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.

A Company's Vision or Sales Concepts must be transmitted on many different levels.

But it really isn’t. What it is, really, is a manifesto of a company’s need to shift it’s marketing into “Web 2.0″ mode– a credo of engagement, involvement, and discussion, all spurred by the use of various media methods to create interest in you and what or whom you represent (product, personality, cause, service.)

It includes web presence and interactivity, from blogs and podcasts, to video casts and regular marketing videos, all offered for free as in the form of valuable information that may or may not include your product or primary message. What’s important is what the customer wants to know. In the case of a brand, it may be the brand’s history or culture. In the case of a product, it might be how the product is made. In the case of a service, it might be getting to know the people who provide the service.

All this revolves around a MIX of media, from web based, to directly marketed or presented. A website, YouTube, a blog or a forum, even Twitter and photostreams (and slideshows- remember them?) But also a DVD, a direct (snail) mail, TV Spots, newsletters (web and paper), and viral campaigns.

It’s not enough to simply hire a web specialist, programmer or a video producer. Your consultant must know how all of these activities intersect. They must have been there, and know where next to go. They have to know your story and feel your vision. They have to be able to create content.

We’ve been doing that since we were kids. But we’ve been forward looking just as long. We’re no stranger to video, meetings and presentations, audio, streaming, blogging, or  RSS feeding. We listen. We analyze. We propose. We execute. All the media, all the details. We measure, report, respond, refine and enhance. We grow your page views, enhance your image, get you applause and earn you the response you require.

What is Custom Creative Content? It’s a story, on many different levels.

• Level One: Concept. What is the plan? Who is the audience, where are they, what turns them on?
• Level Two: Words. The blueprint to all else that will follow.
• Level Three: media selection, based on the above.
• Level Four: Design. Make sure there is a common look and feel to all your content.
• Level Five: Creatively exploit each medium to its fullest, in light of your strategy. Testimonials? Interviews? Flow animations? Mind Maps?
• Level Six: Place the messages where they will be found. Web-Centric? Direct? Mass media? Auditorium? Trade Show? Brochure, free DVD, YouTube?
• Level Seven: Before paying for exposure, maximize your free exposure. Keyword optimization. Forum presence. Street Crews. PR. Speakers Bureaus. Viral Video. Word of Mouth.
• Level Eight: Track the action. See what works. Modify. Your keywords. Your creative. Your media placement. Your web presence. This is the thing…. you can make changes– even in video– overnight.
• Level Nine: Build on Your Success. Now, YOU’RE the expert. Be interviewed, appear on other people’s podcasts. Become the go-to-person locally or nationally on your subject.
• Level Ten: Never stop listening and conversing. All of tis has to be two way, whether you hand type your own responses, use autoresponders, or virtual assistants.

In the advertising business, this used to be called a campaign. But an ad campaign was simple. This is a Hydra. This is Now. And this works.

Download longshort96.mp3

Summary: Determining the right length of a video is a matter of examining your audience, the viewing circumstance, and the audience’s desire to be there. We also discuss real vs. perceived length, and provide tips on how to make percieved lengths "feel" shorter.

This has always been my Benchmark for snow that is just too darn late in the season.

Looking out my window now, and checking the date, I see that once again, we are past my benchmark, and it is snowing, and I remember back to that 1973 storm…

It was 9am the day of the storm and my business partner Ric and I were putting the finishing touches on a two-projector dissolve slide show we had produced for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. It had been reviewed and approved with a few changes the day before by the Symphony’s P.R. Director Andy Moquin. Those few changes kept us up all night re-laying out the slides, making a few subtle changes to the soundtrack (remember, this was all on audio tape), and reprogramming (or repulsing as we called it then) the show.

There was a deadline– 10am that day. Because that’s when we had to drive the gear and the show over to the Schlitz Clubhouse on Port Washington Rd. to unveil the show to the Symphony Women’s League at their annual fundraiser.

Fueled by Tostitos and Tab Soda, we made it. It was a clear day, no traffic, no problem.

There were a few speeches, an address by famed "Sing-Along" conductor Mitch Miller, who at the time was apparently a roving drive-by cheerleader for Symphony Fundraising campaigns, and finally– hours later– our show ran. It was a big success.

By this time we were pretty goofy from lack of sleep.

We commiserated, had our free cookies, packed up, headed out the back door, and then noticed the door wouldn’t open.

Two feet of snow.

Well, let me tell you– the small talk runs thin pretty quick when you are sleep deprived, 23 years old, and surrounded by the august members of the Women’s Symphony League. There were daughters of Beer Barons, descendants of heavy duty transformer companies, foundries, leather tanning companies, you name it.

They got tired of telling us how wonderful we were, and we got tired of hearing it (okay, not really, but the conversation slowed quickly. They just didn’t really know what to make of us. They kept asking us where our fathers were, assuming we couldn’t possibly be old enough to do what we were doing.)

Finally, being that we were in the Schlitz Clubhouse, a Beer baron descendant saw fit to break open the industrial sized cooler in the kitchen. Yes, we drank Schlitz.

Conversation loosened (mostly a blur) and suddenly, it was two hours later and a path had been plowed. We made our way to Ric’s Chevy Blazer and set off to our small office to unpack and call it a week.

Mitch Miller was none too happy, however. He was due in St. Paul at 4pm and that wasn’t happening. No cell phones. No iPods. No laptops. No PDAs. Just Mitch and the ladies.

And he didn’t drink.

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To quote one agency maven about a recent six Flags assignment: "They had a promotion for their 45th anniversary. They wanted to give
away 45,000 tickets for opening day to drive traffic. So we got a brief
to do whatever: ads, microsite, whatever. But our interactive creative
director just went off and posted it on Craigslist. Five hours later,
45,000 tickets were spoken for.

"No photo shoot. No after-shoot drinks at Shutters," he adds, with faux
regret. Then, with somewhat less irony: "Now, the trick is, how do you
get paid?"

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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 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.

Well, we all know trends come and go, and we also know (those of us that have been around a bit) that trends are cyclical. The harsh, go-go nineties have come and gone, and now that things are settling culturally and financially, people seem to want to rediscover their roots.

That’s a healthy thing—especially in business. And telling the true stories of companies and their people is a great way to rekindle a company’s purpose and passion.

People want to belong. People want to believe. People want to work for the common good. Ignore these needs, and you have people that will substitute these needs with personal agendas, or even worse, counter-corporate agendas. They have to fill the vacuum!

We believe there is no more powerful tool than the well crafted, well documented, well produced, honest and entertaining…. VideoStory.

It’s why we changed our name a few years back. We looked at our culture, our beliefs, and our heritage, and it came down to this: We succeed most when we tell the stories of our clients in ways that make that material motivating, accessible, believable, and purposeful. People want to believe in people. They need heroes, role models and road signs. You can provide them that with the right kinds of stories.

We helped a mushrooming corporation bring its various acquisitions worldwide together in a common belief system, when we pointed out that the company’s growth could be liked to the growth of a tree. Why a tree? The company started in wooden products, developed forests, moved into paper, and moved beyond paper into products that provided many of the same functions. The company still owned and nurtured forests. A foreman in a Washington State location took us (and our cameras) on a tour, and we were able to build in logical departures that helped bring together the diverse divisions, their people, and even their local communities into an understanding of the company’s heritage and values, and the part they could play in its future.

One of the Country’s leading Marine engine manufacturers celebrated a major anniversary. Having gone from being owned and operated by the engineer that developed the company’s engines, to a division of a major international corporation, there was a disconnect between the company’s family heritage and perceived issues about the nature of corporate owners. The story of the founder, his genius, his quirks, his marketing techniques, the struggles to grow, the need for funding and the acquisition, and the public’s ongoing devotion to the product and company helped that anniversary become a true celebration—of the company’s past, it’s future, and the dedication of the current owners.

And many times, we’ve had the opportunity to show that the philosophies of the founder of a large drug store chain have been the framework for the company’s ongoing success over the course of 100 years, through new merchandising trends, health care changes, and even in the wake of amazing growth. We’ve produced documentaries, original songs, and video communications both silly and sublime to help keep the ship on course.

strong>We learn from the lessons of the past. But those lessons must be recorded, codified, visualized, and made entertaining AND meaningful. And they must be told with consistency.

That’s why we produce VideoStories. We know of no better way to convey the essence of a company, its foundations, its new directions, and the role its people play than through VideoStories distributed on the web, DVD, CD-ROM, tape, TV, the iPod, or within PowerPoint presentations. Send them in an email. Send them a DVD. Tell your dealers or your employees the story, so they get onboard and sale with their captain.

The time to tear down is over— we have to build up. It’s a nice by-product that VideoStories will positively affect performance, sales and your bottom line.

This the time for you– the corporate or institutional marketer– to stake your claim– before the noise is SO loud that you can’t make a dent in the webscape.

The rush is so complete that the video hosting sites– like Google Video, YouTube, and of course iTunes, have rapidly gone from being just outposts of silly videos to being extensions of the major networks. Which is of course, a shame for the independents. In fact, MediaPost reports that some execs are predicting that the web will be primarily network-produced content within three years. Let’s hope not.

But rather than repurposing, why don’t you b-to-b corporates create sponsored or branded programming? No one says it has to be slick, or silly. You’re not necessarily trying to gain millions of page views. Just the right people at the right time.

IDEAS:

• A Video Newsletter
• A "brought to you by" sponsored PBS-style socially conscious mini-documentary aligned with your mission
• A white paper video "how-to" that relates to your business- how to spec this, or how to analyze that. How certain types of products (which you happen to sell) can improve such and such a process and increase productivity.

The buzz IS on. Join in! Let us write a free proposal and outline some ideas for you.