The Communications Department

Josh Warner of Feed Company has posted his list of the top viral video ads of 2009. He notes:

“Regardless of the approach, the key for marketers is a solid understanding of what a brand is, who is the brand’s audience, and what moves them. Strangely enough, this formula sounds like traditional advertising. This year’s Top 10 is certainly a glimpse of how the viral video ad business is evolving, and as marketers, what we can learn from that evolution.”

One observation I have is that I did not stick around for the longer videos (”Signs” is more than 12 minutes long; Microsoft’s “Hosting Your Party” is more than six minutes long). Anything over two minutes has to be pretty compelling to get me to watch to completion. Also the dancing baby video just goes to show, I think, that trying to predict what will go viral is not easy to do. I don’t know that you could script something like that and expect it to take off.

Check out the ten videos at Mashable.

I recently completed a video project that started out as a simple one-day shoot with a little over day to edit. However, as I stepped back and looked at what we created, I was struck by how much video has evolved during the last few years as a viable and cost-effective communication medium, due in large part to improved technology and improved distribution efficiency.

I have a corporate client whose company has an exclusive relationship with a gentleman who is recognized nationally as a leader in his field of expertise. My client would love to bring this gentleman to client meetings, sales finalist meetings and special events, but it just does not make sense from a practical and logistical perspective. So instead of taking this gentleman on the road and filling up every minute of every day with meetings and events, my client asked me to spend a day with the gentleman interviewing him on camera in order to produce a video she could use in place of his physical presence.

While this was a fairly straightforward video project, there are some observations worth noting about using video in this fashion, including:

Video is an effective tool for delivering a clear and specific message. I shot a lengthy interview with the subject matter expert, which gave me a lot of content when it came time for the edit. Working with my client, I was able to whittle down the content in the edit to reflect the exact messages my client wanted to communicate to her audience. The total run time of the video is less than ten minutes, but it clearly and succinctly delivers the key messages for which my client was looking.

The message is consistent. My client wanted this video for distribution to her company’s sales force, which is several hundred people strong and located across the nation. Incorporating the video into each salesperson’s presentation ensures a consistent message from the company with regard to the messages communicated by the gentleman in the video. Since the gentleman is not present to deliver his messages in person, my client does not have to rely on a salesperson’s interpretation and delivery of those key messages. The video delivers those messages consistently the around the country.

Video can be distributed many ways in many formats. The days of producing a video, making a bunch of duplications on VHS and distributing via the postal system are long gone. For this project, my client requested a few DVDs for key locations where they were having an event. However, the primary distribution channel was online through an internal Web portal. My client uploaded the video along with an updated sales presentation PowerPoint to the portal. I embedded the video in one version of the PowerPoint. In another version, a PowerPoint slide has a link to the video. My client ultimately will decide which way is best for her organization. The flexibility in format also significantly reduced cost due to the elimination of duplications and shipping fees.

Video can have a lengthy shelf life. From one interview on one afternoon, my client has a video her company can use for many months, perhaps even years, as long as the key messages do not change much over time. In this instance, I believe that will be the case and she will get at least a year out of the video.

As I prepared  for a couple of trips this summer, I found myself relying on user-generated review sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp to help me make decisions about hotels and places to eat. As a result, I started to wonder about the impact of these reviews ultimately have on business. After a little research, I came across a comScore study, which included these interesting tidbits of information:

• Nearly one out of every four Internet users (24%) reported using online reviews prior to paying for a service delivered offline.
• Of those who consulted an online review, 41 % of restaurant reviewers subsequently visited a restaurant.
• More than three-quarters of review users in nearly every category reported that the review had a significant influence on their purchase, with hotels ranking the highest (87 percent).
• Study participants were willing to pay up to 50% more for a meal for a high user-review rating.

(Source: comScore and The Kelsey Group, 11/29/07)

As for the accuracy of the reviews? “Ninety-seven percent of those surveyed who said they made a purchase based on an online review said they found the review to have been accurate.”

From my perspective and the influence user-generated reviews had on my purchasing decisions, the study rings true.

So what’s a business to do? A great place to start is Google. Google your business and look for the “reviews” link. Google pulls reviews from multiple sources, so business owners can see which sites contain reviews. Also, check out the more popular user-generated review sites, like Yelp.com, TripAdvisor.com and OpenTable.com. Some sites, like TripAdvisor, allow the business owner to respond to specific reviews so readers can get both sides of the story. Once you get a sense of what’s out there, think about how user-generated reviews factor into your social media marketing strategy. 

I think this study makes a compelling argument regarding the impact of user-generated reviews on the bottom line. Businesses, especially hotels, restaurants and other service-related businesses, need to know that people are talking about them and it may be costing them a lot of money.

I guess it’s true. No one reads anymore, even when they’re supposed to be reading. According to a story in USA Today, CBS and Pepsi Max recently announced that they would run an ad promoting the upcoming Fall television season in Entertainment Weekly that shows video clips of upcoming CBS programs. The video runs on a wafer-thin screen and, according to the story, “the sound is akin to one of those talking, musical greeting cards.”

And, remarkably, the player can contain up to 40 minutes of video and play continuously for up to six hours.

The article does not state the cost for producing the video ads and insert. However, as with most things, as the technology grows and become more prevalent, the odds are good that whatever the price is, it will come down over time.

There are several implications of this technology that are interesting to think about. Imagine medical text books with video and sounds of surgical procedures, or health benefits collateral with a video explaining how your health savings account works. Kind of makes me think of the newspapers with the moving images in the Harry Potter movies. 

The improved portability of the video also is impressive. We are now viewing video without the need for a device to view it – no DVD or VHS player or Internet hook-up required. Video just got even more portable, which is quite a statement when you consider the recent advances in just the last two years in video playback on handheld devices like cellphones and PDAs.

I’m not sure of the quality of the video that will be used in the ad. There’s only so much you can expect on a screen that thin and only 2-inch-by-1.5-inch screen. But I’m guessing the quality will be fine for what CBS and Pepsi Max are hoping to accomplish: getting some buzz about the new television season.

I look forward to seeing where this technology is going to take us. Hopefully, I won’t have to explain to my grandkids what a book is. But then again, I have explained to my son all about records and 8-track tapes.

This is progress, right?

My previous post “A ‘Twitter for Business’ Reality Check has led to this article on Ragan.com. Ragan Communications is the leading trade industry organization for corporate communicators.

A baseball team’s fledgling tweeter makes his pitch

My thanks to Lindsey Miller at Ragan!

I recently learned that there is a significant difference between blogging and Tweeting about how to use blogs and Twitter to communicate and grow business and actually using these tools for those purposes. Here are some insights I have gained as the guy handling the Twitter account for the Holyoke Blue Sox of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. I’m filling this role right now because The Communication Department’s value proposition is that I can become either an extension of an existing corporate communications department or a virtual communications department for clients who do not have the resources to employ a full-time communications professional. My role with the Blue Sox is the latter and includes overseeing marketing and communications for the team, so I’m doing the Tweeting in the short term until I transition the responsibility to one of our several interns.

The Challenging Stuff

• It is tough to Tweet from the road. I recently had a meeting near Boston, which is about an hour-and-a-half drive each way. While it is not illegal to text while driving in Massachusetts (at least not yet), it is not something I like to do. Between drive time and meeting time, I was away from Twitter about five hours, during which time I wanted to tweet about our recent deal with radio station ESPN 1450 AM WHLL, the local ESPN affiliate in Springfield, MA. It had to wait until I got back. So much for the real-time nature of the application.
• I could not have Tweeted from the road, anyway. Most of my Tweeting is done via laptop. While I do have the Twitterberry application on my BlackBerry, it would not let me switch from @_DaveS (my Twitter account) to @HolyokeBlueSox, and I wanted to Tweet as the team, not me. I have since added the TinyTwitter application to my BlackBerry and set it up as @HolyokeBlueSox. So far, so good.
• I missed an opportunity. Before I had TinyTwitter on my BlackBerry, we had a radio interview at ESPN 1450 AM WHLL in Springfield, MA, to promote the upcoming season. Without laptop and WiFi access, I could not Tweet from the interview. So my first Tweet afterward was something like “Just finished interview at ESPN 1450 AM to promote upcoming season.” Not terribly exciting.
• I don’t make it to every game. I attend as many home games as I can, but rarely travel with the team. I like to Tweet real time game activity, but I can’t be there for every inning. So far none of our followers have said anything, but it’s a challenge. This should change when the intern(s) take over the game day Tweeting.
• I was surprised that none of the interns were using Twitter.They were all Facebook only folks. Speaks to the generational aspect of Twitter, I guess.

The Good Stuff

• Overall, handling the Blue Sox Twitter account has gotten easier. I’m online most of the day. I have my @_DaveS account open on my desktop using TweetDeckand the @HolyokeBlueSox account open using Twhirl. I have a column set up on TweetDeck for Tweets with Blue Sox so I can monitor those Tweets.
• We’re building a nice following of local folks on Twitter. It was cool to see people Tweeting about the game during the home opener.
• The real time nature is a plus. It was great to Tweet about in real time as our players were drafted during the Major League Baseball draft.
• I try to keep our Tweets interesting. I have used Twitter to give away free tickets to games, which has helped our marketing efforts. I will use it to promote our YouTube channel. I also use it to promote upcoming home games and to share information about our players.
• TinyTwitter has been an easy and effective application for my BlackBerry.
• Twitter is a different way to engage people.Interaction with individual Blue Sox fans via Twitter is different from the normal communication channels like e-mail and print.
• Twitter has been an additional channel to promote our sponsors. This has been a nice value-add that we will discuss with them when renewing their sponsorships next season.
• I learn things. One of our followers told me about a social networking site (www.holyoke.ning.com) for the city of Holyoke, which I did not know about. I have set up the Blue Sox on the site, which has connected us to a community of folks I did not know existed.
• We are where the media are. We are connected through Twitter to some of the local media outlets, which helps us gain exposure in the area. The local newspaper has re-Tweeted some of my Tweets.
• The more we Tweet, the better.I Tweet throughout the day and find that I will pick up additional followers the more frequently I tweet. Number of updates is often a factor when someone is deciding whether or not to follow you. So if we have a healthy number of updates, it becomes obvious that we are active on Twitter. People prefer to follow active Twitterers.

The Fun Stuff

• I like to keep up with the competition. We follow the other teams in the NECBL who are on Twitter and see how they’re using the tool.
• I often re-Tweet the Blue Sox Tweet through my @_DaveS account.My network of followers is bigger than the Blue Sox network right now, so I’ll re-Tweet to get the Tweets to more people. One time I did a re-Tweet and @HolyokeBlueSox thanked me for the re-Tweet. I responded that I was glad to do it. Of course, this was a conversation between me, myself and I. (I don’t recommend doing this a lot. You could lose credibility.)

This has been an eye-opening experience about the realities of using Twitter for business. As I have worked out some of the kinks, managing the account has become easier and I believe Tweeting has helped raise awareness of the team in the region, which has led to some ticket sales. As for what happens next, how does that cliché go? We’ll just take it one game at a time.

Here are some interesting statistics regarding the adoption of social media among North American corporate communicators.

“Social media played a greater role in 2008 in North American corporate communications departments than in European ones. Nearly two in 10 (18%) communications departments in North America relied upon social media/blogging in 2008 as communications tools/resources, compared to less than one in 10 (7%) in Europe. Further, nearly twice as many North American CCOs report they added a social media/blogging function to their department in 2008 as European CCOs (41% vs. 22%, respectively). However, European CCOs are just as likely as their North American peers to expect social media to grow as a critical tool in 2009 (26% and 30%, respectively).” (Source: The Rising CCO, an annual survey conducted by global executive search firm Spencer Stuart and global public relations firm Weber Shandwick with KRC Research.)

While the comparison is interesting, the bottom line is that the use of social media tools and the need for people with the skills to use them effectively continue to rise.

So many of the conversations about corporate communications revolve around how to do it efficiently and effectively and with impact. All critical goals, but what if we can communicate in way that can positively affect the health of the person to whom the communication is directed?

I have the good fortune to work with some friends who are committed to bringing people together to explore social conditions that are the major influences of health and illness.  (For more on their work, check out www.communitiesofhealth.org.) Working with them has given me access to some interesting thinking about the underlying causes of poor health, as well as unconventional approaches to improving health.

Recently, four articles in particular have given me pause to think about how we approach communications in an organization could potentially positively influence the overall health of an individual. (The approach also could have a negative health impact, but for this blog posting I will only focus on the positive.)

The four articles are:

“Love is Real Medicine”– In this Newsweek article Dr. Dean Ornish wrote a few years ago, he highlights studies he conducted demonstrating the positive impacts relationships have on people who had heart attacks.

“What are Friends For? A Longer Life” — A recent NY Times article highlighting a study that shows people with good friendships live longer and are healthier than those without close relationships.

“Ning Hits 1 Million Social Networks”– The one millionth social network was recently created using the build-it-yourself Ning platform.

“Whitehall II Study” — The last piece is not an article, but a study. The study was “set up by Professor Sir Michael Marmot to investigate the importance of social class, psychosocial factors and life style as determinants of disease by following a cohort of 10,308 men and women.” The study found the following:

A person’s health is influenced by the conditions in which he or she lives and works. The “Work, Stress and Health” booklet summarises some key findings from the Whitehall II study including:

• The more senior someone is in the employment hierarchy, the longer he or she might be expected to live compared to people in lower employment grades.
• The combination of high demands and low control at work predicts poor health.
• Workers reporting high effort-reward imbalance are at increased risk of coronary hearth disease and poor health.
• A healthy diet, exercise and quitting smoking all reduce the risk of disease and promote well-being.

After reading these and other writings on the connections between relationships, stress, autonomy and health, I am left wondering if health improvement could be an effective goal and measurement for a company’s communications strategy. If the anwer is yes, how could we achieve something like that? Other questions to consider include:

• With social media becoming a larger part of corporate communications strategies, is it possible to leverage them in such a way so they become a mechanism for people to form genuine friendships? What would that look like? Should an employer encourage these kinds of relationships?
• How can a company use an application like Ning to create a platform for communications that give employees a sense of autonomy and control? What kind of control would a company have to let go of to make this happen?
• How can knowledge of the benefits of relationships and autonomy influence a commuincation strategy and implementation?

I am sure there are more questions and implications from thinking about communications as a driver for improving health, so feel free to post them here. In the meantime, I will keep searching for the study that shows hanging out on Facebook has better health benefits as hitting the treadmill. You never know. This stuff is always developing . . .

I am moderating a panel discussion and facilitating a breakout session at the half-day workshop “Online Impact. Tapping Twitter, Facebook & Other Tools To Grow Your Business”

If you’ve ever wondered about the biggest social media tools of the day, what they are and how to use them to grow your business, then this is the place to be.

For more about the event, including agenda and presenter information, check out the event page at www.onlineimpact.eventbrite.com.

Hope to see you there!

As video explodes on the Web and more senior leaders look to their communications teams to use the medium as quickly and efficiently (sometimes read “cheaply”) as possible, an overlooked aspect of really good video production is really good audio production. From sound quality of the person speaking to the music chosen for the production, audio can make or break your efficiently produced video.

With that in mind, I have chosen for my first-ever podcast to spend a few minutes with Warren Amerman, owner of The Rotary Records, to discuss the role well-produced audio plays in creating truly effective communications.  Warren has spent the last three years converting an old church into a state-of-the-art recording studio, comparable to anything you would find in Boston or New York — if not better, and definitely for less cost.