A Funny Take on Microsoft’s Web Video for Windows 7 Roll-Out Parties

James Lilek has a very funny take on a Microsoft “Viral video” concerning how to host a Windows 7 roll-out party.

Go here.

NBC’s On-Demand Multi-Cam is Awesome!

Really, you just have to experience it. Pick the angle you want. The best part is the pre-game, where you can see the camerapeople searching for shots, seeking out the stars, and grabbing quick looks at cheerleaders. You can watch all the pre-game lat minute hub-bub and rehearsals and warmups. Just watching the cable-cam is a unique experience. And the stuff that goes on during commercials shows what a… show… this all is. (Okay, I’ve never been to an NFL game live, so excuse me!)

Go to http://player.snfextra.nbcsports.com/player.htm

The Art of the Interview Pt. 2 (in 12 seconds)

The idea of posting Twitter-style length-limited videos via Twitter and 12seconds.tv is pretty challenging… and fun. It forces you to think in the shorter chunks younger demographics are used to… and yet make a complete statement.

And yet, in the video business, 12 seconds is… well it’s not even a thirty second spot!

The points that I wanted to make about our services– well, that’s the point– I have to niche it up, and make a single point about a single service.

Well, here’s the latest, about interviews.

Just Because You Don’t Get It, Doesn’t Mean You Shouldn’t Get It.

I admit it. Despite being an early adopter of the web (I’ve had the same url’s since the mid-90′s) I misread a couple of things.

I didn’t think information could come in spurts as short as a tweet. I forgot about something called telegrams.

I didn’t think about the web as a social place. Yet I’m as old as Walt Mossberg and used to hang out in the same “forums” on Compuserve and The Source.

And I didn’t see it as the ultimate distribution tool for video…. well, I did, but I didn’t expect it to kill off DVD’s and cd-roms. Now we urge our clients to create video just for the web– video that doesn’t even have to go “viral” to do the job. Just find your niche.

A lot of potential users of video on the web don’t get it, so they don’t use it.  They can’t understand the technology, or can’t envision a world beyond cable TV, DVD, or even giant sales meetings. And a good video might cost the same as a basic website, so they put the horse before the cart. These days, you need both– they are synergistic beyond belief.

So you’ve got to believe in the potential of what you don’t know– even if you can’t see what’s in front of your nose.

You can’t be aware of everything. But you can rely on the expertise and experience of good consultants to help point you in the right direction.

Brien Lee (that’s Brien with an “e”, in case you want to call or write. Really, we can see the future– we think.)

Video Viewing for a Happy July 4th (Part 2)

Video Viewing for a Happy July 4th (Part 1)

Which Comes First, The Video or the Website?

I don’t know, but I do know you need both. There are good marketing reasons for this, and good search engine visibility reasons as well.

Search engines love video. And search engines love links. If your video is on YouTube or another free video hosting site, and you embed the video in your website or blog, Google likes that.

The web loves video. There is video everywhere. Most of it I wouldn’t dream of watching on a large flat panel display; but one out of ten is very good indeed and works to sell the concept or product the website is selling.

So a great video gets you a lot of mileage– on the web, on the flat panel display, on the big screen in a big meeting, or on your iPhone for a quick sales pitch on the 8:15 from New Haven.

So which comes first? Well, they both take time to do right. (Exception: webcam updates are allowed, but NOT as your main video.)

In fact, consider how they will work together. Where will video do a better job than words? Where will words and art prevail?

It’s a planning phase you can’t ignore– we call it Strategic Digital Marketing.

Bad Idea #2: Not Budgeting for the Video

If you are a corporate marketing services buyer, you might already be budgeting for video. But if you are a marketing manager, or sales manager, or fund raiser, perhaps you aren’t. Meeting planner? Sometimes. Training Department. Yes, probably. Really, every situation is different.

Throughout my career, I’ve heard time and time again, “We didn’t budget for this…”, as if that was sufficient justification for me to cut prices.

But of course, as the exception, you know it doesn’t work that way. When there’s a line item foer the kind of thing we do in your approved budget, things move along a lot faster, and without additional justification to upper management. So you’re good to go, the minute you’re ready and the demand is there. (Your bosses like to see action, after all… how does that go– “Look busy”?)

Budgeting a video is a tricky process, because it’s all based on the amount of footage you shoot, and the kind of footage you shoot. Controlled, short (one or two days) shoots make for controlled, reasonably fast edits… perhaps this is a new product video and it’s mostly close-up tabletop work.

A history of the company, or a plant tour, or an overview of the entire operation may be a different story. Multiple shooting days, or weeks, combined with a desire to tell the best story ever about OUR GREAT COMPANY, Inc., will conspire to drive the price up. Not unreasonably, mind you– it’s all about the time it takes to do the job.

I’m convinced that professional buyers know what professional video producers and agencies need financially to do a job that meets the buyers’ expectations. I’m also convinced that when the project has not been budgeted for, they will find it necessary to “negotiate”. The problem is that this may eliminate the most credible and accomplished vendors. The  buyer is willing to make that sacrifice because they don’t want to go to the boss with an unbudgeted expenditure, and the lower the expenditure, the less the job impact. But what is sacrificed?

What about the positive impacts on your career? When you hire the right creative video producer, you’re often on your way to having a major message impact on your company (really, call and I’ll give you examples.)  And that can mean big things for you. Budget shouldn’t get in the way. And it won’t, if you’ve thought ahead.

The smartest buyers I’ve worked with investigate the cost of various kinds of projects before budgets are submitted. Granted, for the production company, that might be frustrating because it can mean a 4 or 6 month wait before anything gets going. But when it gets going, you won’t be playing a game of sticker shock driven ” I didn’t budget for that”, “well, maybe we can cut out some graphics”, “can you do this cheaper and we’re pay you more on the next job”, et. al.

You can do the job that will accomplish your goals, get you applause and recognition, impact the company’s bottom line, and impact yours as well.

That’s why we do no obligation creative proposals. We scope out the video or multimedia project or website or meeting, define as much as we can, and quote a turnkey “put it in the budget” figure.

You have to start somewhere. It might as well be ahead of the curve. That puts you a couple of major step closer to success.

Video in Emails ups Click-Through Rates 2-3X

Here’s some research published on MarketingVox that states that using a video in your email will up clickthroughs by 2 to 3x. Yes, many isp’s and corporate nets block videos in email, but there are plenty of ways to get around that without upsetting the IT department masters. Read more here, and call us at 908-213-8705 if you’d like to try it out for yourself. It’s an inexpensive investment that can triple your direct email effectiveness.

Bad Ideas #1: Defining an Open Creative Position by the Equipment that Should be Used

I was sent a help wanted listing by a business associate recently. They thought I’d get a kick out of it because it was for a listing for a video producer position at a business that makes products that I love (I can’t go into any more detail than that out of fairness for all parties involved.)

No, I’m not looking– but since I have done my share of hiring in the past few decades I am always curious as to the expectations set by help wanted ads for creatives.

Let’s forget for a second the impossible expectations and laughable language used in such ads (“Must eat, breath and live advertising”; “You don’t think outside the box, you are the box”, etc.

What interests me is that in a video and web driven world, creativity is often defined not by writing, design or storytelling capability, but instead by the software and hardware employed.

This ad said (paraphrased), “Video producer wanted to produce web videos for our catalog pages and web site. Knowledge of Adobe Premiere, Photoshop, and After Effects required.”

Uh… why? Does a knowledge of these particular programs guarantee that you know the basics of design, writing, creative direction, photography, photo touch-up, shooting and editing?

This was followed by “Windows platform preferred.”

I can see the Windows platform (or Mac platform) preference as perhaps reasonable, since the company may have standardized on and invested in plenty of hardware that is single platform centric. That’s a business decision.

But eliminating perhaps 70% of your creative applicants because they use some other software than what you like or know is like a curator at the Met, MOMA, or Guggenheim who only hangs paintings that use a #12 Kolinsky Red Sable Art Brush.

The talented and driven can and will adapt to almost any software or hardware. That’s easily learned. What can’t easily be learned is what is done with the tools, whether they are using typewriters, yellow legal pad, or Final Cut Pro or Microsoft Word or Final Draft.

It’s the story, stupid. And that’s the basis on which you should hire.