One of the ‘quality inhibitors’ I come across repeatedly as a video guy, is the impression a Client wishes to impart upon their audience. Content gathered, script done, we’re ready to shoot, I bellow “action”, et voila! The impression appears.
I cut together the video, present it to them, they’re happy, and away they go. But something niggles at me every time the impression manifests. By impression, I mean they dilute their presence into a watery ‘version’ of themselves. The downside is this projects onto the product as something, that although inoffensive, is uninteresting and distinctly lacks appeal.
Now don’t get me wrong.. I’m not on a soap box, preaching from a perspective of being holier than thou. My OWN promos in the past, were exactly what I’m talking about; no sense of ‘me’ as the proprietor, no personality, and sure, nice shots, but at the end of the day, about as engaging as an ebb tide in Alice Springs.
So what’s the answer? Do we prostrate ourselves before potential customers, sharing our deepest darkest secrets in a bid to achieve real acceptance? (“there was that time back in college where I… oh, never mind”)
Marketing 101 – give ’em something for nothing.
You, your knowledge, tips, tricks, humour. Be real. Be brave. Engage. Don’t be afraid to be you.
I submit Exhibit A… ‘my new promo’ (psst.. quick tip: pick an interesting thumbnail)
I stepped out from behind the camera (no mean feat when you’re simultaneously operating the thing), and with a lot of help from my Illusionist friend Liam Power, presented something engaging, interesting and unusual. I’ve been told that some of my strengths are passion, intelligence, creativity and sense of humour, so I tried to convey them (unfortunately I didn’t have me on the other side of the camera, saying “nice practice run.. do it again”).
Overall I felt this video wasn’t enough. Sure, it got 1500 views on Facebook in one day, 4700 in a week, and I received 2 direct jobs out of it immediately. But I felt the whole ‘package’ needed a little something extra.
To this end, I submitted Exhibit B… ‘The making of’
Again, I received immense positive response. People marvelled at being able to work out how Liam did a couple of his tricks (he graciously permitted me to reveal this). They loved being able to see the laughs going on, or some of the planning involved, which ultimately led to that particular scene being played out. In essence they got a little something for nothing; a glimpse of what it would be like if they took me on. Mission accomplished.
I’ll put it to you in terms that my marketing-genius friend put it to me.
Her: “Are you the only idiot in Sydney that can operate a camera?”
Me: “Umm…No”
Her: “Are you the cheapest?”
Me: “No”
Her: “So your point of difference is you”
Bingo!
JAMES LOPES
DIRECTOR, ARC SHOT MEDIA