I’m hearing a lot of talk lately about how it’s OK to be “informal” in the external corporate videos you post on-line. As long as it has audio and you at least get your eyebrows in the shot, it’s all good.

You can overlook your wrinkled shirt, the mic cabled splayed across your chest, the elusive, eye rolling train of thought and the awkward interview style. Yeah, what’s the big deal?

Plenty. You’re not going to pop up on a computer or TV screen in such a disorganized example of afterthought and tell me you represent millions of dollars in revenue. No way.

Home movies are fun, but not when you are supposed to be showing the world you are the leader of your industry. When you don’t know what you don’t know, life is just peachy isn’t it?

We are all experts when it comes to viewing video after watching TV all of our lives, but when it comes to producing our own content, we become infatuated with ourselves, oblivious to the fact that the message left town and took your credibility with it.

After we all get through with “amateur hour” we will still have to get down to the business of making a credible impact on-line and tell the story. Sadly, the “hostage tape” business is alive and well.

My main mission in life is to get companies the respect they deserve by helping them pull the pieces together in all stages of development and keeping them on message. This can be a huge challenge. With all the differing agendas, world views and internal competitions, it can roll off the tracks very easily.

These projects can go down like a greased safe.

I’m still seeing final edits relegated to administrative assistants, scarcely written RFPs with “how much will it cost for a two minute video?” and “let’s just shoot it” requests.

Then there’s the inevitable, multiple course corrections and scope creep. The 40-20-40 rule should come into play here. 40% pre-production, 20% acquisition and 40% post-production. Plan the shoot then shoot the plan. Execute.

Now I can sit here and look down my pompous nose at these expensive attempts at self entertainment, but it’s kind of sad and depressing. The other end of the spectrum is when you realize you really don’t have a clue and you reach out to a straight video production unit, who, as you might be surprised to know, doesn’t have a clue either about what you’re trying to accomplish, but they’re not gonna tell you that. Then the fun begins.

Most likely, they have never spent anytime “carrying the bag” or delivering a marketing project and you can lose that critical eye.

In the hundreds and even thousands of campaigns I have been through, I’ve seen my share of pile ups. Without a deliberate, visual plan, an outcome in mind and someone to guide and keep these projects on message, you are not just wasting the money you have thrown on the table, but you will look like, here it comes, “a rookie.”

If you think even the so called untrained eye won’t pick it up you are mistaken. They won’t even know how to explain their negative reaction or disinterest, but they will drop off. It takes viewer empathy.

Your ideas and concepts need legs. You are trying to “move” your audience. The alternative is not acceptable. You owe it to your brand, your company and your employees to create a meaningful message and look like you have put some deliberate thought into your presentation. Not flop sweat and confusion.

Remember, they can tell.

If you are starting out or stalled in some stage of your project and I can answer some of your questions, feel free to reach out to me by e-mail or phone and I would be glad to hear from you. Let’s kick it up a notch. Good luck.

bob@doubleocreative.com

508-517-6714