5 Deadly Sins of Business Video Storytelling

I stumbled across an interesting article on the American Express Open Forum this week. “7 Deadly Sins of Business Storytelling” was written by authors Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith. The article got me to thinking about the biggest mistakes companies make when presenting their company story on video. To borrow a page from Aaker and Smith, let’s call this list “5 Deadly Sins of Business Video Storytelling.”

1) Too long: Just because your annual report takes up 50 pages of paper does not mean the video that introduces your company to the world should be 10 minutes long. Feel free to leave out some facts and figures. If you make your story compelling and tell it concisely, you will leave your viewers wanting to know more.

2) Boring: Video is an engaging medium. Too often companies create videos that feature the CEO looking directly into the camera painfully reciting some kind of corporate mission statement. Think visually.

3) Missing people: The best stories involve real people. So do the best videos. Seek out interesting employees or customers who have benefitted from your product or service. Satisfied customers are a great resource. Make them part of your story.

4) No clear goal: Before creating a company video, you need to determine what you want it to accomplish. You can’t wait until the day the camera shows up at your office to decide who you are trying to reach. Knowing the end goal will help you develop the right kind of story.

5) Poor quality: How many videos have you seen where the production values don’t match the image of the company? There’s nothing wrong with shooting your family vacation on a home video camera. But it makes little sense to try to save money by doing the same thing with the video that you put on your company’s website. There’s a formula we live by in the video business:

Bad Lighting + Bad Sound + No Tripod = Unwatchable Video

To put your best foot forward and avoid these deadly sins, you need to invest in a professional production team like ours at Point Across Media.

Storytelling During the Super Bowl

For the millions of people watching Super Bowl XLV on television, the game provided all kinds of storylines. So did the commercials. As a visual storyteller, I watched the commercials looking for the best job of storytelling during the Super Bowl.

It is easy to find opinions about the commercials, from professionals in the world of advertising to viewers who rank them for USA Today. Many people admit they watch the Super Bowl more for the commercials than the game itself.

You can divide this year’s ads into two categories: humorous and dramatic. The one I've chosen for best in storytelling falls into both categories.



The Budweiser “Wild West” commercial is one minute long, but notice how there’s not a spoken word until almost 20 seconds into the spot. Sound plays an important role in this commercial. The jingle of spurs…the pounding of the Clydesdales’ hooves… the powerful music…all set the tone for an Old West saloon fight.

Then comes the element of surprise. Did you really expect the cowboy to start singing? The predictable outcome would’ve had the cowboy shooting his gun, not turning the saloon into a giant karaoke bar.

All good stories have an identifiable beginning, middle and end. Most commercials aren’t really stories. They just try to capture your attention and promote a product. There’s nothing wrong with that. But telling a story is a great way to make a product memorable. In my opinion, Budweiser won out for best storytelling during the Super Bowl.

Do you think any stories stood out among this year’s Super Bowl commercials?