Tag Archives: Guerrilla Marketing

We got some great news last week. T60 won a pair of trophies at the 32nd Annual Telly Awards.

The Telly Awards draw over 10,000 entries every year and are considered one of television’s and the non-broadcast video industry’s most prestigious honors. There are two levels of awards, the silver (top honors) and bronze.

This year, T60 was awarded both a silver and bronze for videos submitted to the Film/Video, Non-Broadcast Productions, Non-Profit Category.

Please join us in congratulating our clients… DuPage Habitat for Humanity and Glenwood School for Boys and Girls.

SILVER TELLY VIDEO– DuPage Habitat for Humanity

BRONZE TELLY VIDEO– Glenwood School for Boys and Girls

T60 has now won nine Telly Awards over the last four years.

Photo: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

Last night I awoke at 2:30 a.m. from a bad dream where the USC Trojans were trailing the UCLA Bruins.  Yes, I dream about football.

Bear with me, I’ll get to a relevant point.

In the dream, USC trailed by 7-points with 3:30 left to play when the defense scooped up a fumble. Instead of attempting to drive for a game tying touchdown which would at least force overtime, USC head coach Lane Kiffin elects not to run an offensive play. Instead, he kicks a 49-yard field goal cutting the lead to 4-points.

Craziness… I know. I woke up thinking why would a coach make a move like that? Sure, it closes the gap and potentially preserves enough time to go for the win, but it also paints the team into a corner. The only option available for the Trojans would be to get the ball back on defense and drive for a game winning touchdown.

It actually made me think about viral video. Many companies want to create the next great viral video, but that quest does bring risk. Groupon created a Super Bowl ad I’m sure they hoped would go viral the next day. It did, but for all the wrong reasons. Using the Tibetan people’s oppression as a gag offended a lot people and turned out to be an embarrassing failure.

Creativity is a great thing, but don’t confuse creativity with boldness.  Businesses striving to be bold need to avoid painting themselves into a corner where winning is the only option.

I’m not saying don’t go for it. Everyone’s risk-reward threshold is different.  Just keep your eyes open… and maybe a good PR pro on standby.

–Tony Gnau

I’ll tell you what… I know a lot about storytelling… enough to teach a class. I better. It’s my profession… my passion.

Business on the other hand? I’m still learning. Which is why I continue to pour through business books, read Seth Godin daily, listen to Dave Ramsey, and constantly look for innovative ways to better T60 as an organization.

We’re getting a little help with that. Earlier this year T60 opened its doors to business students at Kendall College who spent a quarter evaluating our company. Today, we get to hear their assessment on where we are and where they think we can go.

Ready to be a student again?

–Tony Gnau

There’s an old adage in video and film production. When you think you’ve shot enough, shoot a little more. That’s because you never know what might come in handy in the edit room. Better to have too much raw material than not enough.

It’s actually a concept that translates well to just about any field. Don’t do just enough work to get the job done, go beyond that so you have plenty to do a great job.

Usually doing just enough work will get you paid, it just won’t get clients to return.

–Tony Gnau

My dad taught me a valuable lesson when I was a kid. I might have been eight or nine years-old when I said something insensitive to my mom. My dad was furious but it didn’t lead to a tirade. He simply leaned forward, looked me in the eye, and said, “Think before you speak.” I’ll never forget that.

I’m guessing Alexandra Wallace didn’t get a similar lesson when she was a kid. Wallace is the UCLA student who filed a video blog on YouTube ranting about Asian students in the library talking on their cell phones.

This is a teachable moment for businesses that have employees blogging or vlogging. Think about your message before hitting the upload button because once it enters cyberspace… it’s out there.

Now, I know there’s a movement advocating unfiltered content. Keep the message “real.” I get it and to a certain degree I’m with them, but there’s a big difference between being guarded and being smart.

Businesses need to be smart with their social media. Be open and share… just be smart about it. It’s a lesson this UCLA student learned the hard way.

–Tony Gnau

p.s. did I mention she attends UCLA?

Last week Danny Brown blogged about relationships and how they lead to sales. He also mentioned something that really struck a chord with me… that we base our decisions on emotions.

He’s right, which is why marketing videos can be such a great way to reach people. A good video can elicit an emotional response and connect the viewer with the company on a personal level.

Enter storytelling.  It fosters these emotions in a way facts and figures don’t. The lesson? Don’t get wrapped up in the facts behind a product, service, or company. The story should come first.

–Tony Gnau

Finally… a sports agency with some vision! I’ve pitched several agents in the past on the idea of producing an NFL Draft video for their clients. I’m glad to see someone is jumping onboard… even if it wasn’t T60 creating the video.

USC Trojans tight end Jordan Cameron is entering this year’s draft. He also has a YouTube video hyping his abilities courtesy NBA Slam Dunk Champ Blake Griffin.

Do I think this is going to improve his draft status. Maybe. Cameron isn’t the biggest name on the draft board, so maybe a little extra exposure gets him some needed attention.

Where I think the video will really have an impact is after the draft. Whichever team selects Cameron, many of their fans will immediate Google “Jordan Cameron,” and what will they find? A fun video they can share with other fans. He instantly becomes a marketable figure for that team, and he hasn’t even played a snap.

That’s the power of video and how it can work for individuals.

–Tony Gnau

SIDE NOTE: I wonder if anyone had to explain to Jordan and Griffin that their video mimics the famous 1989 Nike ad campaign featuring Michael Jordan and Spike Lee. USC’s Jordan and the Clippers’ Griffin had to be in diapers back then! :-)

Have you seen Jennifer Aniston’s new video for Smartwater?  It deserves a brief word… lame.

I have no doubt this video will go viral… it features Jennifer Aniston for crying out loud… but is this the best her team could come up with?

The video is trying to be funny. The irony is that it will go viral because it fails. This would have been so much better had they simply done all the viral “tricks” and not talked about them.

It’s something I speak with clients about all the time. You don’t have to hold the viewer’s hand and hit them over the head with your concept or message. Let them watch and draw their own conclusion. It becomes a far more effective message when viewers figure it out for themselves.

People are smart. Smarter than Smartwater for sure.

–Tony Gnau

Give ’em all the facts and figures you want, but in the end many consumers will take a good story over logic any day.

Yesterday, Seth Godin blogged about the limits of evidence-based marketing. He also offered up an alternative… persistent storytelling.

I like the sound of that. As a matter of fact, regular readers here know it’s one of my favorite subjects.

Simply put, storytelling sells. Give viewers interesting stories, deliver them on a regular basis, and good things will happen.

That’s because they trigger and emotional response. The better the stories, the more favorably people view the subject matter.

So… are you ready to tell people the stories surrounding your business?

–Tony Gnau

We did a same-day shoot and edit for Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo last week at the Regenstein Center for African Apes, and it presented a common situation worth noting.

We were only doing a single interview, and someone from the zoo asked if we would like to sit the subject next to the animal enclosure to use it as a backdrop. That’s when a silverback gorilla walked in and sat down.

I declined and the person suggesting it was surprised. I explained that on the surface it looks like a great backdrop. I mean, come on, gorillas are pretty cool, but think about the backdrop from a visual perspective.

If you’re interviewing someone and a gorilla walks up behind them, will you as the viewer be looking at the interview subject or the 800-lbs. gorilla?

A good interview backdrop is one that looks nice, but also isn’t distracting. Keep the focus on the person being interviewed, not the backdrop.

–Tony Gnau

VIDEO: Lincoln Park Zoo – Dr. Fisher Birthday Party