When we launched our new corporate values, I, a communication professional working for an international reinsurance company, was told that four new core values had been defined and were now to be communicated to the entire staff. “Come up with an internal communication concept. Make a plan. Show us some ideas for implementation,” I was instructed. So I went to work following a structured communication approach and presented my internal communication concept to the Executive Team. The actual launch included a pop-up window with a brief video which would appear on the day we launched the new corporate values to the entire staff (worldwide) by appearing on everyone’s screen first thing in the morning when they turned on their computers. I must say that our IT department was not amused; at all. In the end I managed to convince them of the one-off action and positive (communication) impact this would have.
NOT the old company video
The next step in terms of the pop-up video was ‘how the hell can we produce such a thing?’, a video that wasn’t too big for every user to watch on their own PC. Great communication idea, yep. I called Steve from Solutionpark because I didn’t know who else to ask and also because I figured that he must know how to do it, of course within a reasonable budget and timeframe.
Halleluia, thank you Steve, our external streaming provider could send us a team consisting of a cameraman and a sound technician and would format the video for PC use. Immediately I started writing a script and committing the necessary resources. After very little rehearsal I must say, our CEO and designated participants explained the new corporate values and their signification as well as what they meant to them on tape. The statements were recorded one after the other and we went from one floor to the next for the various takes.
Ready in no time
In only half a day, the planed scenes where on tape and the raw material ready to be cut. When I sat down with the multimedia producer from Solutionpark, we assembled the new 2.5-minute corporate values video within a record two hours. It’s really amazing how fast this can be done.
