SVG Shoots Two Marketing Videos for Arch Painting

This week, Skillman Video Group shot two online promotional videos for for Arch Painting, a Boston area company providing quality painting and wallcovering throughout New England. Wednesday’s shoot showcased Arch Painting’s superior craftsmanship in residential home painting, and on Thursday the shoot was based around the company’s quality work for commercial clients. Skillman Video used a combination of client testimonials, footage of the professional painting crew in action, and a voiceover outlining Arch Painting’s capacities as a company.

Making two videos was essential to the success of Arch Painting’s marketing campaign. Commercial and residential clients are looking for very different capabilities from a painting company. A residential home may be concerned about the painters’ cleanliness and friendly attitude, where a business may need the painting to be done quickly and for the paint crew to work seamlessly within the space while business continues as usual. Combining these specific needs into one video would force the company to leave out important information that could, in turn, lead to missing out on important clients.

If your company’s client base is broad, sometimes one video for your website or social media pages isn’t enough. If you try to reach every group of customers in one clip, trying to include all the necessary information will lead to the video being too long. Online customers are not the most patient people, and probably won’t wait through a 15-minute video to learn what they need to know about your company. On the other hand, if you cut out too much information to shorten the video, you risk viewers not learning enough about how wonderful your company is. By breaking the information down into several shorter videos aimed at specific clients, the information they need is presented in a simplified way, making it more likely they will learn about all the advantages of your business.

If your business has a broad client base, talk to Skillman Video Group, and we’ll work to find the best way for you to reach each and every one of them.

SVG shoots viral instructional video for Brewster Home Fashions

A couple weeks ago, Skillman Video Group shot an instructional video on wallpaper installation for Brewster Home Fashions, a Boston-based manufacturer and distributor of fine wall coverings and home décor. This video will be posted to Brewster’s website to enhance their online visibility and web-based marketing. As mentioned previously, on Wednesday we built the set for this video, using drywall flats, paint, and a little elbow grease to give it the appearance of a real room in a home. It was the first time SVG had built a set for a shoot, working with the client to ensure that the space was optimal. By Wednesday night, the set was ready to go, with white walls just begging for a fun, new wall treatment.

The stylistic choice for this instructional video was  shots of our talent, Lauren,  putting up the wallpaper in her

“room”, and a narration recorded separately to be added in later. The video covered the most common issues a homeowner might have when installing wallpaper, such as insuring the first sheet is straight, successfully navigating around a corner, and working around outlets, light switches, and doorways.  A scripted narration is a great option for a how-to video; it ensures that the instructions are succinct and easy to follow, and takes the pressure off the on-camera talent to get the information out and allows him or her to focus on doing the job right.

Once again, a video like this can be a great way to introduce potential customers to your company. The use of a real customer like Lauren with the straightforward instructional narration gives the client a look at the beautiful wallpapers Brewster Home Fashions has, and the simple, stress-free application of the product.

This two-day shoot was a success, and the “room” looked fabulous after it got a makeover with a fantastic Brewster Home Fashions wallpaper. We were able to shoot some more footage for our “behind the scenes” video, which will give people a glimpse at the process from start to finish. Check in soon to see the final product!

Video Lectures: Making the Classroom Portable

This past Sunday, SVG produced a video lecture for Vardit Ringwald, Professor of Hebrew and Director of the Hebrew and Arabic Languages program at Brandies University. Multimedia is nothing new to Professor Ringwald, who has been recording video lectures for a few years now. Allowing students to not have to be in a physical class room allows for very flexible learning. Students can start and stop lectures at their convenience to further their knowledge of Hebrew studies, or any type of study for that matter.

Video can never replace the one-on-one interaction that comes from being in a class room nor should it, but it can be a tremendous help to people that would have to otherwise commute great distances or simply cannot afford to attain the knowledge that they seek. With the astronomical price of higher education, spreading free knowledge is somewhat of a rarity. However schools including MIT and Yale offer many classes online and free to anyone with an Internet connection. Some might say that video lectures are a cheap substitute for “real” education, they’re probably the same people that charge college students forty to fifty thousand dollars a year. In a time when America struggles to keep its place as the most influential country in the world, every little bit of knowledge helps.

SVG Produces Live Event Video for Abram Little-Gill Lobrefeld PC Conference and Newton Marriott

On Tuesday, Abram Little-Gill Loberfeld PC held a conference at the Boston Marriott Newton Hotel. Skillman Video Group was in attendance to capture the event. The event was not exclusive to Abram Little-Gill Loberfeld employees as many of their local partners were in attendance from business associates to bankers. The topic of the day was tax law. Multiple speakers shed light on the intricacies of the codes and regulations.

A very interesting point that was raised had to do with bank closings. During the recent financial crisis, only one bank in all of Massachusetts had to close its doors. This was due to a conservative community that did not invest in a lot of the toxic assets that lead to so many banks going under. Sometimes sticking with what works is the most innovative thing a person or organization can do. Skillman Video Group understands this and knows that quality video production is a tried and true method of spreading your message, be it tax law or anything else you care to share.  Have a live event coming up?  Call Skillman Video Group today to see how quickly and affordably you can video tape & edit your presentations, lectures or meetings!

Skillman Video Shoots Safety and Training Videos for Feeney Brothers Excavation Company

Last week, Skillman Video Group did a shoot for Feeney Brothers Excavation Corporation, located in Dorchester, Massachusetts.  FBEC is a contractor for the gas, electric, water and telecommunications industries. Skillman Video Group shot several types of videos, including truck safety, on-site procedures, and several instructional videos on the operation of various pieces of equipment. The shoot was done over two days, both on location and at the Feeney Brother’s headquarters. We used two cameras and the knowledgeable FBEC employees to walk us through the precise and often complicated steps of operating hydraulic machinery.

Feeney Brothers Excavation Company is dedicated to the safety of its employee’s, partners, and customers, and so their use of training videos will be helpful in the future success of their company. A Safety and Training video can be a great way to introduce new employees to the equipment and procedures of your company, or can give other members of your team a refresher course whenever they need it. While instructing your employees one-on-one can be tedious and somewhat overwhelming, a video insures that all of the information is covered in a succinct, understandable way. When working with dangerous or hazardous materials, it is very important for everyone in your company to be up to date and informed, and by having a safety and training video available as a resource, they can access this information at any point and keep your business running smoothly.

For several years, I worked at a company that built packaging for microwave and RF components that went to aerospace. Because we worked with such delicate, sensitive parts, every year we went through Electrostatic safety training, where we learned about the various equipment and procedures used to keep the parts safe from any errant electrostatic. Every year, my coworkers and I sat through a laughably out-dated PowerPoint slideshow, complete with corny sound effects and horrible clip art. The layout was hard to follow and the information was not easy to decipher, so at the end of the presentation every year, people had lots of questions.  I think if there was an updated video that had the same information but delivered it in a way that was easy to follow, it would have been much more effective, and the training could’ve been half as long.

Time is money, but making safety and training a priority should never be sacrificed.  By delivering all safety and training information in simple, understandable videos, you can be sure that everyone is informed and your company continues to work efficiently.

Breaking the Fifth Wall: What Dunder Mifflin Teaches Us About Marketing and the Human Psyche

If you haven’t seen an episode of NBC’s long-running comedic hit, The Office, you’ve probably at least heard of it. While telling the tale of a paper company locked in a constant battle against, one: the shrinking demand for paper, and two, the bottom barrel prices of its bigger competitors, The Office is actually quite funny. Originally conceived by British comedian Ricky Gervais, it became a hit in the UK before the US adaptation made Michael Scott (Steve Carrel) and Dunder Mifflin household names. While the show is funny, what made it unique was it’s constant “breaking of the fourth wall,” a technique thought too taboo for primetime TV, or at least prime-time fiction. Reality shows had done a version of this, but that’s how they’re formatted. Fiction is different, it is supposed to be observed, and not interacted with.

On The Office, characters send quick glances directly to the camera and subsequently to the viewer. They also speak directly to the camera, “confessional” style. Something that all people share is a need to be “on the inside.” They want to be included, sit at the cool kids’ table, get VIP access; they want the inside track. Having characters speak directly to viewers gave them that sense, and now tons of shows do the exact same thing. Another great TV comedy is Community, which in a recent episode discussed how Hearts of Darkness, the documentary about the making of Francis Ford Copolla’s epic Apocalypse Now, was actually a better movie than Apocalypse Now. What Community was trying to say is that while people like the end product, be it a movie or a pencil, they like to know who made the pencil and what they went through to make it.

So where does a fictional company like Dunder Mifflin go once its show has broken the fourth wall? Well, it breaks the fifth wall and becomes a real paper company. Ironically, the fictional company’s biggest competitor, Staples, has now, in real life, bought the rights to the Dunder Mifflin name to help sell paper on their Quill.com website. In a race to the bottom of paper prices, they intend on selling paper of the same quality as their competitors for higher prices, simply because it has the name of a fictional paper company on it. However, Dunder Mifflin is no longer a fictional company. No it does not have Michael Scott and his antics, but it does have real employees with a real product. Folks can take care of their paper needs with boxes labeled with all the best catch phrases from the show.

What does this reverse product placement tell us about ourselves? That’s another topic for another blog post, but in short, it tells us that people will spend more on a product that means something to them. This type of sentiment is hard to put a number value on, but is nothing to be scoffed at. If you let your customers in, and provide them with something that they feel they have ownership over, great things can happen. Something else to take away is to not let fear stop you. Doing what is taboo and doing what could “never work” is exactly what needs to be done to innovate and stand out. Breaking the 4^th wall was a risky move but it paid off in spades, and most importantly, The Office was first to do it.

Reverse product placement is nothing new; many brands have tried this before with mixed success. What the real life paper company should have learned from the fictional one is not to wait. The Office has been on a decline for the past few seasons and no longer has its centerpiece, Steve Carrel. This move probably would have been timelier years ago when the show was at its peak of popularity. Whether you’re creating paper or a corporate video, don’t be afraid to do it with style and to stand outside of the norm. Skillman Video Group provides innovation for all of its clients. We will happily help you tackle taboos, break down walls, or at the very least, make a great video.

The Viral Video Virus

Picture a time before YouTube; too difficult to remember that far back? Born in 2005, the video giant is only 6 years old. It grew up quickly and was bought for a cool $1.65 billion barely a year after its inception by a little company called Google. More video content is uploaded to YouTube in any given sixty day period than all 3 major US TV networks have created in 60 years. Large and small companies alike realize the importance for quality video content. Not only is the Web already saturated with video, it is equally saturated with articles about why video content is important.

Better search optimization, more intimate fan/customer engagement, and the ease of viewing vs. reading are only some of video’s selling points. These days, everybody wants a viral video. Is going viral the only thing that matters though, and more importantly, is YouTube the only destination? Not every video is going to go viral; by definition it is impossible. Viral videos are great, but they’re the junk food of the video world. Everyone loves them, they’re easy to consume, and often times they don’t have much substance behind them.

A fascinating lecture given by a brilliant astrophysicist probably won’t garner as many views as Lady Gaga’s latest hit, but does this mean that the lecture is of lesser value or quality? The two videos, simply put, contain different content with different intentions. As ostensibly easy as shooting and posting a video has become, it can be just as easy to forget that not all content is created equally, and that not all content serves the same purpose.

Anyone can shoot decent looking video on an iPhone, but can they add quality sound, smooth editing, and a concise story? Who is the audience? Is the video intended for the Web only or will it have internal purposes? Is its sole intention to make people laugh or to convey a serious message, or both? While it has become drastically easier to produce video content, it’s as hard as ever to make it good and worth watching, especially with all the competition. Skillman Video Group knows this, which is why we make sure everyone of our clients knows what they want and what their expectations are before any cameras start rolling. If viral is the goal, let’s make it, but if reaching a specific audience is the end game, we’ll make sure your video is worth their while, and more importantly, that they know it exists.

SVG Shoots Product Marketing Videos for the Smart Track Toolkit; Time to Take Notes!

On Wednesday, the 17^th of November, we shot a series of product marketing videos for Smart Track Toolkit. While we here at Skillman Video Group do our best to simplify video production for our clients, the folks at Smart Track work to make the incredibly laborious process of college applications not only easier, but more time and cost effective for both prospective students and their parents. From college funding to test prep, they aim to help all burgeoning high school students; they even have a dedicated student athlete marketing system.

Being a web-based product, Smart Track understands the need for Internet marketing, so they hired us to produce marketing and promotional content for their YouTube channel, DVD distribution and their web site. Filmed at Powderhouse Productions’ studio in Somerville, the subjects were shot on a simple white background with two cameras were rolling at all times. While participants had a teleprompter to read from, the main goal was to make sure that it didn’t seem as though they were, they needed to seem like they were having a conversation. Audiences don’t want to be talked at; they want to be talked to. Everyone from Smart Track passed with flying colors.  Please contact us today to see how marketing your product or service on the Internet can increase new business for your company!  To see pictures of our shoot with the Smart Track Tool Kit, please visit our Face Book page.

The Importance of Video on Your Website’s Home Page

The impact of a video on your website’s Homepage can be significant. It plays a key role with conversions since it can give viewers an immediate and visceral experience on what it would be like working with you.  A video can also help with Search Engine Optimization and driving search engine traffic as well since you can optimize them with landing pages and strategic linking.  Not to mention the use your video may have with Social Media!

To evaluate the effect your video is having on conversions an important statistic to note is your “drop off rate”. When people first visit your website’s home page – what do they do? Do they immediately drop off or “bounce” and leave your site because they don’t like what they see? Or, even worse, they can’t find (immediately) what they are looking for? Video can play a key role in keeping and holding those web visitors and ultimately converting those visitors at a much higher rate.  Having a video professionally produced is helpful since it is imperative your audience understands the mission of your business and how it connects to their needs and can help solve their problems.   The quality of your video does matter, since your marketing video will directly impact how your business or service is viewed.

Imagine one of Skillman Video Group’s professional videos on your Homepage: flattering lighting scheme, rich color contrast, exceptional sound quality and editing. Each element enhances your vision, your mission, and your connection to potential clients. In your industry, you are the expert but when it comes to Video Production and Video Marketing, Skillman Video Group can help you achieve your goal of creating a greater connection with your viewers and thereby also improving the performance of your website.

An SVG video on your Homepage highlights whatever topic you choose, so prospective clients have a clear understanding of your business’ goals and achievements. Formal or informal, a video will catch the eye of the browser so he or she is able to make an informed decision about your services or products. Contact Skillman Video Group today to learn more about “video conversion points”.

FutureM and SVG: Video at the Speed of Twitter

What is FutureM?

A looking glass into the future of marketing.

Who’s at Future M?

Skilllman Video Group.

Shopximity invited SVG to tape their presentation at Future M, a marketing conference held in Boston focusing on the impact of technology on marketing. They asked us to shoot, edit, and upload a video of their presentation in 24 hours. They wanted to get the video up while the conference was still going on. It’s like a well-produced video tweet from Shopximity. For us it felt like a 24 hour race made possible by technology and our experience in fast production.

The SVG produced video should be up today. The idea of video at the speed of twitter is especially interesting to us. Instant video production might be perfect for clients who want to post while traveling or at events or any situation where time is crucial. With the world becoming more instantaneous, more 24/7, getting the word out about your company or event with near-instant professional video from anywhere will be expected. And it has to look better than the usual talk-into-the-webcam stuff you see on YouTube.

We’re going to stay ahead of this trend and keep providing fast, high-quality content.

This conference was the perfect event for us to tape. SVG believes strongly in pushing the boundaries of marketing. That’s why we embrace an integrated approach to video, social media, SEO, web design, and so on. Shopximity presented ideas about mobile technology as the new frontier of marketing. They have plans for integrating video content and interactive shopping on mobile devices. We’ll have to keep an eye on where this interactive mobile video marketing goes too.

Stay tuned to SVG’s blog for more insights into the future of video marketing.

UPDATE: Watch the video on our channel.

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