Monday, I basically declared it “video in public places” week. The next day I passed on posting anything due to an early shoot. Today, I’m not posting anything on video in public places.

Someone clearly needs to teach me a lesson on following up on my promotional teases.

Well, timeliness… breaking news… they trump promos!

My shoot yesterday was familiar and unusual all at once, and it was certainly good lesson material. It was a b-roll shoot for  big company… familiar. But it also involved shooting video of something I never imagined I’d ever shoot. Twinkies. Possibly the last Twinkies ever purchased.

Hostess is bankrupt and closing shop, so that means the iconic treat is going away. Monday afternoon I got a call from a PR pro working for the agency representing JEWEL-OSCO. The grocery chain had just found out it was selected to receive the last shipment from Hostess, so they planned to put the snacks on the shelves the next morning at 5:30 a.m.

They knew this was going to generate media interest, so they wanted a b-roll package they could send to the TV folks. Picking up on the lesson?

They found out about the shipment, and one of their first instincts was to make sure they shot video. In JEWEL-OSCO’s case, it’s big time local and national media coverage, but it doesn’t have to be that to warrant a video shoot.

Is your company doing something noteworthy for customers, your industry… heck… for your own employees? Video is a great way to highlight it. You’d be hard pressed to find a medium that brings things to life better than video.

JEWEL-OSCO and their PR people know it. Now you do too.

–Tony Gnau

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