Is corporate video relevant today and how ?

[Tim Wilson]

[Mike Cohen] “Here are some examples of corporate work I have done just in the past year:”

Well there you go. The issue of the magazine I just mentioned has a GREAT article by Mike in it. I only left it out because I was thinking of the videos his company sells to doctors — a commercial video project rather than corporate. I was thinking much too small….

…which is often the case. As I say in my introduction to that issue, anyone looking for the widest opportunity, the best client relationships, and quite often the biggest paydays when compared to broadcast and traditional post — corporate is the way to go.

Thanks for the reminder, Mike!

[Mark Suszko]

Excellent posts.

If I could add a little coda, it would be this:

The guy complaining about “fluff” is RIGHT. There are some videos that should not be made. I have at times told clients to their face that while I could produce the video they were asking for, my professional opinion was that video was not the best fit for their actual needs. If you’re asking to tape a guy reading his powerpoint slides to a camera, you don’t need a video of that. I don’t want to take your money to do that; all it does is hurt the reputation of what we do and me for enabling the abuse. Plus, its actually LESS effective an d even counter-productive, if it insults the audience. They can read the slides fine without being read to.

You could email the slides to everybody for no cost and be done with it.

Morley’s book has a lot of great stuff about this issue, a lot of stats and examples, so if you’re looking to hand some skeptic an info-grenade of stats and what-fors, I’d recommend my friend John’s book.

The skeptic that started this thread probably had a bad experience with a video that lacked a focus and a purpose, or was otherwise poorly executed. Bad product is out there, no question. Inexperienced people make bad videos every day, then blame the video for the bad job.

Don’t be afraid to tell a client that you have their best interest at heart when you tell them why the proposal * in its current state* is not going to be effective. Suggest better alternatives, and generally, they will respect your honesty as a craftsman. Of course you need to be exceptionally diplomatic about this, and not everyone is always in a position to question an order, even a bad one. But where you DO have the room to have some input, for the greater success of everyone, don;t you owe it to everyone to explain that video is better for some things and “ancillary” media is better for others. This is part of the job of being a communications professional.

[Tim Kolb]

[Mark Alexander] “Maybe having some “statistics” at hand could helpful when pitching to a fence sitting prospect.”

Hmmmm…statistics.

How about the fact that the average newspaper in this country designed for general readership needs to maintain about a 5th grade reading level so that most readers actually understand most of it…

Lay a corporate brochure on that crowd…

Print still has its applications…it is media that doesn’t need a playback device and it can be viewed almost anywhere and accessed non-linearly. Putting your extensive product catalog together as a linear video would be stupid.

However, for most messages, I think the trend is clear…corporations are using lots and lots of video.

I think you could tell your corporate guy who only needs brochures that the telegraph company and the steamship lines are no longer the world’s corporate elite…

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

[Grinner Hester]

Big companies have to spend money much more than they have to communicate.
troof.
When I colect a five-figure check for a company for a video seen by less than 100 people, I in no way think this was worth the cost to them as far as a video. They had budgets to empty so they will be approved to waiste the same amount of money next year. Morover, when board members ask what’s been done about this or that… this is what corporate video is for.

You ever watch suits no involved in the production actually watch a corporate video you made?

yeah. me either.

This is a fine example of our entire working system as a society. Never have we as a group done the best we could do to chaive the best results. As american workers, we get away with what we can, do as little as possible and leave as early as we can. We could use common sense and see a mass email could get everyone on the same page but we’ll sooner fork out 20k on a horribly boring DVD watched by all of 12 people, incuding the so-called producers’ wives.

Nobody sees more money waisted than me in my seat, looking at the boggest company in my area (as my biggest client) everyday. The more budget restrictions they recieve, the more reckless the money is spent. I’m not talking about intentional padding here either. I’m talking 4 people to make a ppt presentation that can’t be used in a video type of thing. These are not novices who don’t know legalities of broadcast. These are seemingly sane adults who have worked in this industry for decades but have managed to fake their way through it to the point their superiors, who are faking their way to the top as well, are not even aware of the BS around them.
Bosses hire friends. The friends hire the artists. The artists do the work and the friends collect the kudos.
This is the corporate world.

[Bill Davis]

Wow you guys make this really complicated. When I think it’s actually simple at it’s fundamental level..

Money gets exchanged between human beings for one purpose and one purpose ONLY.

A person has a problem.

Followed by the belief that giving someone else some of their money will help them achieve a SOLUTION to that problem.

That’s IT. Period. That’s why we pay for anything. Including why companies pay us to make them videos.

It’s starts with the perception of a problem. “Our people are messing up too much, we should train them better so they won’t.” “Our sales are down – we need to drive more sales” “This group of musicians see themselves as potentially “great” and see it as a problem that the world at large has yet to discover their greatness and come to agree with them” The bride and family are spending a fortune on this party and NEVER want to forget these “special moments.”

All problems.

And actually all represent the most common type of human problem. COMMUNICATIONS problems!

And YIPPIE! we all have spent our careers studying how to COMMUNICATE using what is probably the most powerful communication technology the world has ever seen. Video. Why? Because it combines all the most effective learning modalities (Ok, except experiential) into a simple, universal portable package. Sweet!

My thinking is clear and simple now. I have mastered a tool that can let me effectively help people solve their communications problems. IF – (and I think THIS is the central reality of why one video producer does better than another) IF they will allow me to get close enough to learn what their actual problems are and if they will allow me to PARTNER with them to solve those problems.

I don’t even think of myself any longer as actually making videos. I think of myself as using videos to solve problems for my clients. Hopefully problems that are worth as much money as possible.

Heck, want to get somebody to pay you a MILLION BUCKS to make them a video? Not that difficult in concept. Get them to trust you enough to show you a business problem costing them TEN million bucks – one that you can actually solve through the effective use of video.

Fundamentally, if YOU were the decision maker, wouldn’t YOU pay someone $1 million if you were convinced that by doing so you have a great chance to save $9 Million?

Simple good business.

Relationship maintenance and trust – when combined with technical experience and judgement – these are the ingredients of being allowed to take on bigger communications problems for bigger companies.

Essentially, to be allowed to uses your videos to help clients solve bigger problems.

I think the rest of what’s being discussed here is relatively marginal.

So, sorry, Ginner, but I’ve got to disagree to a large degree. That corporate type MIGHT be trying to dump cash to secure next years budget – and you can’t stop thinking about things at that level – take the check – and run. But don’t be surprised if eventually that stream of cash STOPS. Because you’re taking money but solving no (or minor) problems and therefore providing poor value.

I’d rather figure out how to help the client USE that budget to solve a real problem for the company – and condition them to think about ME the next time the company has another problem.

Because trust me – in these times, the one thing companies will NEVER run short of are problems.

My 2 cent’s anyway.

[Grinner Hester]

Oh it stops. I’m just saying it’s frustrating to watch why it’ll stop later on as it’s happening in real time.
I’m not gripin’. I make a fine living off of companies spending recklessly. I usually make videos for em on how to streamline the operation, ironicly.
lol
For such a video… one that can be made by one dude in one day… I may recieve elements after a team of three or more who have dinked with these elements for daze on end. You know the drill after that. The editor ses the final product in his head as the elements are introduced and budget is layed out. Then he sits and oppeases as people, usually with no backgraound in our field, delay things with discussion on every edit. The smile he carries as he oppeases is because he get’s paid by the hour. So by in large, do I get paid to edit or to oppease?
Man, the only time I’m really editing is when I’m left alone to do it. This does not make me an old burned out editor… just weathered enough to say such a thing out loud.

[Bob Zelin]

Mark Alexander writes –
“The other day I had a very successful business person tell me that video was all “fluff” and not necessary in the corporate world”.

REPLY (and this goes to the few of you that agree with this statement) –
I just watched a corporate video, from a company that is related to our industry –

https://blackmagic-design.com/products/videohub/
and click on WATCH VIDEO.

NOW, is this a waste of time and money, or is it a VERY worthwhile corporate video tailored specifically to our industry. I saw the product at NAB, I spoke to the sales people, I read the on line “printed” brochure, AND I read the .pdf installation and operations manual. But watching this great simple video convinced me that some of my clients NEED this product. This corporate video worked on ME.

Now, is this “fluff” – or is this “worth the money”.

Bob Zelin

[Grinner Hester]

Propaganda is often worth the money. When I think of corporate video, I think of “how much we rule” and “what you can do to help make us rule more.”
I guess in the end, it’s all like a movie and all in what the viewer believes or tunes in to.
The question being is coporate video relevant, I believe lies in the quation. How many of ya perked up ready to watch examples?

If wanting to relay a corporate message, man, I soooner relay it than make a video. lol

[Kris Simmons]

I love this one! I’ve found over the years that one of the best ways to convince a successful business person that video is worth looking in to is to tell them about a video project we produced for one of their major competitors or for another well known company in the area.

Business man: “I think all corporate videos are fluff and not worth the money required to produce them.”

Me: “Well, that may be true but we help xyz competitor use videos to train their sales force on how to sell their most expensive products. Since we’ve been developed the video program for them, sales have been up 23%. How do you train your sales team?”

Business man: “Well, we have orientation when they join our sales team and we provide every sales person with product brochures and technical specs.”

Me: “Is that working for you? I’d be glad to show you a few sections from XYZ’s training video if you are interested.”

This either results in major interest which leads to a personal meeting to show the sample or it leads to exchanging business cards and sending them the sample anyway.

This tactic doesn’t always work to generate new business but I’ve had a lot of success with it.

I learned a long time ago that if you have to educate a corporate client on the benefits of using video, they aren’t going to be a profitable client. Corporations that understand video are willing to spend more per project and usually make videos a major part of their overall communications strategy.

These are my favorite clients and definitely result in the most profit for my video agency.

Kristopher G. Simmons
https://www.MindYourVideoBusiness.com
https://blog.mindyourvideobusiness.com

[Tim Kolb]

[Bill Davis] “Wow you guys make this really complicated. When I think it’s actually simple at it’s fundamental level..

Money gets exchanged between human beings for one purpose and one purpose ONLY.

A person has a problem.”

I think it’s also possible to over-simplify however…

Communication is far from limited to video, or related techniques…print is far from dead…person-to-person communication is out there and still viable, etc.

I’m quite sure the person who said that “video is dead” was not saying communication is dead. It is the medium that’s being discussed, not the viability of communication or problem-solving…

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,