Welcome to the Weekly Video Round-Up!

Every week we provide a look at how companies are using video to communicate effectively with customers, employees and investors.

VIDEO PROFILE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Young and Free Alberta

Young and Free Alberta is a website powered by Servus Credit Union, which targets young Albertans and provides tips and financial information specifically for this age group. The organization recognized that young people were not well served by the financial industry, and sought to change the dynamic of the relationship by creating a platform that addresses young people directly, on financial issues that matter to them.  Using Social Media applications such as Facebook, Twitter and the Young and Free blog, not to push information but to facilitate conversation with their audience, Young and Free gain a greater understanding of what they want to know about.  Young and Free then produces a regular web series called Living Young and Free Show that tackles these concerns and creates scenarios that solve regular financial problems. The production quality may not be that great, but the authentic young hosts and subject matter is right on target for the audience as it addresses issues that are normally intimidating, in a way that is approachable and understandable for young viewers.

SUCCESSFUL VIDEOS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Don’t Wake Up In A Ditch

The plot of this video is simple; if you don’t have Direct TV bad things happen to you.  Scare tactics rarely work in advertising but this one is pretty convincing.

29 Ways to Stay Creative

Brought to you by Get out of the Box, a non-profit organization that motivates and mentors youth. A very creative video itself, we like the simple imagery and inspiring message.

Smart Thief

This video totally takes you by surprise in what appears to be regular security camera footage of a robbery, but actually turns out to be an ad from LG. They barely give it away at the end with the LG sign in the window.

Welcome to the Weekly Video Round-Up!

Every week we provide a look at how companies are using video to communicate more effectively with customers, employees and investors.

VIDEO PROFILE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Internal Videos Go External

As part of their ongoing workplace safety efforts, Encana recently produced a training video focused on safe driving. The video was created to facilitate conversation amongst workers and create awareness of safe practices for driving work vehicles. What Encana did differently however, is post the video publicly on their YouTube channel, as opposed to posting it on an internal website. Not only did this make it easier for employees to access the video, but from a Public Relations standpoint it shows that Encana is a safety conscious organization, constantly making efforts to train employees properly and provide resources to prevent accidents from happening further.

SUCCESSFUL VIDEOS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Heineken Beer Friender

Heineken is relying completely on social media for their latest Christmas campaign, and integrated with video into their strategy to market their idea and spread the word. This is one of the more clever social media campaigns we’ve seen, although it may be easier to just buy it yourself.

Kittywood Studios

This clever video was launched with the intent to mock the agency and production world with the launch of Kittywood Studios. The video quickly went viral, boosting the producer’s image in the process.

Great Films Fill Rooms

Sony created a series of videos to promote the new Playstation Video Store. Each video was created with the intent to show a virtual world. Shot in real time, one take, no editing or post-production. The effects really are unbelievable!

Welcome to the Weekly Video Round-Up!

Every week we provide a look at how companies are using video to communicate more effectively with customers, employees and investors.

VIDEO PROFILE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Marketing Videos

Alberta Oil magazine recently produced a video of the Syncrude’s Research Nerve center, reviewing how the facility has been used for Oilsands development and research. This video was then posted on YouTube and the Alberta Oil Magazine website. Additionally, a QR code on the cover of Alberta Oil links directly to the article and video online. This is a great way to integrate video into traditional marketing campaigns. Video can complement and enhance any written piece or article, by providing a visual experience to the story you’re telling. Or in some cases, eliminate the need for written material entirely. Why tell your audience, when you can show?

SUCCESSFUL VIDEOS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Carlsburg Beer

This video shows innocent and un-suspecting couples looking for a nice night at the movies, only to be met with a theatre full of tough-looking dudes. Cleverly placed cameras capture every horrified reaction. The reward for those who dare take a seat anyways? A beer, of course!

CTV Morning Live Outtakes

We’ve all seen those newsroom outtakes that were never meant to be aired, but ended up becoming viral hits once they hit the internet. Calgary’s own CTV Morning Crew had plenty of funny moments when shooting their latest promos, but decided to have a good sense of humour about it and post them on their YouTube page for everyone to enjoy.

Toyota Venza Social Network

A hilarious spot produced by Toyota, pointing out the obvious anti-social behaviour of today’s generation, and how life doesn’t seem to exist outside of our online social networks. Toyota made the clear argument that online profiles don’t count as living, go out and buy a car and that’s when the real fun begins.

Earlier this month, Nike launched their “Chosen One” video campaign, which challenges snowboarders, skiers, surfers, skateboarders, BMX riders and the like from around the world to submit videos of their crews’ talents.

Entrants are to submit a five minute video and will be judged on style, creativity and originality. The harder you push the boundaries, the more extreme you get, the better. The ultimate prize is the chance to live like a sponsored pro; complete with product deals, travel, and access to any and all industry events.

Videos are posted on the Nike Chosen website as well as their Facebook page so fans can follow all the action, and support their favorite crew.

Nike took a unique turn from their usual campaigns of sponsoring top athletes and instead turned the camera to the public, offering the opportunity of a lifetime, and smartly utilized social media to launch the idea. This is a great example of how a big brand can use the power of video and social media to connect with consumers and gain some great exposure.

JetSlides : Online Presentation Builder

Emergencies, accidents and disasters can strike at any moment, requiring corporations or organizations to deal with difficult public relations challenges. And in an age when everyone has a video camera built into their mobile devices, it’s important for PR professionals to recognize that footage of a disaster might make it to YouTube long before anyone in the mainstream press catches wind of it.

An example is when video footage of a fire at a CNRL heavy oil site, near Fort McMurray, Alberta, wound up on YouTube almost instantly.

As you can see from the video, the unauthorized YouTube footage was used in the actual news report. CNRL didn’t even have a chance to control the situation first, and the various user responses to the YouTube posting were very unfriendly towards the company.

This proves the need for an emergency PR strategy to include plans for handling the spread of information on social media networks. Because it’s not just the mainstream media that can affect your company’s reputation. Word spreads fast on Twitter and Facebook, and anyone interested in seeing video of a disaster is going to visit YouTube before they tune their televisions to local news shows.

Video is an especially important tool in your social media plans. By posting your ‘official’ video statements and Broll footage, you can head off sketchy amateur footage and stop the spread of misinformation and panic. You negate the need of bystanders to post speculative stories by immediately offering the public all the facts and proper context about an emergency situation. It even gives the mainstream press a good place to start getting a handle on the situation, before arriving at your press conference.

Zoom : Calgary Corporate Video