I watched the American Idol 2020 finals, filmed remotely at the contestants homes using two smartphones and ring lights. They used great audio equipment to capture the vocals and instrumentals. The final edits were incredible, and it made for compelling television. Fast forward to 2021 and American Idol is back to auditions in person, while most companies are still in work-from-home mode. Video was already on its way to becoming the most engaging digital marketing asset. But social distancing has created difficulties in producing great video content. To adjust to these conditions we have increased the amount of video we are creating, and executive communications are one of the key areas we are prioritizing.
A more engaging medium, video is very good for reaching new audiences, new markets, and earning new engagement. It gives visibility to the executive and helps establish their brand, and lend their brand to the campaign.
Now that virtual events are common, differences between videos keynotes are blurring. Keynotes are best for communicating trends and market conditioning. They usually range from 20-30 minutes, but are shorter than their in-person equivalents. We are choosing to produce more executive videos primarily for positioning or news, where we aim for 2-3 minutes.
We have also increased creation of product videos for social media and website viewing, essentially capturing value propositions in video form. They are designed to be between 45 and 90 seconds in length. A couple of examples are here and here
We also use executive videos to connect positioning with the product messages. Here we have a GM video, a VP video, and an Architect video that tie together tiers in messaging and personas for a recent announcement. This structure also enabled us to add a new VP video for a follow-on product launch.
One of the biggest challenges of the video-from-home era is recording quality. In a studio we have consistency of equipment, sound, lighting, and background. This is impossible to control when recording videos in executive home environment. We find the best videos are recorded in the kitchen or a hallway where a plain wall can be used for the background. With a lapel microphone, a circle light and a smartphone, the recording can be done quite well. One consideration is echo. if the room is small, you may have to hang up a blanket behind the camera to absorb the sound and reduce echo.
In some cases we are able to replace a plain background with a virtual image, such as this office setting in this VP video.
The key to producing lots of videos is having a formula or template for messaging and script creation. We have a template for the social videos, with time budget and word counts to help people hit the 45-90 second range and cover the salient points. We also have a template for the executive viewpoints that is a good reminder to start from the trends and audiences care abouts, before getting into the messages. The process starts with capturing the messages in the template, to show the flow of the story. Then once that is approved, we begin script copy creation and editing. It's important to get signoff on messages and then copy. After that, the video editing team has near 100% authority to execute and create a high quality video. Too many approvers at too many stages can bring the process to a crawl.
One fun biproduct of these videos is the viral effect inside the company. The various executives want a video for their initiates and seek it out. The campaign managers all put these in their campaign plans. Success begets success.
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