In Sue Monk Kidd's novel "The Secret Life of Bees," she emphasizes the importance of storytelling, stating, "Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here." This quote resonates deeply because stories are the very foundation of our human existence. They shape our understanding, facilitate connection and provide entertainment and knowledge. Although there are various forms of storytelling, film is a uniquely expressive medium that can take us on an emotional, immersive journey. Here’s how to harness this power to your advantage. 

A few years ago, I cracked open an internet browser to check out the trailer for a movie I was excited about. I hit the play button but this time around, something entirely new occurred: a six-second “mini trailer” played before the actual, full-length movie trailer. To be clear, this was not an ad for something else; indeed, it was a truncated trailer for the same film, attached to the front end of the video itself. 

Ladies and gentlemen, fellow participants in the Attention Economy: we now live in the age of the micro-trailer. The Trailer Trailer. The mini-trailer, if you will.

At the start of the year, I wrote a blog covering a few tips for creating well-produced live streaming events on Facebook. Even though streaming events online was common practice back in January when that blog was published, in today’s world of social distancing and mask mandates, connection through video is more important than ever.

These days, if it’s not happening live on Facebook, it’s not happening at all. Streaming live on Facebook is becoming crucial for anything from press conferences to publicity stunts. Before you run out and press that “Go Live” button, there are a few things you can do to make sure your event is successful.

When it comes to producing video, it doesn’t matter how skilled your preparation and perfect your execution is if you haven’t cast the right talent. Ensuring your talent selection truly connects with your audience is an art in of itself. One that relies on groundwork early in the campaign planning process in order to be successful. It is a hugely important task and can mean the difference between producing a believable message and missing the mark.

When facing a large, complicated project, every bit of organization helps. Cross-functional teams need a multitude of tools at their disposal in order to stay in sync and produce work that the team is proud of and, most importantly, that meets its measurable objectives.

In the world of video production, we get our ducks in a row during the initial phase of a project. We call this time period “preproduction.”

In the preproduction phase, we lay down the rails that the entire film project will run on. So, here are three tips from video land that will help you plan your next big project.

In the era of plentiful data, how does the Creative Professional — who relies on her taste, skill and instinct to make things that other people will consume — navigate a world in which insightful data is every bit as important as her intuition?

It used to be the case that, as a creative professional, her goal was to create something that was both beautiful and effective. Is it good? Does is work? If she could answer “yes” to both of those questions, she’d done her job.

How do you compete in an oversaturated social ad space? In the era of binge-watching and short attentions spans, marketers are challenged with creating content that is to-the-point, adaptive to the platform and personalized. We need to reach audiences with familiar content, reliable content and consumable content.

I wrote my last blog about snackable videos, so I’ll be sticking with the food theme as I take a minute to dive further into consumable content. To make content consumable, we can’t simply dump content on a user and expect the results to be long-lasting. We need to do more than just engage. We need to maintain engagement. So we must create supportive content that is easily accessible and encourages continued relationships. Enter the age-old solution of storytelling.

There are many different tactics one can use for a digital campaign. My personal favorite? Video, of course! Should it be decided that video is going to be utilized for a campaign, then great! I’m a big fan of that decision. 

But before we jump in head first, it’s important for us to understand the objectives of the campaign. We can put our heads together and create the most amazing piece of video the world has ever seen, but if it doesn’t align with our overall strategy, then it doesn’t do us any good. It is our responsibility as creatives to convey the appropriate messaging to the appropriate audiences via the appropriate channels. So the first thing we’ll do is familiarize ourselves with the task at hand and answer a few key questions:

• What are the goals of the campaign?
• Who is our audience?
• What platform or platforms are used to reach that audience?

“Snackable” 6-second ads have been popping up in the digital space, as well as traditional media, for the past year. And now, industry leaders are saying 2018 is “go-time” for these short videos. As attention spans dwindle and the need for on-the-go information rises, these bite-size videos are giving the consumer what they seek and enticing them for more.

Testimonial videos are best utilized when the viewer will likely be moved to action by hearing from a person that he or she considers a peer or a role model (the sentiment being either “I am like that person, so I should behave as he does” or “I want to be like that person, so I should do what she does.”) Testimonials have been utilized as a marketing tactic for many decades for one simple reason: They work. There are many ways to execute a testimonial video; here are two of my favorites.

Our media landscape is becoming more fragmented by the day. Audiences are consuming media (especially video content) across multiple platforms, often at the same time. These changing media habits really underline the question of how can we measure TV and digital video viewing, and then compare it on an apples-to-apples level?