What about a corporate video? In communications many of us may dream of producing a corporate video, a grand project with much prestige and pomp. Though too often it’s the budget that is too tight, or so we believe and other priorities that are consuming our time. Besides, it’s ‘”only” an image tool, I’ve heard people say.
No compromises on a lighter version of “the corporate film”
Thanks to modern technology, oh how I love those words, communication specialists have other options and easier ways of producing a company video. That’s exactly what it is, a video, prepared for the Internet, in high resolution, high quality, and with the look and feel of a corporate film. It’s true value added for your organization and when placed strategically on your Internet entry page, it is automatically broadcast to a large audience, draws attention to your website and grabs hold of your viewers. And all this at an affordable price.
If you are thinking of implementing a web TV project or creating a web TV magazine consider the following budgetary items when asking an external provider such as Solutionpark for a cost proposal:
- Project management – any professional external provider will take the lead for the external side and set up a time plan, milestones and deliverables.
- Handling – this cost item includes administrative work, bookings, organization, location scouting etc. I can only say: leave it to the pros, they know what they are doing.
- Resources and equipment: cameraman and camera, sound/audio technician, lighting – this obviously includes the specialists such as cameraman, videographer, web TV producer, sound technician as well as the respective equipment. Do you have a corporate sound, tune, melody? Every part is important in order to make your corporate video a memorable experience to watch and listen. Assuming a “standard/stationary” situation, the sound/audio technician also does the lighting and the cameraman is concentrated on the subject(s) and content of the video.
- Postproduction – following the recording, the material is cut to the requested time span and any voice over, soundtrack and/or subtitles are added. The better the raw material, the easier it is to get good imagery and a nice flow of the video afterwards.
A corporate video should be harmonious and inviting. Don’t overload it. Less is often more. Keep it simple and slick. Don’t confuse your audience with too many different messages. Web producers, e.g. from Solutionpark can develop a storyboard, write a script, research locations and recommend the most suitable procedure for shooting a company video. Don’t be surprised if the outcome is overwhelmingly positive.
The place was full of interesting equipment they had built into mobile trolleys themselves as they explained how they’d go on location and record, encode and stream a company’s investor presentation, press conference or other live event onto the web. So how would this work for us? Basically we wanted to replace the old way of recording a staff event on VHS cassettes (!) which would be copied manually and then sent by mail to the various offices around the world. How endlessly tedious and time-consuming!
The good thing was that our streaming provider has their own encoding center where all the equipment is permanently installed on site. This means that they are always ready with many encoders and backup devices available, a redundant and reliable Internet upstream, optimized connectivity to Akamai (a 
In communication we talk about two-way communication, sender and receiver, interactive and dialogue, viral and e-communication, as well as integrated communication plans and concepts. With webcasts, I am sending out very specific information, portioned into digestible news blocks or categories on average to a very broad audience. Therefore my role was to brief and coach the CEO and Executive Team members as to their performance in front of the camera as well as the messages we wanted them to bring across to employees, clients, shareholders etc. I made sure any scripts and presentation print-outs were available, the microphones working, the speakers desk set up and any and Q&As prepared. Often times during an employee information event, I’d sit in the front row close to the speaker’s desk, just in case something went wrong. From there I also had eye contact with the cameraman recording the webcast who could give me hand signs should any technical issues arise.
Keep your communication bits relevant, significant and to the point. It all depends on how it is delivered. You have surely heard that a million times, but take note, with webcast this holds true even more.
Set realistic expectations, allow yourself enough time for the preparation and testing phase. Take the lead in organizing the location and briefing the speakers. It helps to clarify the logistical details in advance, to make sure you have things in place before you get started. Once the camera is rolling it’s much harder to fix something that isn’t already working.
