Tag Archives: marketing

Courtesy: CBS News

Last week, I blogged a little about the notion of watching. Watching videos you like, dissecting them, learning from them, and applying similar techniques to your own videos.

Today, I’m going to help you find some good videos to watch, and I’m turning to TV news because that’s where you’ll find my roots.

The organization that most inspired me to improve myself as a video storyteller is the National Press Photographers Association. I was working at my first TV station in Kearney, NE when I went to an NPPA seminar in Omaha. Mind blowing. Here’s a link to last year’s NPPA award winners… Best of Photojournalism 2011.

Looking for daily inspiration? There’s a terrific Facebook group called, “Storytellers.” TV news photographers post their stories and ask for feedback from their peers. I’ve seen a lot of good stuff there.

Finally, my favorite storyteller is my mentor… Steve Hartman of CBS News. Steve was more than generous with his time when I was a young reporter. I used to send him my stories, he’d critique them, and I followed every piece of advice he gave me. He’s been the man behind a few feature segments at CBS, but his current one is entitled, “On the Road,” and it airs every Friday. If you find a guy who’s a better feature reporter and storyteller, please let me know.

Enjoy!

–Tony Gnau

Want to know the best way to get good at video? Watch a lot of videos. Preferably good ones.

When I was a young TV news reporter, I used to watch as many great stories as I could. The kinds of stories I wanted to report.

In those days, my friends and I would exchange video tapes featuring award-winning stories from the National Press Photographers Association. What a difference a decade makes. Now all you need to do is click on YouTube of Vimeo.

Start noting the videos you like and re-watch them from time-to-time with a critical eye. Dissect them. Look at the shooting style, how they use music and natural sound, the way they’re edited. Think about how those same techniques could improve your storytelling.

The more you evaluate, the better you’re own videos will become.

–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. :-)

Bloggers have long understood the power of the written word, but many have also begun to embrace video. Many, however, have not put the same amount of pride into their videos as they have their skillfully written blogs.

They need to start.

Look, if you’re not a bigtime blogger, please continue to look into your computer’s camera and deliver your vlog that way. On the other hand, if you are a bigtime blogger, you need to step-up your production value.

I’m not talking about a lot of bells and whistles. Simply working on your framing, lighting and editing will go a long way to improving the professionalism of your vlog.

We’ve been doing this for superstar PR blogger Gini Dietrich. She’s awesome, her message is compelling, and now she has a professional-looking vlog to match her top-rated blog.

A little effort goes a long way to adding to your credibility.

–Tony Gnau

Video is becoming a strange animal. It used to be nobody had a video camera, so if they wanted video they had to either hire someone to shoot it or go to the time and expense of buying their own equipment.

These days everyone has a quality video camera built into their phone.

This may be why some people have unrealistic expectations when it comes to the cost of producing video. We occasionally have people who contact us for proposals who are surprised their project will cost thousands of dollars.

I think they’d be even more surprised if they shopped around only to find out there are companies charging a lot more than us.

I understand we all have access to quality video cameras, but that’s no longer what you’re paying for when you have a video produced. You’re paying for the skill it takes to operate that camera and tell a compelling story.

Anyone can shoot video, but takes a highly trained and skilled artist to create a video people will want to watch.

–Tony Gnau

May I take a moment to write about microphones?

Amateur videos are easy to pick out for an array of reasons, but one of the easiest ways to spot one is bad audio. How do you know if your audio is bad? The number one way is if you’re using the built-in microphone on your camera.

You might be thinking… I don’t know… sounds pretty good to me.

No. It doesn’t. Investing just a  little money in a good quality microphone will improve your videos big time.

–Tony Gnau

Okay PR pros… you want to see how to make life easy on your TV contacts? Check out Clarke. It’s a company doing the type of work that’s bound to draw media attention. They fight mosquitoes.

Yes… not necessarily a sexy business, but just look at their video download page. It’s AMAZING! They provide dozens of clips for journalists to use. It looks professional and has everything a TV producer, reporter, or editor is going to need to piece together a story on mosquito control.

You know how I know this? A friend of mine at WGN-TV news told me about the company. WGN was doing a story on West Nile virus (transmitted by mosquitoes) and someone at Clarke sent them a link to their videos. My friend was gushing over how helpful it was.

If you’re working for a business that’s involved with issues or subject matters that end up on the news, you need to put together a page like this. It provides exposure, and allows you to control the content surrounding your company.

–Tony Gnau

The internet has changed forever the way we research our competition. All you have to do is swing by their website to see what they’re up to, how they present themselves, et cetera.

One of the things I did when starting T60 was research how much my competitors  were charging. It was maddening. Most don’t list prices. I understand why. Every project is unique, but from a customer’s perspective it’s really irritating.

So… I made sure to give some sort of price list at the T60 website. It was a simply way to differentiate us from everyone else, and I hope it leaves people with a good first impression.

Here’s my project for you. Check out your competitors’ videos. Do they have just one or have they produced a bunch? Do they look professionally done or do they look like they did them on the cheap?

Video is a way you can set your company apart from the competition. Whatever they’re doing video-wise, you have the ability to one-up them.

If a customer is researching you and your competition online, they’ll likely watch each company’s videos. Make their first impression of you better than your competition.

–Tony Gnau

I get it. I really do. If you’re working at a small business and you don’t have the money to commit to a professionally produced video, I understand.

What I don’t get is when a major corporation puts a video out on the cheap. I just watched one by Subaru. I looks like an amateur production, but it’s a good teaching tool.

I love Subaru vehicles. My wife and I were recently talking about what we’d consider for our next car and I mentioned the Subaru Outback. So… I went to YouTube to check out some video and came across this one on the company’s channel… Subaru and United by Blue’s Cooper River Cleanup.

I love that Subaru is giving back. I love that they decided to put out a video about it. The problem is the video just isn’t compelling.

Pay attention to the way it’s shot. I counted one… that’s one… tight shot. Videos need a mix of wide, medium, and tight shots. That mix stimulates the eye. Virtually every shot here is a medium shot.

The same could be said for the interview shots. Everyone is framed up on a medium shot right in the center of the picture. There’s no visual interest in that sort of framing.

These are basic shooting mistakes. I would have loved to have seen this story in the hands of a video pro.

–Tony Gnau

Company culture is something more and more people are looking at these days. Whether it’s customers looking for businesses that align with their beliefs, or potential employees looking for a good work environment. Company culture has become very important.

The best way to show people your culture… video. Nothing does a better job. You can write about it all you want. You can take tons of photos. Neither does the job better than video.

It gives people a behind-the-scenes look at your company. Are you power suits and polished shoes or t-shirts and jeans?  Cubicles and board rooms or open floor plans and scooters? The audience gets to see the physical environment, hear from team members, and get a sense of what it’s like being there.

If you want to give people a peek behind the curtain… video is the way to do it.

–Tony Gnau