuring information about Ikea products. LOVE this… such a good idea, but think about it. Customers who encounter the TVs inside the store might stop for a minute or two to watch. Someone in the returns/exchanges waiting area might be there… well… a lot longer.

Why in the world wouldn’t you use this time to inform them more about your products? Heck, Ikea leaders should be producing their own HGTV-type design show featuring their products.

Play THAT in the waiting area. This would occupy, entertain and market to customers all at the same time.

There are many ways to use video and all sorts of ways to deliver it. Keep your eyes open for those opportunities at your business.

–Tony Gnau

I still speak with business owners who question whether or not it’s “worth” producing videos.

When I tell them, yes, they often want proof. Some sort of statistic that will shown return on investment. Truth is… I haven’t found good data on that subject. There are tons of stats on people being more likely to watch an online video as opposed to reading online text, but I’ve never seen anything on ROI.

That doesn’t, however, mean that I don’t have proof. Here’s my answer for them. Go to YouTube, then type in a major corporation you admire and see what turns up.

Chances are that company is producing videos. They’re investing time, effort and dollars in… producing videos. They’re devoting creative energy to… producing videos. Big companies that calculate ROI for just about everything they do are… producing videos.

Why? Because people watch them. Because every time they create a video and post it online it’s an opportunity to highlight their company… their brand.

How’s that for proof?

–Tony Gnau

I know we’re in video production, but that headline is true for anyone in any line of business. You know what you’re capable of. You know where your expertise is. Play to those strengths.

Don’t try to be something you’re not. Don’t lead others to think you can do more than you can. Be true to yourself and to them.

Virtue like that will be paid forward in the future.

–Tony Gnau