>>> Online video is in front of the viewer longer...a one page ad may be skipped over in a magazine, but a good video will be watched for much longer
>>> Online videos remain accessible indefinitely...a magazine goes in the trash can in short order while an online video remains online for years.
>>> Online videos allow you to be cross referenced by people who were probably not looking for your goods or services. It reaches new audiences...globally.
>>> An online video will almost always cost you less than a full page ad in your “targeted” consumer magazines.
>>> An online video is a solid way to build an image for your brand.
If a picture says a thousand words, than a video says a million.
All that said, there are two types of videos:
Product/Service information
Viral (aka fun) videos
“Product/Service information” applies to all videos where a company is trying to communicate a message about their goods or services, what they do, how good they are, etc.
The strongest format for this video is a simple recipe:
Tell them what you’re going to tell them;
Then tell them;
The tell them what you just told them.
And for the love of god, keep it brief. Anything more than 1 minute :30 seconds and you’ll be losing people in droves, unless there’s a spectacular payoff at the end of the video.
I once had a client who had a polishing company. I went to his location to film and he wanted to literally stand in front of the camera and polish some old jalopey for 20 minutes and he wanted every second of it on camera.
I politely advised the client against this and when he was adamant, I suggested that he would be better served by another production group. I don’t how much you’re into cars...no one wants to watch a person wax a car for 20 minutes unless it’s a girl and she’s naked.
He did it anyway: BAD VIDEO
Not only did he use the footage I shot without paying, he had another videographer capture it incorrectly, compress it incorrectly and then output it incorrectly. Considering this guy wanted to show how good a car’s finish looks with his product, the comedy here is that you can’t even see the paint because of the resolution of this video. Keep in mind that it was filmed in EXACTLY the same resolution as my other videos.
If I haven’t been clear, KEEP IT SIMPLE.
My more successful Product/Service information videos are my Legal Videos. Perhaps my favorite is the Kuvara video. We basically said the same thing 5 times: “the client comes first.” Everything else reinforced that message with a heartfelt approach. That video is currently being turned into a television commercial.
Kuvara Testimonial from thinkAlchemy on Vimeo.
VIral Videos
Perhaps the strongest and certainly my favorite is the viral video.
The client’s goal here should be simple:
Showcase my product to its target audience in a subtle way....build a video that is entertaining FIRST with subtle placement of logos/product/brand integration.
This is called “building an image.” It is the basic precept of every major sports, beverage, automotive, apparel and music company on the Planet.
Viral videos are like sitcoms: you have to build a story, a plot or message and then provide the payoff at the end.
Once you’ve decided which type of video is right for your company, the next step is contacting us.