The Evolution of Marketing and Communication: How we've arrived at social media...

Social media didn't just happen. We've evolved into a culture that demands immediate, transparent, and authentic communication. We desire this not only with each other, but with the companies and brands with which we affiliate. Understanding how we arrived at this place, and how marketing and communication has evolved helps us understand the context as we move forward.

Read our brief white paper here.

Art imitating life imitating art, or Internet imitating TV, as TV?

For the past couple of weeks I've been on vacation and pulled myself away from Internet and Video business. Well last week I found myself doing something I hadn't had time for most of this summer...flipping through the TV channels. Now call it Law of Attraction, or serendipity, or coincidence, but whatever it was I'm still smiling. Flipping through the channels I stumbled into a new series, i-CAUGHT on ABC.

I was surprised and captivated by the premise...but then again maybe not really surprised because I knew this was coming (is coming). I'd say the feeling was more like "impressed" the by speed and agility of those who brought the show to fruition. It is exactly the evolution I've been telling so many of you about; warning that times are changing, and if you don't recognize this progression of Video-Internet-Television, it may cost your business.

In it's own description of the program ABC claims "...we all know there's a video revolution swirling around us all - 24/7". Interesting. Powerful. Did you know about this revolution? Check out the link above, there is a video introduction of the program that is very compelling.

Its a great time to get involved, and to rethink the ways we do, what it is we do. This is just the beginning, but hold on tight, it could be a very fast ride.

“…B2B communications are NOT in video…”

In a conversation that came about after my last post regarding video as a “relevant “ communication medium in a software development businesses, I found myself facing nearly the same argument from a B2B perspective. My protagonist in this case accepted video and other forms of online media as valuable B2C vehicles but dismissed its presence in Business to Business relationships, management, and information exchanges (hence the quote). So the conversation was interesting and we debated a bit, but I knew I would have to show this individual the face of what he believed non-existent in order to help him reach the first step: Acceptance.

This morning I’m digging around my usual online news centers and thinking about trying to find some recent articles that addressed this evolution in Business communication. As I’m reading a WSJ.com article with some level of consciousness and thinking about my recent conversation, something to the right of my screen caught my eye. There was a movie box playing what “looks like video" of a glass with coins filling it. There were also words posing the questions “Do you invest in IT?”, then “Do you spend IT?”. A few seconds later, I’m recognizing this is exactly what I was talking about. The ad completes and I see Accenture, so I click the box and allow my attention to be directed at their landing page. I smiled widely. This is another place that gets it, and for all those that don’t yet, be concerned.

The landing page presents me a visually pleasing presentation of information on the value prop and solutions. Mid screen is a movie box above which has a blurb describing who the individual in the box is and why I might want to hear from her. This is known as a talking head piece (meaning a head and shoulder shot), and this piece is a video testimonial. Now I’m standing up at my desk I’m so impressed. You have no idea how many times I have advised a client to use video testimonials, they can brilliant! So of course I press play and learn from a very nice, enthusiastic woman, who happens to be a CEO at a major electric organization how Accenture products and service helped her transition her organization to a platform for growth which has lead to a 125% increase in stock. SHWING!

This is not only B2B communication (and marketing)but it is on IT, I mean this is about as dry a well of content as you can drill and they have made it engaging, informative, compelling and the most important quality, relatable. If I am a CEO with enterprise IT needs, I would listen and learn. I would pick up the phone after hearing a piece like that a gazillion times faster than after reading a white paper from …no names…let just say the other guys who don’t yet get it.

Here’s the landing page for Accenture that I saw.

BTW – the article I was reading on WSJ.com was about Dell, HP and others full court press into online video. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out it out. Dell now has a place referred to as Studio Dell that is a library of video content on everything. This is B2C communication evolution.

The WSJ article

Video really is better. No, really.

We get the same question asked frequently: "is video really better?". We think the answer is pretty obvious, but apparently, it isn't.

As an example of the sheer power of video to explain and simplify, a few folks have asked how to create certain effects in a video, or do something in Photoshop. If you've ever tried, those kinds of things are difficult to explain using words. Pictures help a little, but they're often even more confusing.

I created this screencast to demonstrate how video makes it drop dead simple to explain a concept to someone. This is a fairly simple concept, in this case, but imagine how much text would have to be written (not to mention the terminology involved) to explain this the "old fashioned" way!



How do you explain your concepts to your cutomers? I'll bet they're more complicated than drawing a 3D glassy ball!

By the way, this tutorial was created using the new Jing Project from TechSmith - check it out!

What not to do with PowerPoint

If used properly, PowerPoint can be the right tool for some really great presentations, the unfortunately thing is that it is rarely used well. This next video should offer you a bit of humor, it's one of those commiserate moments of "connecting".

The only negative thing I have to say about this piece is that when using video one should have not only a great topic, engaging content, and a rapport with the intended audience, but should also have broadcast quality video and quality lighting!

How not to use powerpoint

Communication vs. Connection Part Duh!

So previously I talked about the difference between communicating and connecting. Everyday I find myself being asked; "why video?" , "why does it make that much of a difference?"...ok so here's an example or two.

I can tell you that there is this really cool ad that uses shadow puppets to create forms of bunnies, birds, branches, and a moose. It's set to music and kinda surreal.

We all know what shadow puppets are and you should be able to imagine them being used in an artistic way...so then, I have communicated that concept to you.

I could be more descriptive, but with all the elegant writing in the world, I still do not believe that it would have the same effect. Nor do I believe that all the adjectives and adverbs I might use to articulate the imagery could hold your attention span or be recalled in conversation weeks later.

I do believe the following will engage you in just these ways.




BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE...

If your not worrying about artistic impression or want something a little more "real". I can tell you about this guy, Xin. He's an immigrant kid who studied martial arts to get by in a gang ridden neighborhood. He got really good at it and felt confident until he came up against a kick boxer who schooled him some more. Long story short, this young man wanted to be the next Jackie Chan stunt man. He could be found leaping through malls and doing acrobatics as he learned to perfect his skills. This young man, not only is an amazing aerialist, but he is the subject and the producer of an online video that has seen more than 15 million viewers. The video serves him better than any picture or text article could, and it has enabled him to reach a larger audience than he imagined.

You've got to watch this...



Still not satisfied look at these...

http://www.time.com/time/topten/2006/webvideos/01.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/215472/urban_ninja_takes_youtube_by_storm.html