Let’s face it, if you’re a video company then you’ve almost certainly had jobs delayed or cancelled outright because of the coronavirus. We’re all sick of hearing about “the new normal”, but sadly it’s probably true – there is no going back to how we used to work. We have to ask ourselves whether sending film crews out on location is really practical anymore, especially if you’re the one responsible for signing off those pesky risk assessments. Beyond the wellbeing of your crew (which, by the way, should be bang on top of your priority list) – are you going to be liable for damages if your crew super-spread all over your clients premises? I don’t think any of us want to find out.

So, video production as we know it is dead, and as businesses we’re going to have to adapt. We need to rethink how we do filming.

I’ve been working in the corporate film and video production business for the past 15 years, and I’ve lost count of the number of projects I’ve created that combined some really nicely shot interviews with some bang-on-brand motion graphics or animation.  But what happens if you can’t get those interviews, or shots of people in offices? Businesses still need to communicate outward to their customers and inward throughout their organisation – that’s what video has proven so effective at.

So how are businesses going to continue to do this? If they just pull the plug, then they’re going to lose all the momentum they’ve spent years investing in. And as we’re all finding at the moment, good quality and clear communication is critical in a crisis.

What do you think they should do?

 

Should we fall back on what we know?

So, let’s go big on animation!

Animation is a great way of communicating both to customers and to an internal audience. Difficult (or frankly boring) concepts can be made more interesting and engaging. And subject matters that aren’t easily filmed using traditional methods can be explored in detail.

But it can be expensive to create and time consuming to manage – especially if you want something unique.

 

Or try something new – something we thought we hated?

As I said earlier, I’ve lost count of the projects I’ve created that used nicely shot interviews and set them alongside lovely brand animations. But I’ve also probably done more than my fair share of rescue jobs on poorly conceived and filmed employee and user-generated video. It’s because of this that I’ve been fairly sceptical when anyone mentions UGV (user-generated video) – and I’m sure I’m not alone. Nobody likes to be Mr polish-a-turd.

Businesses and organisations that let their untrained employees run roughshod over their media output are taking a big risk. It seems like a recipe for poor quality, poorly executed piles of rubbish that do more harm than good. It’s what’s called in the industry, a shit-show.

But not all UGV is created equal. When you give your employees the right building blocks to work with – including specific tasks & directions – the results can be incredible.

When it’s done right it can reach audiences in a truly meaningful way – it engages at a peer to peer level that polished video just can’t quite manage.

And it’s cost effective too.

So if you’re looking for a new way to communicate with your audience – why not give user-generated video a go?

 

Hang on! How do we get started?

If you’re not sure where to start with user-generated video content, then schedule a call or check out our 3 Golden Rules video series, and we can help get your show on the road. I promise it won’t be a shit-show™