Archive for dvd

“An American Anthem” and YouTube

Ten year ago– in a simpler time– we produced a three-screen meeting opener for Walgreens called "An American Anthem." It was a celebration of Americana, which– after 3 minutes of history, pageantry, and patriotism– lead into a live singing of the National Anthem, followed by a rousing on-screen finale featuring the Blue Angels, fireworks and flag-waving, while on-stage, a nice pyrotechnic "kaboom" buttoned the whole thing up and lead to rousing applause.Flag5_1

It was produced fairly generically– without real branding other than a pairing of the United States and Walgreens flags in the final moments. Given that, we thought it might be worth making it available to other companies and groups who needed a nice, affordable, ready-to-go opener. So we converted it to single screen, took out the minute and a half orchestral accompaniment used by the live singer, and put it on a website and uploaded it to what was then the fairly new YouTube.

It got a fair number of viewings, but because viewers can leave comments, it also sparked a spirited discussion about politics, war, and the post-911 world.

Well, at least it got a response. If you’d like, go to this page at YouTube, have a look-see, and let us know what you think. Is this kind of statement appropriate for the post-911 world, or does it need to be tempered or modified to fly today? (It is video and is easily modified.)

And it still is available for rental…… (grin).

The Corporate Storyteller, Redux

I had a nice discussion with one of our clients yesterday, in which we discussed various executives we had worked with over the past thirty years. We agreed that those that were most effective could impact an audience by telling a story– and if they couldn’t, at least they were smart enough to create a vehicle that told the story for them.

The nature of the corporate story is that it ties current operations into past keystone events (real, apocryphal, or parable.)

The Wall Street Journal recently has been running a series of articles detailing the same thing. According to WSJ, “Corporate Storytellers” are folks who work with companies to unearth their past, particularly after years of conglomeration, buyouts, downsizing, and more. The story emphasizes the use of live narratives, even original songs, to help reinstate a sense of heritage, purpose and belonging.

Read More…