I came across these short videos for Boeing, and I was impressed with how simple and clear they are. They are quick, cleanly-scripted, and share crisp, focused messages. Their short duration is ideal for online use, and they tell messages that could influence a major shareholder as much as an occasional passenger.
About the Boeing Trademark:
This clip tells a very straightforward, brand-focused story. It's simple, informative, and injects more personality than I’d expect from a massive manufacturer. I actually learned something (the origin of the company name), and I gained a clear sense of the company's longevity and scope (reaching from aircraft to spacecraft) over its 2 1/2 minute duration. Boeing is clearly working with astronomical budgets, and the stakes for their communications are high, but with this video they share an interesting, relevant story that is actually building their brand.
Converted Freighters:
This video tells a very cool story repeatedly, and simply - the idea of “increasing the life of the plane” works on all sorts of corporate levels, from investor relations (product efficiency), to sustainability (vehicle recycling), to competitiveness (unique conversion solutions).
More importantly, this is an example of how a video doesn’t necessarily have to be a six-figure production, even when the communications budgets are likely big.
These examples are both pretty straightforward productions. Much footage seems to be shot on the fly with small crews, and the "trademark" video incorporates many of what I call “enhanced PowerPoint” elements that are built in the editing stage - still photos are enlivened with a few basic animation tricks, and a simple (but carefully scripted) voiceover tells a straightforward story simply, and quickly.
Building Creative Assets
For videographers, the key to attracting larger clients like this is to offer a breadth of value across multiple video productions. Offer short, simple videos for tactical use (like the converted freighters piece), and build up to providing grander corporate videos for strategic use as well, while repurposing a database of creative assets that will accumulate as you create new work.
One of the greatest benefits of pitching a broad-based video production service is the volume of footage that it can produce. I often preach to clients the importance of building a library of footage - this database of creative assets, where the grand corporate productions provide beautiful original footage that can be repurposed for smaller videos too (like the elegant aerial shots, in Boeing's case). This is a matter of efficiency - there's no reason why corporate video footage shouldn't be repurposed between different productions, and across different departments. In Boeing's case, it would likely prove to be inefficient to re-shoot aerial footage if appropriate shots of a certain aircraft already exist within another department in the company - especially when each aerial video shoot would likely return many minutes of beautiful, usable footage across ever-changing, shifting landscapes below. It may even prove unlikely that specific footage would ever be duplicated.
In-House Stock Videography
A fulsome library of footage can provide options for future productions that may save significantly on costs - call it in-house stock videography if you will - library development of creative assets is a kind of full-service videography offering that will provide your client major cost efficiencies down the road, and it will build loyalty with your work.
The concern I hear is that providing a library of footage will eliminate the possibility of further work down the road, and that may be true - but if that's your concern, then you don't have the client's best interests at heart - which they will figure out soon enough. Work with their needs and goals, and chances are they will continue to work with you.
Focus on the Target
Clients often focus on the size of video viewership, but the fact is that short, targeted videos only need a small audience to make a big impact. I once produced a video where we knew the video would have only one viewer, and the narrative was personalized accordingly, supported by repurposed creative assets. That one viewer became the client's biggest customer after viewing our efforts. I strongly doubt that a broadly-targeted, originally-shot video would have provided the same results. This isn't advertising - size and scope in video aren't as important anymore as the production's strategic focus and its targeted message, and repurposed creative assets are a quick, efficient way to tell targeted stories well.
With a volume of creative assets at your disposal, short, focused video stories are relatively easy to create, and they can be hugely beneficial to your client's brand-building needs.
No comments:
Post a Comment