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Video Killed the Radio Star

Bdaily is looking at Online Marketing in this, our latest focus week. Here, Ian McAllister, of lazy grace, a design and marketing agency, explores the birth of audio-visual marketing.

The Buggles made a very good point back in 1979, before YouTube was even a glint in the eye of the internet, which was the start of a revolution in audio-visual marketing. Sort of.

Before the advent of MTV and the such, the most you knew about your favorite rock stars were how they looked on Top of the Pops and in the centre spread of Look-in. But in 1975, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody came along and – whilst admittedly not very good - paved the way for rock and pop stars to reinvent themselves and churn out videos to accompany their latest release.

As time went on, there saw a distinct turning point where it seemed that the song that was being sung was almost the “also ran” to the video, Robbie Williams “Rock DJ” and Madonna’s “Like a prayer” being just two.

The song’s themselves were widely reviewed as “ok” but the videos stole the headlines with Robbie tearing his skin off and Madonna almost getting off with a black Jesus. And thus was born the art of video marketing, albeit dressed up in a slightly different way.

In the old days, adding video into a web page was a tar pit of plug-ins and codex choices. Thanks to (then) Macromedia’s Flash, true video streaming embedding was a reality. It’s ironic that due to a spat between Apple and Adobe (who ultimately purchased Macromedia), Flash is now an out-of-favour technology that Apple still refuse to support on their mobile devices. However, thanks to ever increasing bandwidth, the demise of Flash has not brought about the demise of online video.

Far from it. YouTube & Vimeo have become the foremost sites for people to record, upload and view videos of any subject, length, quality and taste. It must be the only place where – with a couple of simple clicks of your mouse – you can move from Barack Obama’s inaugural speech, to a man eating a raw chicken to a tubby Korean dancing like a….well, a tubby Korean who is sitting on almost two billion hits.

New kid on the block, Vine, is a video editing and distribution portal ideally suited to the mobile generation with short attention spans. I’d tell you more, but it’s starting to bore me. Next. Twitter is fine, facebook has it’s place and linkedIn works for some but what better way to get your product, message and a demonstration across to potential customers than a 90 second video available online wherever and whenever they wish to see it.

With the advent of smart phones and tablets, the internet is almost always with us so this coupled with social sharing technology means that your video could be seen by scores of people without you actually doing the sharing. It’s a kind of magic, huh? Your video doesn’t have to be controversial, or outlandish or extreme to be shared and viewed but what it does have to do is to be interesting. We have seen the most beautifully made videos stagger their way to 10 hits whilst some amazingly amateurish one rack up hits in the thousands. They may not have been professionally produced, nor may they have had a classical soundtrack but they were interesting enough to get the viewer hooked. And don’t think they have to be funny either.

Not every company or product fits with an amusing video – for that matter, it’s even worse when a corporate client tries to young, hip and cool by jumping on a bandwagon (see Gangnam Style) or being comical. Your customer will see straight though you and lose confidence. Hashtag Cringe. I had compiled a list of do’s and don’ts, but have since deleted them – there really are no specific rules and what works for one might not for another. But remember one thing - rules are meant to be broken – especially in an environment as fluid as online moving images and only dead fish swim with the tide. Videos are great for new product launches, testimonials, exciting events and gentle reminders of who you are.

They are a great way to demonstrate that your company is fresh and up to date and they are a great way to get people talking about you and your offerings. They are also great to generate organic search traffic. Call it a coincidence, but since Google’s purchase of YouTube for a quadrillionbillion dollars, websites with targeted video content do rank very well very quickly – and you can choose your own search terms.

Whether you are selling firewood, fashion, ice cream or legal services there is a video there to be made. And the better, the more catchy and the more interesting the video the more views it will get. And the cooler people will think you are. But promise me one thing – no matter how little your budget, you will never ever Harlem Shuffle round your office.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by lazy grace .