Skillman Video Group’s Video of the Week
Welcome to Skillman Video Group’s Video of the Week, which has returned after a short hiatus. The purpose of the series is to examine what helps to make a successful marketing campaign. This week’s video is a commercial from Apple showcasing their recently launched iPad. For those who are unfamiliar with the product, the iPad is a large touch screen that allows users to surf the Internet, read books and listen to music.
Apple is known for having simple advertisements and this trend continues with their iPad commercial. The 30-second ad is a montage of various people using the iPad. Except for perhaps two seconds, the product is the focal point of the screen. The purpose of the advertisement is for viewers to see this new product, so Apple wastes little time on other visuals. The short and repeated use of the phrase “the iPad is…” ingrains the idea that the iPad is indeed a lot of spectacular things—take your pick, one is bound to suit you. The repetitive phrase is an age-old practice and is still used for a reason—it drives the message into the viewer’s head. Fortunately for you, this technique can be used in almost any marketing video.
This commercial really works though because it shows the product in use. We can visualize what it would be like to own the product for a short period of time. The face of a user is never revealed. Doing so forces our attention to the product, which is central to this video and should be done in others by keeping the product the focus of the frame. Throughout the clip we see flashes of what the iPad has to offer: users reading The New York Times, playing games, watching a movie. This is a wonderful technique that could be applied to other product videos: show don’t tell. Take advantage of powerful medium that is video and bring your viewer into the world of your product.
Interested in developing a video to market your company? Contact Skillman Video Group to get started.
Skillman Video Group’s Method for Successful Videos
One of the most key components of any type of marketing is knowing what appeals to your audience. This is also the most difficult because it requires you to isolate what you like from what you know your audience will like. For example, if your target age group is 10 years old, chances are a simple video showing a man sitting in an office will not hold their attention. Part of our job in video production and marketing at Skillman Video Group is to help you discover what will best engage your desired client and then design a production plan around that desired result.
In correlation with this task, we employ our simple but successful method for video production and Internet marketing. Throughout our process, we strive to be professional. “Professional” for us merely means that extensive thought and a custom strategy to engage your audience have gone into each and every step of producing your video. Whether you are going for the “flip cam self-produced” look or “super slick and polished” (or anywhere in between) it is important to have a well planned and thought out strategy behind it. Taking the time to understand what your audience will appreciate, ensures a successful video project. “Professional” means creating a video that will best work for you, and give you the highest return on investment possible.
Once we determine the story we will be telling in your video, we begin the filming process with the visuals. We construct a well-framed shot with an appropriate backdrop and good lighting in order to create the most visually pleasing video possible. Next, we insure those acting within the frame are well coached and directed so their actions match the mood of the video, whether it be direct, aggressive, outrageous etc. Our final step in creating a video is the high-quality editing, where we make sure only the best remains and that it comes together as a professional video tailored to your needs. Any video produced at Skillman Video Group will go through this same system and thought process. And the result will always be a professional video that was created to appeal directly to your audience.
Online Marketing Videos
At Skillman Video Group we believe, when used correctly, online marketing videos are of the most successful and cost effective way to market your company on-line. We will soon be releasing a case study on our new service, Social Video Marketing. Social Video Marketing combines the use of high quality video marketing with Internet marketing technology to convert web visitors into new leads. As we have mentioned before, Internet Marketing works in two ways. 1) getting people to first come to your site through SEO and social media and then 2) once on your site, the content must be engaging enough to compel the casual visitors into a valuable lead. This is what we call at Skillman Video Group the “video conversion point” . Combining the power of the video medium with the power of the Internet gets our clients the best return on investment possible! We focus not just on producing the highest quality video, but also on the importance of routing as many viewers as possible to that video thereby expanding your presence in the marketplace. By using the right keywords and tags, we make sure your videos can be found on the web. Also, by incorporating a blog posts and web announcements on your site, you can keep your content fresh and Google relevant.
We started implementing these techniques ourselves in October 2009. Google ranks website traffic and searches on a scale of zero to ten, with nines and tens being the Facebooks of the world. When our new site launched in October 2009, our website was ranked a zero by Google. Our old html site was static and we weren’t generating leads from the web. In October 2009 we started an agressive Internet marketing plan using the services outlined in our soon to be published Case Study. By the time our case study had concluded, we were coming up as #1 in 9 targeted key words. Within 6 months of us launching our new program, our paged jumped to a number four ranking on Google, a very impressive feat for a company of our size. The results of this online marketing effort is that our traffic is up, our content is fresh, and it’s helping our business grow. For example, our recent blog post on Video Legal Depositions was the direct source for Duane Morris LLP locating our services (please read about that job below) though a Google search and booking us just a day later. Our Social Video Marketing program is the most efficient way to market on the web. Our online efficiency techniques direct maximum traffic to your site, and our quality videos tell your story in the most effective and dynamic way possible. Call us today about your Online Marketing Video!
Legal Marketing Video Shoot at Duane Morris
Skillman Video Group recently went on a video shoot at the national law firm, Duane Morris LLP. Duane Morris hired SVG to shoot a Legal Marketing Video of their Boston office for their web site. 
SVG shot a series of interviews with the firm’s partners discussing their practice areas and experience for both internal….and external marketing purposes. Duane Morris will be using the videos to market their attorneys to potential clients, as well as to use for recruitment of new hires. The partners discussed both personal and professional topics and we concentrated on their areas of expertise, their goals for the firm, and even personal interests and hobbies.
Marketing for any law firm begins and ends with their attorneys. If your lawyers are essentially your product, then video allows a law firm to showcase those lawyers in a personal, intimate way. By allowing potential clients to see and hear your attorneys speak about their experience and goals – you are allowing them to build trust and repore with a client before they pick up a phone to call! In the legal field, where personal relationships are crucial, video marketing is the only medium that can clearly and accurately represent your services.
It is also important that your legal marketing videos look and sound professional. Lighting and audio are key components to any video shoot. If your attorneys look or sound unprofessional, it will do a poor job marketing their skills and abilities to the public! Producers at Skillman Video Group are adept and not just lighting and audio, but also directing the on-screen talent. Speaking on camera is sometimes very difficult for those who are not used to doing so in their every-day job. Our producers will work with the on-screen talent to make them feel comfortable and help them look and feel their best. Call today to learn more our Legal Marketing Videography and Video Production services!
Corporate Viral Video Of The Week: SVG’s Gerry’s Waterbed Emporium
Welcome to Skillman Video Group’s Corporate Viral Video of the Week. This week’s video is…. us. Skillman Video Group recently produced it’s own viral style video, “Gerry’s Waterbed Emporium”. When producing this video we focused on two key attributes, i.e. relevance and mass appeal. As a corporate video production company, it is important for us to set a standard for clean, professional video that can be taken seriously. Everyday, we see other video that does not meet our standards. If you own a television, chances are you’ve seen hundreds of cheap local furniture ads that are poorly produced and awkwardly scripted. It is something that everyone knows and universally mocks. Our video provides a familiar setting that has mass appeal, while clearly juxtaposing our services to the other guys. These are two of the most important tasks when making a viral video. You need to find a subject that is recognizable to a large number of people; if its not pertinent to them, they won’t watch it. It is also necessary for the video to relate back to you and your services. A video can be very funny, but if it’s not clear that you made it and why, you won’t see any of the benefits.
We had a lot of fun making the video. We shot in front of a green screen and super imposed the ridiculous backgrounds to give it that extra “cheesy” feel. We used goofy neon graphics to really sell the tacky style and even took a cheap shot at Ralph Macchio, but I think that’s fair game at this point. We wrote the original script and found a devilishly handsome young actor to capture to true essence of Gerry (hey if you write the blog post – you get to toot your own horn!). Pass the video on to your friends to help us reach viral status! “Do you want a wicked awesome viral video for your company? Then come on down to Skillman Video Group today!!”
Video Depositions
We’d like to highlight a new service at Skillman Video Group, Video Depositions! A “deposition” is defined as “The sworn testimony of a witness taken before trial held out of court with no judge present. The witness is placed under oath to tell the truth and lawyers for each party may ask questions. The questions and answers are recorded. When a person is unavailable to testify at trial, the deposition of that person may be used. This can also be part of the pre-trial discovery (fact-finding) process.”
Legal depositions are yet another area exponentially improved by the medium of video. Video provides the judge, insurance adjuster or jury, the ability to both see and hear your claimant tell their story in a controlled yet powerful format. This can especially be relevant in personal injury cases. For example, we recently completed a Video Deposition for the personal injury law firm of Parker Scheer LLP. Our camera crew spent a half day with a team of lawyers from the firm, interviewing the claimant about the accident and its immediate and long term impact. The video was later edited down to the most essential and meaningful facts of the case. What are the important facts of the case? How has his life changed since the accident? Thanks in large part to the power of the claimant’s story, as told through the video legal deposition, the case was settled out of court just a week later. Call us today about our Video Deposition Service and see how it can help your upcoming case!
Corporate Viral Video of the Week: Awareness Test
Welcome back to Skillman Video Group’s Corporate Viral Video of the Week. This week’s viral video is the London government’s Awareness Test video. This video was first released two years ago, however, it has maintained a steady hit rate since it’s debut and has over eight million hits on YouTube. This video does a lot of great things. One of the most important aspects of this video is that it’s interactive. By asking you to count the passes, it ensures undivided attention from its audience. Visually, it is a very interesting video. The constant movement and weaving of the players catches the eye. The white shirts and arching passes keeps you focused on the action of the players. The production work is very simple. The whole video is only one shot. As we’ve mentioned before, the at home, hand held camera look is very effective in viral videos. This is because it’s reminiscent of a sense of accessibility that’s associated with distributing content over the internet. The “re-wind” feature adds to that at home, viral feel.
Another great attribute is the “ Aha!” moment. Without slowing the video down or changing it in anyway, the viewer sees something they completely missed the first time (I know I did). This is the kind of mind trick video that people love to forward to their friends. In this case, the “Aha!” moment has the added bonus of being hilarious. They were not afraid to be silly and it paid off. Check back in for next week’s Corporate Viral Video of the week or contact Skillman Video Group today to see how your company could use a viral video!
Video Press Releases
Skillman Video Group is now offering a Video Press Release service! Video press releases (VPRs) are essentially an a video version of a traditional press release. They are a fun, easy, visually stimulating and high-tech way of keeping either previous, potential or existing clients updated on your activities. VPRs can be used by businesses to inform, shape public opinion, or to promote and publicize individuals, commercial products and services, or other interests. In a few short minutes, you can provide your clients with a first hand look of any new events, products or services that your company is offering. You can send these press releases out in emails, put them on your website, or post them on your social media profiles. Video press releases are also a great way to keep your blog or website fresh and interesting with new content on a regular basis which is important for SEO. As a basic example of a video press release, check out the video from our recent shoot for Kitchen and Countertop Center of New England in Providence, RI shoot (below). The idea is to keep the VPR simple and easy! What is your company doing that is newsworthy or relevant to your clients? Call us today to do your own video press release!
Corporate Viral Video of the Week: Coca-Cola Happiness Machine
It’s clear that here, at Skillman Video Group, we believe using video is the most effective way to market your company online. Video provides a platform that is both personal and visually stimulating. We then use search engine optimization techniques to route as much traffic to your content as possible. However, in the case of “Viral” videos, it is the content itself that generates the massive volume of viewers that are so desired in online marketing. When executed well, viral videos can provide a substantial amount of attention for your company. Amusing time wasters like Chocolate Rain or Miss Teen South Carolina are great example of videos that have gone viral. However, using the appeal of viral video for corporate promotion is something that many companies strive for but only a few have managed to succeed, even without the use of sputtering sentence fragments or the soothing baritone of Tay Zonday.
In many ways, the key to an effective viral video is to keep it simple. The most successful corporate viral videos provide a brief smile and enough interest to pass along to a friend. Corporate viral videos do best with little dialog so it’s important to not be too wordy. This week’s corporate viral video of the week is the Coca-Cola Happiness Machine video. This video was posted on YouTube on January 12, 2010 and already has over a million hits. It is an example of a strong corporate viral video. The concept is simple and the focus of the video is the action rather than the script. Often, companies will try too hard to be funny and miss a large audience because humor is subjective. The Coca-Cola video won’t make you laugh out loud, but it will keep you smiling and has mass appeal. Another technique used in this video which makes it successful in the viral format, is that it’s not over produced. The hidden camera or home camera look is very effective with viral videos, it provides a more personal and intimate tone that we associate with Internet video and distinguish from television.
Ultimately, the successful corporate viral video does not express an overt point of view, but provides a moment of harmless levity in an otherwise dull corporate day. And therein lies the art. Check back soon for SVG’s “Corporate Viral Video of the week”, or contact us today at 1-800-784-0149 to see how you can create your own viral video!
Marketing Video Shoot at Kitchen Countertop Center of New England
Last week, the Skillman Video Group production team spent a day in Providence, Rhode Island filming a marketing video for Kitchen Countertop Center of New England.
Crew starts shooting at the KCCNE Showroom in downtown Providence RI
It was a fun and productive day of shooting with three separate shoot locations that kept us busy! Skillman Video Group was hired to create a marketing video that could be used at home shows, in their show room and be embedded on their company’s web site. Our goal was to market and demonstrate to potential clients the uniqueness of their design and installation process . The video was shot entirely in HD. We started the day by meeting with the guys of KCCNE at their showroom in downtown Providence. We shot footage of co-owner, Eddie Keegan, taking customers through each step of the remodeling process.
Co-Owner of KCCNE showing clients computer generated blue prints of new kitchen!
This included everything from the first meeting with the kitchen and bath designer over KCCNE’s computer generated model of the finished kitchen, to trips to the tile store and the granite warehouse. We were able to capture Eddie working one on one with his customers and clearly communicate what sets KCCNE apart from its competitors. Our video will allow potential KCCNE’s customers to gain insight and understanding into KCCNE’s unique process in a way that other mediums would not allow. It was a light hearted and fun shoot - and lucky for us Eddie was a natural in front of the camera! Please contact Skillman Video Group today to see how we can market your business through the use of the video medium!
