Whitney Greer

Laptop cameras, Flip video cams, and cheap editing services like Pixability are fueling Youtube-itis and a rash of bad videos.  Often, the propagators of these unwatchable videos are  well-intentioned executives who think an unedited 10-minute sales speech, or an in-office interview somehow supports marketing. Included below are a few tips and examples direct from my entertainment [...]Read More »

Laptop cameras, Flip video cams, and cheap editing services like Pixability are fueling Youtube-itis and a rash of bad videos.  Often, the propagators of these unwatchable videos are  well-intentioned executives who think an unedited 10-minute sales speech, or an in-office interview somehow supports marketing.
Included below are a few tips and examples direct from my entertainment industry colleagues, who cover directing, network marketing and production.

Go for Surprise
When it comes to television, predictability is deadly.   At this year’s Reelscreen conference, reality network producers sang the same theme song – Give us something we haven’t seen before.  Companies and organizations can follow this advice (and some already are) by:

Showing  us behind the scenes (think of the show How It’s Made),

Focusing on a moment we wouldn’t see without the camera http://www.cincinnatizoo.org/,

Offering a twist on an old format, like this video of an intern interviews Deloitte’s CEO http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=143271566506 , or

Sharing an emotional or humorous moment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InWWHKsG8bg&feature=related.  This last one from Cisco is a well-written crack-up.

Streamline
According to Lori Chee, EVP of several mobile marketing start-ups and previous MTV executive, “People try to pack too much into a video.  A minute can seem like forever. Pick your most important message and limit the number of concepts or themes you want to get across and the piece will be much stronger.”

Keep It Short
Before the video boom, companies could get away with a five minute video.  However, a minute is the new five according to Director Brian Scott (also one of the talented actors in the Cisco video).  He recommends no more than 1 ½ minutes in today’s competitive viewer environment.  Unless you’re showing a demo, an amazing speaker (a la Ted Conference level), or offering education to a captive audience, anything longer is too long. 

There’s more about aligning video with branding, social media strategies and calls-to-action, but in the spirit of short is better, we’ll stick with the showbiz advice, of leaving the audience begging for more.