Parc Entertainment - A Video Production Company - Birmingham, AL

It’s interesting to sit back and watch the ebb and flow of the marketplace. Regardless of your industry, markets will inevitably undergo various shifts and changes. Video production is no different. The way in which the public consumes video content is much different now than it was seven years ago. DVRs, video hosting sites, smartphones, the iPad, etc. have all contributed to this changing trend.

As a result, video producers have had to rethink how the content is created. Now, viewers want fresh content on a regular basis. They want something that feels authentic. They want businesses to converse WITH them, not sell TO them. They want valuable content that proves helpful in their own personal and professional pursuits. This change in viewer tastes means that businesses need to produce video content regularly, which is a good thing for a video production business. But it also means that businesses can’t afford to spend too much on each video. I’ve worked on a great number of video projects that involve three to six weeks of pre-production (research, pre-interviews, creative strategy sessions, script writing, etc.), five days of shooting, and up to sixty hours of post. This kind of video still has its place, but what about a client who is interested in producing a video podcast, or a quick online welcome video, or a product demonstration, or a testimonial video?

As a result of this shifting trend, we have developed a series of corporate video packages that are designed for the business interested in updating their video content on a regular basis. The packages are attractive and affordable, but most importantly, they maintain high production standards. If you’re interested in learning more, there are several ways to get in touch with us. You can leave a comment here, follow us on Twitter, become our fan on Facebook, or sign up for our free monthly e-newsletter.

Related articles by Zemanta

• 5 Qualities of Successful Online Videos (entrepreneur.com)

This is probably how it happened: Thousands of years ago some cattle owners were watching their cows graze in the fields when suddenly, cows from another herd wandered over and got mixed up with all the other cows. Confusion and chaos soon followed, because the cattle owners had no way of differentiating one cow from another. All the cows looked similar. No single cow stood out from the herd. In an effort to alleviate this problem, one wise individual decided that the best course of action would be to mark his cows in some distinctive way. Thus, the tradition of branding livestock was born.

Is it any wonder that we use the same word (brand) to refer to a company’s identity as well as the burn mark on the backside of a cow? If you are involved in marketing. there are some important lessons to be learned from the process of cattle branding.

1. THE BRAND MUST BE UNIQUE. Sure, the letter “T” or “X” could be used as a mark to brand cattle, but it wouldn’t be very distinctive. It would be easy for other cattle owners to copy your brand, mark their own cattle with it, and then claim your cows as their very own. Livestock owners understand that in selecting their brand, they must find something different; something no one else has; something meaningful; something that is reflective of themselves in someway. Is your company identity something distinctive? Does your brand stand out from the others? Or is it easily copied?
2. THE BRAND INDICATES OWNERSHIP. The reason why a rancher brands his livestock is so that others will know to whom that animal belongs. All anyone has to do in order to determine ownership is to look at that symbol. When you build up a brand, your company takes ownership. The executives, administrators, sales people, customer support staff, etc. are all part owners. When the public sees your company’s brand, do they know immediately who owns it? Are you building a brand with great visibility?
3. THE BRAND IS PERMANENT. Once that brand is burned onto the livestock’s skin, it’s there to stay. It’s a permanent symbol defining ownership. Remember, that once the public develops a certain attitude or position toward your company, that brand may be hard to change. Your brand is your company’s identity. It defines who you are, and often, it is defined by how people perceive you. What are you doing to help increase positive perception toward your brand?

You’re a marketer. You might not be in the marketing industry, but make no mistake - you’re a marketer. That means you have a product/service/business/website/hobby/book/movie/etc. that you want to tell people about. And you want those people to jump on the bandwagon. So, what’s the best way to go about it? How do you persuade people to get on board? You have to have passion , and your audience has to feel that excitement. Only then will they be more willing to say “yes” to your offer.

Consider this: You go to the movie theatre one night to catch the opening night of Hollywood’s latest film. It’s outstanding. You exit the theatre completely blown away by what you’ve just seen. Now, what do you do the following day? You tell people about it. But you just don’t tell them. You re-live it. The excitement you felt in the theatre is conveyed in the way you describe the movie to your friends.

Now, translate this to business: When marketing a product or service, you need to communicate that same kind of excitement. However, your energy needs to be focused on your potential client, not on you, your business, or your service. When I go into meetings with a potential client to discuss a video project, I don’t spend time talking about how great our cameras are, how beautiful our images are, or how state-of-the-art our editing system is. When I go into a meeting, I want to learn more about my contact’s business. I want to hear about their goals. I want to show them that I am genuinely excited about their company. I am there because I feel as though our video production services can help them with their marketing efforts.

Your attitude needs to be the same. Be interested in your client. Get excited about their business. Only then will you be able to communicate effectively how your product or service can help. Then, when discussions shift to the price of your product or service, your lead will be more inclined to buy from you, even if your prices are higher than your competitor. Why? Because you have shown a genuine interest in who they are and what they’re all about. The old saying is true, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

I hardly listen to the radio anymore. Since purchasing my iPhone about 18 months ago, I spend my time listening to podcasts centered on the specific topics that interest me. A friend and I tried our hands at podcasting several months ago, but the effort quickly fizzled because we really didn’t have much of a strategy before diving into the deep end. However, now that Parc Entertainment is transitioning into Red Fox Media, I am going to give podcasting another go. I am currently working on developing a format and a strategy, so that this venture won’t drift as aimlessly as the last one.

I’m curious to know how many of you currently host a podcast. Why did you start podcasting? What results have you seen from your efforts? What lessons have you learned? One of the shows I listen to is the Internet Marketing Podcast. A recent episode centered on podcasting and featured an interview with Cliff Ravenscraft, one of the web’s leading authorities on podcasting. He offered some great insights on why podcasting is important and how it can be used to build a brand.

What thrills me about the age in which we live is that there are so many resources now available to marketers that can help build an audience. Social media, online video, podcasting, blogging, e-newsletters - in essence these tools have leveled the playing field somewhat, allowing the smallest of businesses to be heard. But one of the main lessons to take away from my brief foray into podcasting thus far is this - regardless of the medium, a successful marketing campaign is based on a solid, pre-produced strategy. You need to know what your goals are going in. You need to know what it is you want to say. Otherwise, the greatest marketing tools will not be able to help you build your brand.

With that in mind, what are some of your favorite marketing tools? What tactics have proven most successful to your business?

Experts agree - online video will continue its growth over the next several years as consumption of video content continues to increase. In this video from Beet.TV, Jeff Cole, director of USC’s Center for the Digital Future, predicts that people will soon be spending up to 50 hours per week watching video. This rise (up from only 16 hours in 1975), will be due to the popularity of mobile video. This presents an incredible opportunity for advertisers and marketers, who will be able to use video to reach their audience while consumers are outside the home. This is TV without borders.

The question, however, is on the content itself. Where do you see the trend heading? Do you foresee an audience willing to watch 30 or 60-minute shows on their mobile devices, like Cole predicts? Or, do you you predict that the trend will continue to favor shorter, easily consumable 2-3 minute clips?

In regards to advertisers and marketers, what direction do you see video taking? Will production quality give way to production quantity? In other words, is it more important for advertisers to churn out as much video content as quickly as possible? Or, should they take their time with crafting and creating a well-polished, well-produced marketing video that has a longer shelf life?

DishyMix is a podcast in which host Susan Bratton interviews well-known media, internet, and marketing executives. The goal is to provide listeners with insights on how to better market themselves and their brands by taking advantage of the philosophies and tools provided by Susan and her guests.

I was listening to episode 137 recently (follow the link to listen or to read the full transcript) and heard a comment that caught my attention. In the episode, Susan interviews Jim Kukral, a speaker, author, consultant, coach on all things business and marketing. He was on the show to promote his book, Attention, This Book Will Make You Money. Read the following segment of the transcript where Jim talks about the topic of motivation (emphasis added):

Jim Kukral: Motivation; well, you know, I’m kind of a different perspective guy. I know that there’s a lot of people who will tell you to go out and do step by step by step stuff, and I’m a big believer in you just have to go out and try and really fail. You really got to go out and fail. And it’s more important than ever in the internet business, is going out and failing as many times as you possibly can.

Susan Bratton: Yeah, fail and optimize, right?

Jim Kukral: Yeah. I mean there’s so much forgiveness out there right now, you know, in the internet marketing space. YouTube, I’ll give you YouTube for example. I mean YouTube has transformed the way that we are okay with videos now. Before YouTube came along everyone had, you thought you had to have this really nice pre-produced, you know, post production video that was very beautiful. Now it’s kind of like, you look at videos like that you’re kind of like “Ugh.”

Susan Bratton: It’s inauthentic now.

Jim Kukral: It is. And, you know, so it’s okay to make poor quality video now. It’s okay to go out and build a website or a blog or do something that’s not completely perfect, and this economy and everything that we’re, the technology that’s coming out is allowing people to be able to go out there and put stuff out there. So if you want to get motivated you got to go out there and actually just really try it.

In its full context, Jim is advocating that entrepreneurs, inventors, small business owners, etc. not be afraid to step out and take risks; that it’s important to try, even if it doesn’t come out quite right; even if it isn’t perfect. He then goes on to say that it’s acceptable to create a poor quality video in today’s market, because it translates into “authenticity.”

So, I’m going to leave this one open for discussion. I would love to hear your thoughts. Here are some things to consider:

• Do you agree or disagree with Jim’s assessment?
• Do you feel that it’s okay for a business to create a poor quality marketing video?
• When you see a brand with a poor quality video, what is your immediate reaction?
• Should companies start creating lesser quality videos because it makes them look more authentic?
• What does this mean long-term for video producers?

A disconnect now exists between advertisers and consumers. People don’t like being interrupted by hard-sell advertising messages. They don’t like the idea of being “talked to.” They would rather be “talked with.” They crave conversation and engagement. The old rules of broadcasting to large audiences are slowly giving away to “small”-casting; that is, carving specific messages for a niche audience. For example, a few years ago I shot a video for a hospital. Rather than create a broad overview commercial for use on television, they specifically targeted those interested in nursing. They launched a microsite for their recruitment campaign and placed several short videos throughout. Each video featured a nurse from a specific area of the hospital talking on camera about his/her discipline. The nurse also spoke about the surrounding community - its social scene and nightlife. The campaign was successful because it spoke directly to a niche group. The videos used terminology the audience could understand. And it didn’t interrupt them with a hard sell. The following video humorously illustrates the current relationship between advertisers and consumers. The challenge for marketers is to adapt to this growing change in the way products and services are advertised.

Knowing how much to spend on advertising is a struggle all businesses deal with - especially during a recession. When economic times are lean, the gut reaction is to jettison all the weight you deem “unnecessary,” batten down the hatches, huddle together with your staff, and pray for daylight. In the long run, however, how will that strategy help your business? Sure, you may weather the storm, but when you come out safe on the other side, you may find that your competitors have taken a huge lead in the marketplace. How come? Because while you were hiding in your office, they were still out there in front of the public, maintaining their visibility.

A.G. Lafley, former CEO of Procter & Gamble, said, “I think it’s more essential to innovate through a recession, and certainly what we are trying to do at P&G is to continue to bring sustaining and even disruptive new brands and products for our consumers, to make their lives better, to offer them a little more value.”

Professor Andrew J. Razeghi of Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University said, “Moments of economic turbulence provide the unique opportunity to start new businesses, launch disruptive new products, and strengthen customer loyalty - often at a discount.” Razeghi has a great presentation entitled, “Innovating Through Recession.” You can read it in its entirety here.

Or consider this statistic from a McGraw Hill study that surveyed over 600 businesses: In the 1981-1982 recession, businesses that cut advertising spending, increased their sales 19%. Businesses that continued to spend on advertising increased their sales 275%.

The key difference between those who continued to spend money on advertising and those who didn’t is visibility. Businesses who continued to advertise were in a better position once the recession ended. They were in the forefront of the customer’s mind when he/she was ready to buy. Make the word “visibility” your motto this year. Get out in front of your customers. Advertise. Market your business. Strive to be the first company people think of when they are ready to buy.

Related Article:

Grab the Market While the Competition Makes Cuts

While watching a recent episode of the New Minute Minute from Daisy Whitney, I was treated to this little nugget of information. According to eMarketer, online advertisers are spending more and more money on video, versus any other format. The chart below details the advertising spending growth (in percentages) for various online formats from 2008-2014. As you can see, advertisers definitely favor online video. Look at the statistic for 2009. Advertisers spent 20 times more money in video than in Search, which is ranked second. And the amount of spending growth for online video is expected to remain a favorite format for advertisers through 2014.

Here are a few things we can take away from these statistics:

• Utilizing video for your online presence is a necessity in today’s market
• Video has impact
• Video is an effective communication tool
• Your competition is using video
• The use of video is one of the best ways you can gain an audience and improve your bottom line.

On this blog I have often talked about the importance of good visuals to drive your story. When done properly, an ad or marketing video can convey all necessary information simply through the visuals. Take Google for example. They recently launched a series of short videos to introduce people to their browser, Chrome. The ads are remarkable and they get their point across without any narration or any spokesperson going down through a checklist of benefits. They use a series of attention-grabbing visuals that gradually shift throughout the course of each video, changing your perspective of the scene. They leverage the limitations of two-dimensional space to create some pretty cool optical illusions. And each effect used in the video is practical - no CGI. What do you think?