Tag Archives: video production

Probably my favorite moment from last week’s BrandSmart conference was a presentation by Second City. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Second City is the nation’s premiere training ground for improv comedy.

The group drew a comparison between comedy and marketing. One of the things they focused on is… audience. They talked about how they adjust their shows and performances based on how the audience is reacting. Certainly, very similar to what marketers do.

Who’s your audience?

It’s also a great comparison for videos. The number one question you should be asking when you produce a video is who’s the audience? Every decision on what goes into the video and how it’s presented should be pushed through that filter.

Why does this matter to the audience? How does it benefit them? You have to answer these questions.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in chest pounding when producing videos. You’re proud of your business, but remember… it isn’t about you, it’s about the audience.

–Tony Gnau

BrandSmart 2012 turned out to be an interesting education. The annual event thrown by the Chicago Chapter of the American Marketing Association brought together all sorts of marketing bigwigs.

It was an education for me because while T60 works as an arm of the marketing business, it’s only part of what we do. We’re not immersed in all aspects of the industry everyday, so it was interesting hearing about where things appear to be going.

Video was certainly discussed and I’ll blog more about that later this week (PLUG!), but today I’m going to touch on a simple observation. Virtually every presenter at BrandSmart used video during their presentation.

Now, we’ve done a bunch of videos for clients who wanted them specifically for a live presentation at meetings or conferences. Lincoln Park Zoo and Glenwood Academy jump to mind. Videos like these are great because instead of just delivering information from a presenter standing on stage, you can add dynamic and interesting storytelling.

Here’s the thing that struck me though at BrandSmart. The presenters were experienced marketers. They understand storytelling and how to capture an audience. They do it everyday. Their livelihood depends on it, and these people chose video to help them connect with the BrandSmart audience.

If that isn’t an endorsement for video, I don’t know what is.

Using video during your typical speech, presentation or corporate event can turn it into something special.

–Tony Gnau

Nice day Wednesday at BrandSmart 2012. The Chicago chapter of the American Marketing Association brought together some great panels and speakers to talk about all the changes taking place in marketing.

The highlight for me might have been Second City. Someone from the improv comedy organization talked about the similarities between what they do and what marketers do. Didn’t hurt bringing some Second City performers along to do a few quick sketches.

Anyway, good stuff… and I plan on sharing it all with you next week. TEASE! That’s right, Monday-Thursday next week I’ll share some observations from BrandSmart 2012.

Stay tuned!

–Tony Gnau

Politics of Storytelling.

That was a CNN headline yesterday scrawled at the bottom of a TV screen that caught my attention. I didn’t get the full story, but the subhead said something about how important it is for politicians to tell their story and not let someone else define who they are.

Business Needs storytelling too

Anyone think that’s exclusive to politics? Of course not. Corporations… brands… small businesses… they all need to be doing this, and video happens to be one of the best ways.

Why? Because seeing is believing.

Video lets people see for themselves and form their own opinion. Whether you’re simply setting the everyday tone for your business, or you’re a company doing damage control, video gives you the ability to deliver your story in a way that will capture an audience’s attention.

Let them see and believe you.

–Tony Gnau

I don’t care if you’re a solopreneur or CEO at a Fortune 500 company, money is always an issue. The number one question I get asked about video… how much does it cost?

I’m not afraid to answer that question. You’ll find T60 is a rarity in the video world. We actually post prices on our website. Of course, those are ballpark figures. Every project is unique, but I at least wanted to give people some sort of idea of what we charge.

Wants and needs

Which leads me to the subject at hand. We have all sorts of wants and needs at T60 right now, and everything costs money. I’d love to just write a check and get everything all at once, but that’s not realistic so we’re doing something radical.

We’re budgeting. Every creative person out there just got a cold chill. I’m with you, but it’s necessary if we want to achieve our goals.

We’re in the process of a complete website overhaul, and it’s just about time to upgrade our camera and editing suite. There’s a lot involved. We can’t do it all at once so we’re saving money, earmarking it for the things we value, and making purchases as we get the cash.

Video budgeting

Video is interesting. You can have it produced for as little as $500, or it could cost $20,000. There’s all sort of variables. So you know what you need to do… budget. Talk to producers ahead of time. Get an idea of what your video will cost before you set your budget.

FYI… this also happens to be true with anything you need to buy for your business. Save, save, save!

You’ll thank me later.

–Tony Gnau

p.s. T60 is debt free and doesn’t have a credit card or line of credit. Yes, it is possible. THANK YOU Dave Ramsey.

I think a lot of us are nostalgic by nature. Things from the past trigger memories, they allow us to dream about a time gone by and in some cases provide us with a look at a life before our time.

Companies have archive material, especially well-established businesses with a long history. Don’t just let it sit on the shelf. Use it to provide your customers and prospects with nostalgia.

What’s old is new again

USC just did a masterful job of this, posting on YouTube never-before-seen film of the way the Trojans football team trained back in the 1950s and 1960s. It has no relevance to my life today, I only recognized a couple of people, and yet I couldn’t stop watching.

Businesses can do the same sort of thing. Whether it’s showing old commercials, highlighting old catalogs, long-out-of-date training film/videos… you name it!

Take materials from the past and turn them into your content of the future.

–Tony Gnau

I really love what Advocate Health Care is doing to promote its brand. Company leaders are churning out a pretty decent amount of video content, some focused on what their hospitals are doing, but many of them simply answer medical-related questions.

In today’s case, they picked a timely topic to draw more viewers… something every company should think about.

The Chicago Marathon was run on Sunday. On Monday, Advocate sent out a video entitled, “Sports Medicine Tip: recovering from your marathon.”

The video isn’t anything special, but this isn’t a post about production value. It simply features a sports medicine doc talking on-camera about how best to recover.

It’s a great idea. To my knowledge, Advocate wasn’t a race sponsor, but they take advantage of an event many Chicagoans were focused on over the weekend.

PR, marketing and business leaders need to be thinking about this sort of thing. What’s going to be in the news that applies to our expertise? What sort of quality content can we create to better inform our customers/prospects?

Thinking it out in advance can provide some terrific videos that will help your company connect with audiences in a powerful way.

–Tony Gnau

Anyone who knows me knows my football loyalties. My hometown Chicago Bears and my alma mater USC Trojans. Every week, I look at the videos each produces and there’s a stark contrast that really hit me this week as a great corporate video example.

The Bears run all of their videos through their own website and brand it the Chicago Bears Network. The videos range from the team’s radio commentator breaking down the upcoming game, news conference interviews with coaches and players and a feature where kicker Robbie Gould asks his teammates silly questions so we can allegedly get to know them off the field.

Blah.

There’s a tons of content here. The Bears clearly understand they need to be producing video, but they do it in the typical corporate way. Maximum control, little creativity.

Look… there’s nothing wrong with what they post. It’s more than what we get on the local news or ESPN, but it’s bland. They add some snazzy graphics, but there just isn’t much meat to the content. It’s typical… and forgettable.

Contrast that with USC. They produce just as much content for their YouTube channel, but there’s much more of an effort to provide authentic material. While they post some of the same type of stuff, news conference interviews jump to mind, they also loosen the corporate reins.

They truly take us behind the scenes… DEEP behind the scenes. Videos put us inside the locker room with them before the game, at halftime and when the game is all over. We follow the players around campus getting a real sense of their life off the field. And the team’s best player, Matt Barkley, has his own weekly feature.

Their videos are… fun. As an alum or fan, you want to watch. They provide a totally unique look at the team you can’t get anywhere else.

Big corporations tend to follow the Bears model. They want to do video, but they’re afraid to show behind the curtain too much. Smaller companies tend to be a little looser and willing to take a chance, producing original video content that might actually connect with an audience.

That’s the key to the whole thing. While I might peruse what they Bears produce this week, it isn’t something I’m waiting for. Depending on the video titles, I may or may not watch.

Not the case with my Trojans. I know they’re going to produce compelling stuff, so not only do I subscribe to their videos… I look forward to them.

Now, which approach would you want to employ for your business?

–Tony Gnau

I know I’ve blogged about this before, but the USC athletic department’s “Matt vs.” video series is pretty awesome.

For those of you new to the series, USC quarterback Matt Barkley and some of his teammates have been competing against other USC athletes in their sports. In this week’s video, Matt and defensive captain T.J. McDonald got some pool time with the 4-time defending national champion USC men’s water polo team.

You heard me… a couple of novices playing alongside the national champs.

I’ll be honest, none of the videos I’ve seen have been hilarious, but they’ve all been entertaining. The idea is to show another side of Barkley and his teammates, highlighting their personalities off the field. The end result is something business leaders need to pay attention to.

Businesses could do this too

Any business could do this sort of thing. Who’s the public face of your company? Why not a series of videos where that person takes on someone else’s job at the company? They go work in accounting, the mailroom, etc.

The end result is a double-barreled hit. First, it makes that public face more endearing. A little humility and self-deprecating humor go a long way to getting prospects and the rank-and-file to warm up to them. Are you listening CEO’s?

Second, the video highlights the work of other team members. How many times is Janet in accounting or Phil in the mailroom going to be made to feel special? They get a boost and other employees see their co-workers being singled out.

The whole series would be great for morale.

–Tony Gnau

Yesterday I blogged about an accountant, today it’s a financial planner. I swear… I didn’t plan it.

My wife and I met with our financial planner on Tuesday. The meeting went well and ended even better with us talking about plans to produce a video for him. He’d like to ease into video with an elevator pitch video, but eventually he like to do more.

Show people you’re an expert

Our financial planner actually serves as a great example. In many industries, people are getting paid to provide their expertise. In his case, it’s financial advice. When he decides to move forward with more videos, you can bet I’ll be talking with him about raising his standing as an expert.

Every business gets questions about what they do. Imagine producing a series of videos answering those questions. How many times do you think he’s asked to explain a Roth IRA? Or a traditional IRA? How they’re different from a 401k?

That’s three short videos right there. They provide people with some education, but at the same time they don’t give away his most valuable commodity… how to best use those tools to plan for retirement.

What about you and your business? Start thinking about the frequently asked questions you get about what it is you do. That’s a good start for your video production.

–Tony Gnau