Point Across Media Wins 2 Videographer Awards

 

 

There’s nothing like a little praise for your work, regardless of what you do. And when you receive recognition from an independent group in your field, it’s even better.

Two of our healthcare-related projects have been honored with 2012 Videographer Awards of Distinction. Physician profile videos we created for Franciscan Health System won awards in the Medical: Product/Service and Marketing categories.

Check out one of the award winning videos, a profile of a pediatrician from University Place. So far we’ve produced more than 100 similar short videos for the find-a-doctor portal on Franciscan’s website.

 

The Videographer Awards identify and recognize the best work in the video industry. This year’s winners were selected from among 1,600 international entries. The Videographer Awards competition is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals.

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.

Stories Are Gifts to Starbucks

When I walked into my local Starbucks for a morning latte the other day, I was greeted by three simple words on the front door: Stories Are Gifts. Since storytelling is the main focus of our business at Point Across Media, I was curious to see how stories fit in at Starbucks.

“Stories Are Gifts” is the slogan for Starbucks’ holiday marketing campaign. The company is giving customers the opportunity to share their own stories on the Starbucks website or Facebook fan page.

The most visible symbol of the holidays at Starbucks is the red drink cup. Daniele Monti, the director of the creative design team at Starbucks, wrote on the company’s Ideas in Action blog about how stories fit into the look of this season’s red holiday cups.

“This year, we were inspired by the idea of people sharing their own stories and experiences to create the holidays at Starbucks. We used deco-inspired illustrations to create scenes that are open to the interpretation of the viewer – playful interactions between a cast of characters. The idea is to let people fill in the blank and make it their own story. And through all of our shared stories, the holiday spirit is brought to life.”

“Make it their own story” fits right into Starbucks’ success formula. The company is out to make each visit and each cup of coffee a personal experience.

All businesses can take a page from Starbucks. Think about the story your customers would write about their experience with you. Then don’t be afraid to include those unique stories in your own marketing efforts.

A Tale of Two Stories: Product Business vs. Service Business

A new online article from Inc. Magazine offers suggestions on how to turn a service business into a product business. The article got me to thinking about the stories these two different kinds of businesses tell to gain more customers.

Product You Can Touch

Let’s start with the product business. Say Company X develops a “Super Product.” Something we can’t live without…something that makes us happy…something to improve the quality of our lives. The key point is the Super Product is a thing. Consumers relate to the Super Product because they can hold it in their hands.

It is a simple story to tell. The marketing team at Company X creates a campaign around the benefits of the Super Product. When our team at Point Across Media produces videos for companies that make products, we show plenty of happy people using the product.

Service Is About Relationships

The service business story is different. Company Y offers a service to help you. Like the Super Product, Company Y’s service is designed to make your life easier or better. But when you hire someone to provide a service, you are hiring a person.

Service businesses sell relationships. Testimonials from satisfied customers are especially effective for marketing a service business. Videos for companies that provide a service are built around their customers. We usually feature real people who benefit from the service.

Video is an effective marketing tool for both product and service based businesses. Video lets potential customers experience your company. Showing customers using your product or hearing customers rave about your service is a great way to grow your business.

Business Video of the Week: Xerox, Speed and Ducati

Each week the team at Point Across Media will feature a business video that excels in the art of visual storytelling. This week we tip our hat to the folks at Xerox. As part of its “Ready for Real Business” marketing campaign, Xerox produced video case studies on some of its customers.

Out For Speed

The video showcasing Xerox’s relationship with Ducati is exceptionally well done. The Italian motorcycle manufacturer is known for building high performance machines that go really fast. Xerox plays up the speed element while highlighting how it improves the efficiency of Ducati’s business.



Telling a Story

While the Xerox-Ducati video is entertaining, what makes it effective is that it tells a powerful story in only two minutes. Xerox’s solutions to the business challenges faced by Ducati are prominently featured in the video.

Congratulations to Xerox, winner of our Business Video of the Week Award for this week. We look forward to bringing you more examples of companies who take video to a higher level.

Weaving Surprise Into Your Company Story



Celtics Soccer 2010


I had the privilege of coaching my son’s second grade soccer team this season. You can learn at lot from seven and eight year old boys. For instance, one of the parents was responsible for providing a team snack at the end of every game. Even though the boys always knew the snack was coming, they were surprised every time we handed them out.

Why? Because the team never knew what kind of treat it was going to get. Sure, the moment was predictable. Only the outcome was not. That’s why the boys reacted with excitement when it came time to receive their snack.

You can use the same idea when you are putting together the unique story of your company. Start by making a list of the key details you want a prospective customer to know about you. Try answering questions like these:

• Why did you start your business?
• Who does your business or product help?
• What makes you different from your competition?
• How does your product or service work?

When we produce your story into a video, we look for “nuggets” of information in your answers to these kinds of questions. Our expertise at Point Across Media is taking the points that stand out and weaving them into a visual story that will move your audience to action.

Most businesses will think there’s nothing surprising to their story. Every company started somewhere and has some way to separate it from its competitors. Only just like our soccer team discovering the snack at the end of every game, the surprise is in the details.

Turn Your Video Upside Down with the Inverted Pyramid

One of the first things I was taught as a student at the nationally respected University of Missouri School of Journalism was the theory of the inverted pyramid. The “inverted pyramid” is a style of writing news stories. The idea is simple: the most important details are put at the top of the story with the least important information funneled to the bottom of the story.

Popular in Newspapers

The inverted pyramid was most useful to newspaper editors. In laying out the paper, editors would sometimes need to cut the length of stories submitted by reporters. The editor knew he or she could slice the last paragraph or two and not take away a key piece of the story. Reporters quickly learned the higher up they wrote something in the story, the better chance it wouldn’t get edited out.


Works for Video

The inverted pyramid is also a good way of thinking when producing a visual story for your business. When you sit down to lay out the reasons that make you or your service unique, rank them in order of importance. You will discover the ones at the bottom of the list may not need to make the cut.

Remember you only have a few seconds to capture a viewer’s attention. What if someone doesn’t watch your whole video? If you wait until the very end to give your strongest message, there’s a good chance much of your target audience will never see it.


Look for a Journalist

Understanding the inverted pyramid is one reason why it makes sense to hire someone who comes from broadcast journalism to produce your video. Journalists are trained to tell stories. Our team at Point Across Media is made up of experienced broadcast journalists. We know to how to combine words with visuals to create a story that highlights the most important facts about your company. The end goal is to grow your business. Video does that by telling your story in way no other medium can.

Including Passion in Your Video Message

Nothing is more painful than watching an uncomfortable business executive shoot a video while sitting behind a desk. You’ve seen them…the message is usually an attempt to rally the troops or win over customers. It usually proves that not every CEO should be on camera.

Take away the camera and he or she could probably talk about the business smoothly for hours. The passion a leader has for a business should come across in a video. It doesn’t matter if it is about widgets or gardening. If you are passionate about a topic, the passion must be visible.

Why is passion so important? Because passion makes your words authentic and believable. Even if you choose not to appear on camera, incorporating your passion into a video takes your message to another level. The enthusiasm you have for your product or service should be evident in your story.

Don’t miss the opportunity to display your passion front and center when visitors come to your company’s website. The best way to do it is with a video that tells your unique story. Incorporating your passion into a storytelling video is our specialty at Point Across Media. Let us help you bring your passion to life.