In one of his songs the legendary Bruce Springsteen, aka The Boss, laments, “Fifty-seven channels and nothing’s on.”
We all know that today’s video marketers sing a different tune. The digital world bestows a lot more than fifty-seven channels on which brands can potentially distribute their message/s.
In such a crowded field, with such a vast array of options, brands must not only discover the channels which attract their customer base, but also modify their creative content to most effectively reach that audience, and ideally, deliver that message in a personalized way.
At the heart of it is a fundamental understanding of the consumers.
Bruce’s song about the fifty-seven channels? It’s from his album “Human Touch” – and a human touch is required for brands to know what methods will work best for reaching consumers.
Will a video be delivered via desktop or mobile device?
The difference in form often determines the style of content. A dynamic environment like a mobile app enables an assortment of gestures throughout a video (swipe up, swipe right, etc), whereas physical interactions aren’t possible on a desktop computer. Beyond the selection of these content funnels, brands need creative execution to go “One Step Up” (another Springsteen title). Unquestionably all the technical specifications must be up to par – optimizing for screen aspect ratio and for “sound off” so a video can play and still tell a story if a site’s audio fails.
But even more importantly, the narrative of the content needs to be creatively appropriate for its format. For instance, a bank ad won’t likely engage a consumer on a mobile device because she’s too busy to focus on financial minutiae, and also leery of sharing sensitive information on public Wi-Fi networks. A story with a beginning, middle and end may work well on desktop devices, but a mobile ad should work backwards and lead with the end message (giving an on-the-go consumer the most important information up front).
There is clearly no shortage of delivery funnels and creative techniques at the disposal of video storytellers. But as the audio-visual medium continues to grow in use, marketers require people and processes to govern the deployment of video.
How is it possible for marketers to keep track of all of their content comings-and-goings?
Some are creating video centers of excellence (VCEs) – dedicated practice areas within organizations that bring creative, marketing and analytics disciplines together under one roof. In these VCEs, every story ‘fits.’
How long are the videos? Are they being properly displayed? Is the messaging on brand? The video center of excellence services these and other creative and technical concerns, but is equally useful in strategic planning.
As one example, a financial services marketer streamlined the process of making its video marketing decisions. Within its advertising group, the company established a video center of excellence to interact with its various ad agencies and internal partners. This resulted in a distinct media mix created and managed for each segment of their business, and ultimately a more efficient and cost-effective solution.
There may be only one Boss (Bruce!), but any brand that establishes a VCE within their organization is guaranteed to FEEL like a boss, confident in the knowledge that their story gets told in the right way, at the right time, on the right device, to the right person, and the richly emotive video content created on behalf of the brand gets properly managed and delivered across the digital spectrum and beyond.
