..used to be the mantra for video production companies and ad agencies around the world. Personally, I’ve tried to build my career on the Good/Fast combo. But things have changed. It’s a new era.
Major Shift #1 is, of course, the escalation of online video viewing. In February alone, 174 million U.S. Internet users watched online videos. According to
www.comscore.com, U.S. Internet users watched 28.1 billion videos. (And the month of April will be so skewed by online viewing of the Tiger Woods Nike commercial that we may never know the numbers!) All this means accessibility for the viewers and for the creators of online video. We now have immediate distribution for our videos and commercials, and much less need for buying expensive TV air time.
Major Shift #2: Tough Economic Times. It’s hard out there for most organizations right now, and Cheap, or low-cost, is imperative when producing marketing videos and commercials. While we savvy consumers still love our stylized, high-end TV commercials and marketing videos, the advent of web videos has changed the landscape forever. We may still see ourselves as the driver of the Lexus, but truth be told, many of us are closer to the Hyundai crowd these days.
And Cheap video is everywhere. (If you do the math on Shift # 1 – 28.1 billion videos per month -- that comes out to a national production budget of about 5 cents per video!)
But “Good” is still an imperative in the Good/Fast/Cheap trifecta. If your video isn’t Good, it won’t work, so what’s the point?
Fortunately, Good doesn’t necessarily mean Sleek. Take the example of the Google ad in the 2010 Superbowl:
Granted, it ran on TV in an expensive time slot, but the online viewership is currently around 5 million. I haven’t been able to verify the exact production budget of this spot (if anyone out there knows, please tell me), but I’m guessing it didn’t come close to the cost of the Betty Williams / Oprah / Letterman / Leno Superbowl spots.
The Google ad got mixed reviews, but I give it a thumbs-up. Beautiful in its simplicity, it’s captivating to watch the story unfold, and there’s no need for extras. Experts say sex sells, but I’ll vote for romance and heart strings every time.
Videos that tug on viewers’ heart strings are almost always relevant and effective for organizations that work in health, medical or non-profit arenas, like this testimonial web video for Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers:
www.proveloveheals.com.
And this web video, which Citizen Pictures recently produced this compelling-but-not-pricey web video for the U.S. Olympic Committee:
Another popular application for the growing web-video craze is food. From appetizers to drinks to holiday meals, online audiences can’t seem to get enough of these short web videos. Check out the “Online” section on Citizen’s Content page:
www.citizenpictures.com/CONTENT
And on the decidely un-glitzy end of the spectrum, take a look at social media expert Chris Brogan:
I love this guy. He always looks like he’s been up all night, you can never tell where in the world he actually is, and he’s shamelessly un-self-conscious in front of the camera. Yet I have never seen one if his videos I didn’t enjoy. Why? Because he has a message. And it seems sincere and credible. Mostly because of the fact that he HASN'T prepared, (in fact he hasn’t even combed his hair) and he ISN’T impressed with the medium. Again, it’s all about the story, the message, and my favorite -- brevity.
And then there is the classic Domino’s confessional / documentary, combining an entertaining story -- Domino’s executives learning that customers think their pizza sucks -- with self-effacing humor and honesty:
www.pizzaturnaround.com
And speaking of humor, thank goodness YouTube is here so we can indulge in guilty pleasures like the Tiger Woods / Christian Bale remix of the now-famous Nike spot:
Current views: 160,000 and rising.
Robin Bond