| How to avoid embarrassment when creating video assets.
Not to belabor the point here but if Stephane Dion's response to Stephen Harper back on December 3rd, 2008 taught us anything it was the need to be prepared to create video assets that are dynamic, engaging and delivered on time especially if you want the media to take you seriously.
To emphasize this point I had an opportunity to discuss the "how-to's" of video preparation and production with the President of Gladstone Productions - Tina Gladstone - who has more than a decade's worth of experience of broadcast, production and public relations and she was happy to share the following tips with me and my readers.
Number one - ensure you know what your key messages are and are able to outline how you'd like them presented. To assist you having an experienced producer can help to narrow the focus and storyboarding the video is key to cutting down on a lot of downtime when recording and editing.
Second is to ensure you are going to capture your images in as high-quality as possible since you never know how it will be used and reused down the line. Perhaps you have a specific project in mind such as a Video News Release for the media but also looking past that you can also repurpose for a consumer audience and the Web.
Thirdly, make sure you have an experienced team in terms of shooting various elements - such as interviews, cover footage, and creative visual elements. Knowing what and how to shoot ensures an efficient day, and no unpleasant surprises in the edit suite.
Finally, it comes down to editing - especially in this "real-time" world you need to ensure you not only create assets specific to your audience but you have the experience in the edit suite that will allow yourself enough time to produce them for your audience. (For a more in-depth look at my interview with Tina visit my blog posting here.)
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| Experience and expertise working for you! | |
Greetings!
Happy New Year - we hope you had a safe and festive holiday season and are ready for a new year with new opportunities and great possibilities.
In this month's edition we review the "how to's" of creating video assets, how best to deliver them to your audience and finally how to track your investment. Please feel free to share with your contacts who might find the various topics here of interest.
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Digital Distribution.
Over the past few years since I've been in the business of production and distribution of video to the media (and now online) the world of asset distribution has certainly come a long way. What was the norm a few years ago in terms of dropping off a beta tape or even sending video footage by satellite has quickly been replaced or in the process of being replaced by a more immediate, effective and measurable system - digital.
Now for those of you not familiar with the technology we can now create and distribute in one online package an entire campaign including broadcast video, audio, photos and printed materials directly to media outlets across the country, throughout North America or around the world within minutes and archive it for 30 or more days. What this means is not only can we ensure that media outlets receive our materials for the 6:00 p.m. news hour but can also call upon it at their leisure for other segments of their news, entertainment or lifestyle programming extending the shelf-life.
The other feature it provides is the ability to identify who has actually pulled these assets for potential use - hearkening back to what we believe is key in any communications, marketing or public relations campaign and that is making your assets available in a format that is easily incorporated into the editing systems of media no matter where they are in the country or around the world. Reports identifying these pulls help to confirm the receipt by these outlets which is a far cry from the days of sending up a satellite transmission and hoping that someone is pulling it down - within minutes now we can be rest assured they have either received and seen it or they haven't.
Providing our clients access to organizations that have the infrastructure designed to enhance our abilities in the arena of notification, distribution and media monitoring is key for us moving forward in the ever changing media landscape. One such company is The Newsmarket out of the US. They have been able to create a "push-pull" system allowing direct delivery to targeted or mass media (in traditional and HD formats) as well as the ability to allow these outlets to pull the assets whenever they need it for their broadcasts. For more information on this service please feel free to contact us or visit their website at www.thenewsmarket.com.
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Odds and Sods - Tracking your investment.
Whether you've ever sent out video footage to the media or not I don't think it's a stretch to think each of us would want to know not only if someone has accessed the visuals but also whether someone has actually used it within their broadcast. Any distribution partner worth their weight should have this forefront in their thinking as well and with that incorporating the ability to track potential usage is something I think is key to complete the circle of services in this regard.
Our tracking partner out of the US provides our clients with an electronic tracking capability designed to identify when and where their video footage is utilized within the newscasts of television stations throughout the major markets in Canada and the US. We utilize this service exclusively to enhance the existing media monitoring systems or internal measurements of our clients and it is designed to help maximize their ability to measure ROI (return on investment) of their projects by confirming the usage of their assets by the media.
I am confident that everyone can agree one should not go to the expense of creating high-quality video destined for the media without having some measurable way of assessing whether it was worth the cost or not. To learn more about how the system works for tracking B-Roll, Video News Releases or Public Service Announcements on television contact us for a demonstration.
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Benefits of e-Learning.
Even before the economic down turn had everyone from the public, private and charitable sectors tightening their financial belts, e-Learning or online training was being adopted by corporations to help maximize their internal capital - both human and financial.
One company to do so was Xerox Canada. They incorporated e-Learning as a means of providing their employees with comprehensive training on such topics as harassment in the workplace, corporate policies, talking to media, sales-training etc. in a more coordinated and cost-efficient manner. Because of their size, it made sense to do this as an online program and with the success of this exercise Xerox Canada now does everything online for the aforementioned reasons.
For a more in-depth look at how e-Learning can have a significant impact on the bottom-line I visited the company that provided Xerox Canada with their system - CFA Communications. Along with services in e-Learning this multimedia production company provides video editing as well as satellite/digital distribution - for a look at their e-Learning portfolio which includes the Xerox example visit their website at CFA Communications.
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