The Windstream Green Truck

According to Nielsen, TV is still king. But for how long? And how many advertisers can afford a sustained TV effort? Sure viral is a niche, and social media is as well. And display is a lousy creative medium. How many people are actually watching time shifted TV online? Search holds me hostage. None of these issues are that important taken individually. When you put them all together, deal with the problems, and you look at the gross Brand Building potential, Digital becomes your # 1 communications channel. And it must be # 1, because Digital is the preferred way that people choose to consume Brand information today.

At the Concept Farm, Digital and Brand Building are one and the same. We recognize the need (and corresponding expense) for traditional media in many cases, and we do it very well. However, the rise of online video and social media has brought forth the need for Brand Building skills formerly reserved for big traditional media based efforts.

At the heart of our Digital Brand Building is the fact that people gravitate to, and spend more time with the most “likable” brands. Digital gives clients the ability to present the multiple “likable” facets to a brand that traditional advertising does not.

The greatest opportunity online to enhance your brand’s “likability” is through digital video. Online video, more than any other digital medium, creates the need for strong Brand Building strategic skills. Whenever we set out to increase a Brand’s “Likability”, we begin with research that helps us uncover the passions and aspirations at relate purchasing in the category. From these category passions and aspirations, we are able to identify Brand Insights that create differentiation and preference. But only when great creative is applied.

Windstream Communications is a great example of how passions + aspirations + insights + great creative leads to effective Digital Brand Building. Research told us what we already knew. People dislike telecoms and cable companies. Drawing on the inset that people trusted local providers much more than out-of-town carpet baggers, we leveraged the small town roots of the multiple-billion telecom operating in 17 Southern and Midwestern states. As a result, the “Green Truck” was born, providing consumers with all the connectivity to the world that they can imagine. And we’ve won every Time Warner and Cox battle that we’ve waged along the way. All because of the extreme “likability” of the brand we’ve created in a world of Digital shopping (with a hefty but shrinking TV budget).

The surging popularity of a Brand’s use of video ‘BC’ (beyond commercials) has been enabled by technology for sure, but also by the realization that video remains one of – if not the most - engaging media formats (we’ll skip the mention of irony here).

A mistake though is not the desire to do it On the cheap, but accepting poor quality and execution to make it so. Digital video means flexible. It means multi-use. It means portable. It even can mean disposable (perish the thought) but it needn’t mean bad.

A few thousand bucks could get you a good piece of video – but if done wrong you’ll end up with a piece of crap. Below are just a few things brands should remember as they embark on a video project.

See it before you see it

Articulating the vision (everything needs a vision) becomes important in getting it right. Not just the first take but the whole enchilada. Defining the story arc. Setting up key shots. All important. Make yourself a map to follow and you’ll be happy in the end (if you don’t know where you’re going any road will take you there). If doing a documentary style shoot or interview you should define the guiding questions. But also knowing when not to be too prescriptive is key. Let the story unfold naturally. Again having a plan and clear vision is critical. Clients should demand this of any agency or individual.

Lights, Cameras, Action

Cameras are evolving. Size isn’t always the innovation. New trends include the new Red camera that is relatively small yet allows for the exchange of multiple lenses that can really approximate a bigger cinematic feel (go to http://www.red.com/shot_on_red/ to see examples). On the flip-side standard SLR cameras like some Canons are used more and more – not only because they are cheap, but for the texture and saturation they add (a non advanced advancement). There are always drawbacks. These can be less stable, they don’t focus with speed and have sub-optimal audio. As a client you should understand your director’s rationale (wait, you don’t have a director?) before ok-ing any approach.

Go Tapeless

HD tape is passé. P2 cards offer flexibilty. Shoot. Preview. Erase. Repeat. Consider the cost, but this does allow more takes and experimentation without needing extra tape. Technology does bring efficiency. Longer form pieces will need plenty of memory but it is worth the investment. Note too that this has spawned a new production role focused solely on digital transfers. You need to know about these things to know if you don’t need them.

Mix before serving

As counterintuitive as it may seem, video for web actually benefits from audio mixing in post production. Inferior speakers on computers and mobile devices are precisely why the better audio mix and testing of sound levels the better the end product will be. Is your ‘video company’ aware of this?

At the Concept Farm we believe every video deserves to be ValuableVideo(tm). We encourage clients and agencies to think before you shoot to ensure every video product you make is worth more than you paid for it.

Of course this solution won’t always work, but it’s a nice reminder that sometimes bells and whistles aren’t necessary. Keeping things simple while focusing on one solid concept and polishing it to a shiny finish can really go a long way, requiring little leg work to get the message around.

Check it out: http://www.starbuckscoffeeathome.com/

I don’t find the iPad to all that remarkable, but I love the reaction it’s generating in other computing companies. It’s getting everyone to jump in and take a crack; we’re going to be seeing some great stuff in the near future. I look forward to seeing what those creative Japanese companies think of.

Considering digital marketing products in these terms should elevate the value internally. Allow for more time and yes more money for development. For brands to be to quick to consider digital marketing components as disposable in some way will only lead to a consumer engagement that is ultimately worth little or nothing at all.

Intriguing speech by child prodigy Adora Svitak saying the world needs childlike thinking, including bold thinking, extreme creativity, and optimism. Adults should be willing to learn from children as much as they teach them.

However, that has been changed. Comcast challenged the initial order, and  this Tuesday a federal appeals court ruled that the F.C.C. does not have the power to order broadband providers to give equal treatment to all web content. This was in relation to the BitTorrent deal, but has serious implications regarding pretty much all things internet. What was once a level field (more or less) can now be manipulated at the whim of the internet provider.