To Flip or Not to Flip

The Flip camera is a great piece of technology. It’s small, easy to use and allows just about anyone to shoot good quality video. And it’s fairly cheap. All of these qualities are exactly the reason many video producers fear Flip is going to run them out of business. It follows the basic theory: “Why hire someone else to do something you can do yourself?”

I look at this from the other side. Technology like the Flip camera encourages more companies to jump on the video bandwagon. Video is a powerful medium to get your point across that you can use in many different ways. As companies embrace the video revolution, marketing directors are increasingly aware of when to call on a professional versus using their own Flip.

Look at IBM. Video is a large part of Big Blue’s internal and external communications. The company is now producing much of its own content, but still brings in outside video production services for bigger projects like customer case studies.

I used to cringe at the idea of "novices" creating their own company videos. What I've found is that appreciation for professional visual storytelling is stronger than ever in the marketing world since Flip showed up on the scene.