Monday, May 7, 2012

The Long View: Building your online library


Your library is your portrait. 

- Holbrook Jackson
 
Let’s talk about libraries.  Multimedia libraries. 

When we mention “breaking up your messages into packets”, we are introducing the Long View approach to your video production and online communications needs. 

After all – if you’ve got a lot to share and you’ve absorbed the wisdom against throwing all your eggs in one basket, you’re going to need a long-term installment plan.  The best approach?  Open a library of online content. 

This library can (and should) include a little bit of everything – text, quotes, testimonials, still photography, video and graphics – and, as we explained in a recent post, audiences will peruse text and photos, explore customer testimonials and feedback, and watch videos that interest them.  It’s the virtual equivalent of browsing through your “store.”  They will be drawn towards what they know they like, and they will be lured into liking something new.

So how do you build this multimedia library?

We’ve articulated four “kickstart” production takeaways below to consider – interesting creative and content considerations shaped by efficient, practical, and cost-effective production approaches.

1) Leverage assets you already have to gain quick wins.
Most companies have their own libraries of professional-grade photography they’ve acquired over the years.  Storymasters can weave existing high-resolution photography of your people, operational settings and projects into engaging multimedia you can use right now.  We can create a suite of video assets that weave music, on-screen typography, and an animation technique we call “Photoscape” – a relatively simple layering process that creates 3D perspective from flat high-resolution photos. Here are two very simple examples of photoscapes: http://youtu.be/abgBwvg95Qk  and  http://youtu.be/ASWlyGRyYT0

2) Create a series of Case Study vignettes that reinforce your brand values.
These are simple, stylish “documentary” stories that introduce your audience to role model employees, team innovation, interesting project challenges, multi-faceted collaboration, or perhaps just a vignette about one of your employees that built a playground structure for a community school.   Here’s an example for PwC that we like: http://youtu.be/Aokm44Sw2dw

3) Establish your Visual Brand and don’t sway from it.
As opportunities present themselves, Storymasters can capture cinematic imagery of key projects, teamwork, and community involvement that can be woven into rich, highly visual stories down the road.  You’ll gain a reputation in the marketplace for the perspectives you take, music you choose, the typography you incorporate – the very style by which you tell your stories.  Here’s an example for Rio Tinto we found on the web: http://youtu.be/w9A5en5zK14

4) Visualize your video library in advance, then build it strategically.
Creating a single introductory corporate video that features your best people, flagship projects from coast to coast, and your international presence can be daunting (and expensive) – especially on a tight timeframe.   If you build up your library over time with engaging vignettes that communicate your brand, that “big corporate overview video” becomes easier to create.  You may have noticed that the Rio Tinto recruitment video (see link above) is a compilation of 10-12 two-minute employee stories shot over many months in different regions of Canada.       

Together, we can create a quality video library that evolves with your brand, communicates your core values, celebrates your people, and engages your prospects.