Insight by Richard Thomson
For global organisations, communicating with your people and keeping them updated and motivated is now more important than ever.
Face to face has traditionally been the most powerful way of doing that but, let’s face it, there’s not going to be much of that in the near future.
Video is the next most powerful and engaging way of communicating with a large workforce and strengthening your community. Video conference calls are great for information exchange but rarely engage emotions.
So for key messages, how do you produce powerful, memorable video when people can’t be in close contact? Here are four ways you can get compelling video content made and delivered – safely and cost-effectively.
OPTION 1 – Talking Heads
You CAN still film interviews, even if the crew can’t safely visit your premises.
Online video technology has improved exponentially in recent years, to the point where it can be used for so much more than conference calls.
It works like this. The interviewee gets set up with their laptop and we help them make the most of the location. This includes framing, light, audio and background. Once the setup is complete, we film remotely over the internet. Our director can still direct the performance and the Comms or Marketing director can still join to check the messaging.
Existing company B-roll or library stock footage can be used, combined with music, to add pace and variety. Our bespoke process means we can edit these and turn them round quickly – within 24 hours if needs be (with or without subtitles) so you can communicate in a quick and timely manner with your people.
Talking heads are the bedrock of so many brand and corporate films. Fortunately, with a bit of smart thinking, they still can be.
OPTION 2 – Animations
The good news about animation is it requires no physical contact between people to deliver.
Animations can be voiceover-led, avoiding direct contact with the voice over artist, or in the same style as this film below. It uses a real interview with animation on top to tell a great story.
Capturing a great audio story is the start of the process. From there we can use simple 2D or more involved 3D animation to make your film.
OPTION 3 – User Generated Content (UGC)
So your people are now mainly working from home, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a voice. In fact, it could be a golden opportunity to gather powerful video stories for now and the future.
The best UGC on platforms like Twitter does that, but that’s selected from millions of ineffective videos. So how do you give yourself the best chance of gathering video that is authentic and on brand in these circumstances?
We can guide you and your people on how to film themselves, or get their family to film them, using their smartphones to tell their stories in the most powerful ways. Whether it’s a story about going above and beyond in these challenging times, or many colleagues from around the globe intercut into one film telling of their experiences, user generated can be powerfully structured and edited to tell your company’s most inspiring stories.
OPTION 4 – Library footage and/ or existing company B-roll
Many companies have existing B-roll that can be edited together with a voice over and/or dynamic typography to deliver key messages. Like this film from BAE.
But what if you don’t have any existing footage? Stock libraries like Adobe, Shutterstock and Pond 5 have a huge wealth of moving images and photos that can be used to support your communications.
These can be used in so many ways. From hints and tips for working from home to staying safe and well being.
It’s worth remembering that all these options can be delivered without necessarily sacrificing the quality your audience has come to expect from your comms.
We are monitoring how comms professionals use video during the coronavirus lockdown and will share further ideas as we find them. If you’d like a chat about using video during these extraordinary times, get in touch for simple, helpful ideas you can put into practice yourself.
Richard Thomson
Richard is CEO of Kaptcha. He cut his teeth at the BBC, where he directed some of their biggest and most engaging shows including Top Gear, Crimewatch and Holiday. Bringing these skills to the corporate world, he then launched the multi award-winning HSBC TV. Today he harnesses the power of film to tell the engaging stories behind the brands, creating real change in the way audiences – internal and external - feel and think.
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