Tag Archives: Ford

You all know how much I like the idea of a video series. Instead of producing one long video, produce a series of shorter videos. It allows audience members to pick the things they’re interested in, and it allows you to roll out the videos over a longer period of time.

FORD’S GREAT IDEA

Well, Ford recently produced a whole series of videos while they were at the 2012 SEMA Show. According to the SEMA website, the show is “the premier automotive specialty products trade event in the world.”

I love that Ford produced a series there. They uploaded over 20 videos from the show. This is a great idea for any company participating in a trade show. It allows your customers and prospects to attend the show, even if they can’t get there in person.

Ford’s lousy execution

The only problem is Ford fell flat. The videos stink. There’s barely any production value at all. The camera work is weak, the lighting is bad, audio on most of the videos is terrible, we get minimal editing and worst of all… zero attempt at storytelling.

Some of the videos feature a woman doing interviews, but they’re totally lame. Again, no creativity or effort put into them at all.

Could have been soooo much better

Now listen… if you’re a smaller company and this is the only type of thing you can afford to do, okay, I get it. But this isn’t just any business… it’s Ford! How many millions of dollars do you think Ford spends on marketing!? How much do you think they spent on participating in this event alone?

I’m not saying they should have thrown money hand over fist at this video series, but for $5,000-$10,000 they could have put together some great content. These videos got thousands of hits. Imagine what viewership could have been if they had made an effort. If they had made videos those viewers wanted to share with friends.

On top of that, let me raise another issue. As a business leader, why would you ever condone putting something out for the world to see that represents your brand if it looks like crap?

The Ford video series was a GREAT idea, but it was poorly executed. I hate that.

If you think a videos series is worth doing, then it should be worth doing it right.

–Tony Gnau

I saw a new Ford Escape on the road yesterday. Very nice. So nice it sent me to Ford’s YouTube channel looking for some videos.

Alas… no luck. I did however find a nice little series entitled, Drive Quality. Three short videos, each just over a minute long, and all featuring things Ford leaders do around their plants to improve production line quality.

I thought the videos were good. Nothing Earth-shattering, but I walked away as a viewer thinking… huh… that’s pretty cool.

Folks… that’s a win for Ford. I think we sometimes get hung-up on the impact of our videos. Not every video is going to set the world on fire. As a matter of fact, it is a rare video that will do that. And if it doesn’t feature a cat, it’s nearly impossible to achieve.

We need to temper our expectations. Ford got it right. I only intended on watching one of the videos when I clicked, but I watched all three and learned something interesting about the company.

I can only hope your videos are as successful.

–Tony Gnau

SIDE NOTE!… I did eventually find some videos featuring the new Escape. :-)

One of my favorite things about online marketing videos is the opportunity they provide businesses to give customers an insider’s look at the company.

I just watched a video Ford has on its YouTube channel showing people how they test a vehicle for wind noise. From a production value standpoint, the video is okay… nothing special really.

Where it excels is simply giving a guy like me a glimpse behind the curtain. I’m going to be in the market for a car in the next couple years, so I find myself looking at stuff like this.

Online videos are completely changing the way we shop. They give us a whole new perspective that consumers didn’t have even just a few years ago.

Sure, Ford has produced a video sanitized for my viewing, but it’s still information I probably wouldn’t have noticed if not for YouTube.

–Tony Gnau

Ford’s been doing a lot of things right lately. Its producing good-looking, well-made vehicles and consumers seem to be responding by buying them.

Company leaders have certainly jumped on the social media marketing bandwagon as well, but their video strategy is kind of head-scratching. Some videos are clearly professionally done, and others look pretty basic like someone inside the company is putting them together.  A couple of examples…

Good: Ford Fiesta vs. Lamborghini

Boring: 2011 Ford Explorer Clay Mockup in the Wind Tunnel

The “good” video works. It has upbeat music, a fun concept, and tight editing. Do your best to ignore the annoying host and you have a memorable video.

The “boring” video doesn’t need to be. It’s focusing on the aerodynamic attention put into the Ford Explorer. This could be really interesting in the hands of a professional storyteller. Instead, we get no music to set a mood and poorly-paced editing.

The reason this drives me crazy… yes, I wrote “drives”… is that someone at Ford clearly understands the power of video and social media but still short-changes us. They raise our expectations with quality work only to disappoint us with a ho-hum effort.

If you’re going to do something, do it right. If you’re only going to half-try, you can expect half-results.

–Tony Gnau