Speaking at the Streaming Media West conference in San Jose last month, Adobe’s Bob Donlon offers his thoughts on of the power of online video for corporations for internal and external communications.
Tag Archive for 'Corporate Video'
Q. What’s the difference between a salesman and a marketer?
A. Salesmen know when they are lying.
{Full disclosure: I love Starbucks, I go there quite often. I just find it silly when people take themselves too seriously.}
Caleb Hannon wrote a recent article in the Daily Weekly that concluded with directions on how to “cleanse yourself of the stench of Pfeiffer’s corporate-speak.” I’m not sure if the self-important proclamations he refers to are quite this egregious but you have to admit that Pfeiffer and many other marketers do tend to take themselves a bit too seriously.
Starbucks is opening new custom designed stores that attempt to blend in with their local environments. That’s it. Unfortunately that sound bite would only last for a few seconds so Tim Pfeiffer, Starbucks VP of Global Magnificence felt he needed to fill that void with over three minutes of Starbucks marketing dribble.
The following is a guide to help you better understand what Starbucks is trying to say in this video:
“Cafe Presence” – A store.
“Open the Throat” – I believe he is either referring to an in-store tracheotomy procedure or perhaps this is a euphemism for increasing cut throat business practices… not sure which.
“Major Coffee Theatre” – A clear indication that everything he and the company does and says is an act, they don’t really mean any of it.
“Elevate the offering” – The religious connotations are self-evident here.
“More bespoke and one-off” - ‘Mcdonald’s started building customized/localized stores a while back so we thought we’d copy that idea.’
“Availability of the interaction of the Barrista” … I got nothing here. It’s English (and he’s a marketer), so he was probably trying to make a point about something.
“The go-forward” - All marketing men of action are legally required to include ‘go-forward’ at least once in a conversation.
“Great coffee messaging” - Ads.
“Our coffee authority” – Starbucks will continue to crush all competition (in an environmentally responsible fashion.)
So Tim, keep up the good work… but get over yourself, it’s just coffee.
We tend to take most things in life on face value. The earth is round, the universe is expanding, the internet is slow, but improving. This slow progression and acceptance of our ‘realities’ also tends to stop us from seeing what’s just around the corner. An example:
Imagine if television in the 1950’s evolved the same way that the internet has. What if TV in its infancy was little more than radio with text – much like the early stages of the web. What if television started with many, many channels but they all offered slow text, perhaps a few graphics. Over time, maybe ten years or more the television broadcast networks evolved to allow some blinking graphics, then motion graphics via flash files that allowed you to see moving images accompanied with text. How powerful a medium would TV have been up to that point. Would it have consumed our lives the way it has? Would it become the focal point of our entertainment, our advertising, our news consumption?
With the Internet today we are close (but not quite there) to where television started over fifty years ago. Video is widely viewable today online around the world but the experience varies considerably. That will change over the next few years as good or great quality video will be delivered to any screen you want it on (tv, computer, mobile devise). When that happens this will have a profound effect on how business communicate and evolve. Like the frog in the slowly warming pot of water, many businesses won’t even notice the change.
What makes the impact that much more significant is that all of the televisions are connected, everyone is creating their own television shows and you can watch what you want, wherever and whenever you want. Context is everything and the companies that win in this game will be the companies that can produce contextually relevant video products for their audiences. Content that has real value (not commercials), content that people want to share and content that changes how people see and do things.
No, text isn’t going away (in spite of the recent pain in the print industry) in our lifetime but we are entering a time where new visual languages, graphic interfaces and video content will change how businesses communicate.
Websites don’t matter. The content on them and the content that gets consumed and shared (wherever) is what matters.
I recently responded to a blog article that posed the question “are corporate websites dead?” My take was that the purpose and function of corporate websites is changing – they will still serve as a repository for corporate information but the days of websites being a ‘destination’ for information about the things you do are long gone. An Example:
Recent changes to driving laws where I live now make it illegal to hold/use a cell phone while driving. I needed to pick up a good quality Bluetooth headset. While scanning some recent tweets I noticed a comment about a new Plantronics Bluetooth headset. I followed the link to a YouTube video. It sounded interesting but I wasn’t convinced. I then viewed a number of related reviews on YouTube that seemed more credible and decided that this was indeed the device that suited my needs. I Googled to find the best price and ordered the product online. I never went to the Plantronics website – there was no reason to. I know the company and have purchased products from them before so there were no credibility issues to investigate.
The user generated videos I viewed provided good general information but ultimately the more professionally created videos sold me. The whole process took ten minutes and at the end of it I felt very informed and very comfortable making a purchase decision. Would I have been as confident if I just went to the Plantronics site and consumed their literature? No way. Would I have been as comfortable if I went to my local electronics store and waited to listen to an inexperienced sales clerk sell me on equipment he may or may not have a lot of real experience with? No.
We are moving from the ‘text web’ to the ‘next web’ ( or ‘web something dot something’) and many companies still don’t see it coming. I’d rather watch a video review or video product demo than read product literature because video and other rich media content show me things that a document cannot. It’s also easier to make value judgments about the presenter and the content.
There is huge value in showing your product/service being used, showing people talking about their experiences with the product and showing how it clearly benefits the potential buyer.
It’s the content (and where that content is seen) that matters, not the website and the implications of this reach far beyond simple consumer products. All companies have to take into account how social media, rich media, mobile engagement, word of mouth, and especially the creation of truly valuable content is going to affect their brand and their business. Even companies with long sales cycles that involve complex buying decisions need to consider how they are going to engage the ‘next web.’
Video is a very powerful and effective way to communicate. We’re going to be seeing more videos like this one.
Brave New Films is an organization at the leading edge of video activism. It creates news magazine style videos that examines / ‘exposes’ a range of political issues. Recently it has turned it’s sights on the ’socially conscious’ Starbucks. The above video details a variety of anti-union activities that Starbucks has allegedly taken part in recently and it encourages viewers to spread the word. The production values are very good and I’m certain it has Starbuck’s full attention.
In a previous post I talked about how Dominos had used YouTube to respond to a PR crisis it was facing. Domino’s was harmed and the CEO spoke out honestly and emphatically that his company was doing everything it could to make the best of a bad situation. This new video calls out Starbucks and directly challenges CEO Howard Shultz. Should Starbucks respond to this video with their own video? Yes they should, but in a very different manner than Domino’s had chosen.
Shultz won’t respond directly to the accusations in this video because it’s a discussion he can never ‘win’. Some topics – abortion, gun control, the death penalty etc. are emotionally charged with as many advocates as opponents. Most politicians / business leaders chose to avoid these types of issues wherever possible. Should Starbucks avoid this issue? Of course not – the social media channels are alight with this discussion and it isn’t going to go away. Starbucks has to find a way to communicate its position on employment (unions) without getting sucked into a vortex of angry politics and vitriol (check out the comments on YouTube to get a sense of the passion behind this topic). Starbucks is a business – it would prefer not to have unions operating in its stores – no surprise there. The self-inflicted added burden that Starbucks carries is that it has tried to position itself as a caring and socially consious company. (WalMart, by contrast has never been hobbled by this positioning.)
The timing of this video coincides with a major marketing campaign by Starbucks that attempts to position the company as rethinking and resetting its goals and reaching out to its various constitutiencies. In other words, the timing couldn’t be worse. So what would you do if you were leading Starbucks PR team?
When you own a premium brand you have to spend premium dollars to support it.
Channel has just released their newest commercial / mini-movie and as before, have done a wonderful job. Last time it was Nicole Kidman in a three minute short film (or a three minute long commercial). This time around Audrey Tautou – one of France’s national treasures – graces the screen for Channel. North Americans might remember her as ‘Amelie’ in one of the few French films to get theatre time back in 2001. The Director of that film – Jean-Pierre Jeunet directs this commercial and was given a free hand in creating Channel’s newest filmette. Naturally he cast his favourite actress (it didn’t hurt that Tautou is also playing Coco Channel in the recently released film ’Coco Avant Channel’ in France) in the lead role.
The story (not that it matters a whit) centres around a chance encounter on a train to Istanbul. Tautou spends the remaining two minutes waiting and hoping to hook up with the handsome stranger. A sudden romance on a night train to an exotic destination – ya, it`s cliche. Romance and mystery and the promise of adventure – that`s what you buy when you drop $100 or more for a little bottle of purfume – the promise of something exciting. That`s exactly what Channel is selling, and they are quite good at it.
You have to give Jeunet top marks for his direction. He spared no expense (watch `the making of` to see what kind of coin they dropped on this little video) at creating some asbolutely stunning sequences. He`s come a long way since his last big North American film - he directed the last Alien film (I think it was called Alien Abomination). Like the perfume Jeunet is selling, this video won`t be for everyone but for those who it targets, he hits the mark perfectly.
Who would bother forwarding an infomercial on to a friend?
Millions of people as it turns out. The above video is a rap remix of the original Slap Chop video that already has 1.4 million views. This video has been seen by close to 900,000 people and other versions (they’ve ’sliced and diced’ the original into a variety of styles and formats) have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. These numbers don’t include the parody videos that are now starting to surface. That’s millions of views for an infomercial.
Vince Shlomi- the presenter who helped to make the owners of the ShamWow product a lot of money is back with another over-the-top delivery that heralds the glory of this new kitchen chopping device. It’s campy, it’s silly, and it’s exhausting but it does something that most other viral videos do not: it sells. It demonstrates the features and benefits of the product very clearly. And it is memorable.
The top commercial viral video at the moment is the Samsung Extreme Sheep LED Art video. (8 million views) It’s clever and fun to watch but has little, if any connection to the Samsung LED monitors it ‘promotes’. Most viral videos are really ’sponsored entertainment’ with a very weak direct link to the product or service they are supposed to promote. Viral video producers are very careful to point out to advertisers that being to ’salesy’ will turn viewers off (and also lessen their chances of winning awards).
The T-mobile Dance video by contrast is absolutely brilliant and does what many viral videos do not – it includes the product and the experience (in this case – people sharing the moment with their camera-phones) as part of the video. Certainly the connection is not overt – but at least there is an obvious connection. Going from the hearding of light-suit adorned sheep to large screen television screen is a bit more of a stretch.
Entertainment should never be the goal – if it is then you should sell tickets. Effectiveness should be the measure of success. Did your video sell product, inform your customers and prospects or ’support the brand’ in a meaningful way?
Will Slap Chop win any awards? No way. It will be ridiculed by ’serious’ marketers.
Did it entertain? If you are a big ‘kitchen demo rap’ fan – then it delivered the goods.
Did it help to raise awareness of the product? Absolutely!
Was it memorable? I won’t soon forget it.
Did it help to sell product? I don’t know the numbers but I would have to say yes – if for no other reason than all of the Slap Chop parody video creators having to rush out and buy the device to use in their parody videos. (Perhaps that is a new sub-market.)
I posted yesterday about the unfortunate circumstance that Domino’s Pizza found itself in having been the subject of a horrendously inappropriate ‘prank’ video that will likely cost them millions of dollars in lost revenue and PR fees. While Domino’s acted quickly and dealt with the issue head on it is less clear how a business should respond if they are the victim of something more subtle – the parody video.
Microsoft found itself the victim of a very well produced parody video that took a shot at the marketing video they had created to promote their new Surface technology. Microsoft’s video was very well produced, the subject matter was fascinating and it positioned Microsoft as leading a new generation of communication and interactive technology. The video received over 2 million views on YouTube. A success by any measure… that is until the good folks at Sarcastic Gamer created their own version of the video that closes with the delicously sarcastic line ”The future is here, and it’s a big-ass table… take that Apple!” Ouch.
To add insult to injury the parody video has received more views than Microsoft’s original video. Double ouch.
When I originally viewed the Microsoft video my first thought was ‘cool.’ Months later when I saw the parody video I have to admit I did revisit the rationale for my first impressions. The parody video did an excellent job at turning many of the purported benefits into something much less, even to the point of causing some of those benefits to now appear trivial or even counter-intuitive.
I’ll assume that Google or Apple or Dell or… whoever, didn’t pay Sarcastic Gamer to produce the video to ridicule their competition. (Would it surprise you if they had?) You can’t anticipate where or why these things will happen, but you do have to be aware of the possibility and think through how your company should respond.
So what do you do when parody strikes your company? Stick to your guns and continue to make your case clearly and positively without letting your detractors set the communications agenda? Or do face the issue head on and deal with it as a serious and competitive threat that could have an immediate and significant effect on your brand?
There was no grey zone in Domino’s response to the prank video. They had to act. That said, the line between prank and parody can be rather fuzzy. This is new territory for most companies. The ability of a single individual (or group) to affect a company’s brand has never been greater. That should be a huge wake-up call.
Last month the Nielsen Company (the company that determines TV ratings) issued their ‘Three Screens’ report which indicated video viewing is on the rise across all three screens (television, mobile and computer/Internet). While the TV networks saw this as a cause for optimism (albeit short-lived) the important take-away is that video consumption is increasing over time and will continue to increase. The behaviour is changing. How this will affect the TV networks remains a multibillion dollar question.
TechFlash – a Seattle tech news site posted a story about Amazon’s plans to add streaming video to it’s IMDB property. What they plan on streaming could shake the network and online video entertainment industry to the core. Col Needham, founder of IMDb (The world’s largest movie trivia and information site) said the site aims to stream it’s entire database of movies and TV shows (1.3 millions movies). So when you go to look up that bit actor in an episode of your favourite sitcom – you can immediately watch that show or movie.
How do these two unrelated stories affect business marketing? The two fundamental drivers behind all marketing activities – behaviour and expectations are changing quickly for video as a media to deliver content. The entertainment industry is driving these changes – as it does for many things. Video consumption is growing significantly. This behaviour is focused on entertainment today as that is where we have traditionally consumed most of the video we watch. With fast Internet connections, costs of video production decreasing, the advent of user-generated content and the proliferation of video screens everywhere and anywhere the behaviour of increased video consumption shows no signs of slowing.
More significantly in the near term, you will also start to see a change in the expectations of video consumers - again driven by video entertainment. IMDb could have an even larger impact on video consumption that Netflix or iTunes. Imagine going to IMDb and searching for a person, a movie and being instantly gratified by being able to see all or part of what you were looking for. This will become the new standard – instant access to what you want (where you want to consume that information). This won’t happen tomorrow – but it is the direction, the new reality. This change will drive new online expectations.
Just a few years ago a lot of companies couldn’t imagine why they would ever need to be online. (I remember many of these conversations). The next wave of change is going to be instant access to important information for your customers and prospects. A “web presence” won’t help you. You will have to provide real value (not just marketing literature) to your audience before they purchase your goods or services. You will have to engage them where they are (online) and you will have to give up a lot to keep them engaged. If you don’t your competitors will.
Most of this content and value will be in the form of video or some other interactive media because that is what your customers will want. That will be the easiest and most efficient way for them to consume the information, solve their problems and make business decisions – wherever and whenever they want.
Online expectations and behaviours are changing. You need to think of how your comapany will adapt to this new reality.
Microsoft’s newest video promotion makes the “I’m a PC” guy look cool.
Microsoft has introduced a new application called Songsmith. It may well be a great application but the “High School Musical” style video promotion for the new software has to make you wonder what they were thinking.
Perhaps they are smarter than everyone. Maybe they figured that if they made it just bad enough, if they appealed to virtually no one, and took campy to new levels of lame that the blogosphere would light up talking about this new promotional video. If that was the plan - mission accomplished.
Maybe this was the plan too when they spent a cazillion dollars on those confusing and spectacularly unfunny Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld promotions.
Microsoft’s official line is that it was a low budget marketing viral video created by two of the guys who coded the product (and who also starred in the video – good for them) . Of course ‘Low budget’ is a relative term. You have to know that they still spent more time and money on this ‘low budget’ diddy than most companies could afford.
The takeaway - calling it a viral video doesn’t excuse it and certainly doesn’t mean the affect on your brand will be negligable.
Other notes:
1. Interesting APPLE references: The little girl – who’s name is ‘LISA’ is using a Macbook Pro!
2. I think the most astute label I have read in reference to this video is “Craptastic.”
3. They should attempt a ‘Death Metal” version next.
