Video Storytelling | keepingithuman

Hey Marketers! Every Company Must Be a Storytelling Company

Feb 082013

I wrote and posted this article well over one year ago. I find that it has become even more important! In fact, I just had this same conversation three times this week! As a result, I am re-posting with a few minor tweaks. You can read the original post here.

The focus when I wrote this was weighted towards video. Use any channel today – it doesn’t matter. Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube – all of them are story-driven. Marketers must learn how to uncover and tell stories in text, video, images, you name it. Stories remain the fundamental building block of any content strategy. Great marketing is and always will be about storytelling.

What do you think? Email me at kathy(at)keepingithuman(dot)com.

EC=SC (Every Company Must be a Storytelling Company)

Tom Foremski maintains that every company today must be a media company. I believe that to be true, but I also think it’s more fundamental than that. Every company must be good at telling stories in the world of new media. If content is king, stories are queen. We know who wields the power!

All great marketing requires great storytelling. Marketers must master storytelling. The best stories connect viscerally and humanize. Organizations that successfully tell compelling, authentic, even humorous stories about products, customers, about their values and employees, and, in turn, embrace the narratives of their stakeholders, will be the victors in the changing world of new media. And aiding marketers in telling their stories better is online video.

If every company must be a storytelling company, every company should have a video storytelling strategy. It’s especially important in B2B where video storytelling has the ability to add a much-needed authentic human dimension to company communications. With video storytelling, success is often not about production values or huge budget. A Flip camera, for example, is inexpensive and video technology is ubiquitous (in cell phones and smart phones, among other devices). Video success today is not about PR talking points, or a factual analysis of features and benefits. The element of human interest matters most; it’s the basis for any great story as every journalist using social media knows. That hasn’t changed. It’s just that video today allows for better, richer and more nuanced storytelling than with traditional media.

Today, online video allows for meaningful two-way dialogue. Unlike traditional media, video storytelling often involves real customers in the story and in the process – that is customers can appear in company videos and they can produce their own videos about the company. Today, consumers don’t want to just view company content – they want to make their own. They want to be part of the story. There’s a back and forth that changes the direction and tone of the company’s narrative to the outside world. Video changes the narrative from a “brand” dimension to one that is multi-layered. If you know your customer is using video to tell their story about your organization, you have to be engaged in that conversation.

Video also forces communication innovation. You’ve got to use the medium to do what it does best. That means more creativity, even allowing employees of the company who are the best storytellers to go off the PR script and – how sacrosanct! – sometimes poke fun at themselves in the process. Yes, fun is a big part of it – but where there’s a fun video, there is also all the elements of a story, no matter how abbreviated: a main character, the challenge, plot, themes, resolution, even twists and turns, the good, bad, ugly, the humbling and the funny – are all parts of stories and parts of real conversations. Video that goes viral offers an emotional connection with customers.

Video Numbers and A Few Success Stories

There is growing demand for video. According to ComScore Media Metrix, U.S. audiences watched 38.7 billion videos in December 2012 .

So what works with video? Well, there is no template. It requires originality, authenticity, honesty, vulnerability, human interest, and – yes, thankfully – sometimes humor. Most also seem to entertain, engage, and connect emotionally rather than use the “hard” sell.

Video enables creative integration of entertaining storytelling with meaningful product messages. Scott Monty, the head of Ford Motor Company’s social media efforts, for example, notes that the company has successfully used short 15-sec clips of real customers talking about their favorite feature of their Ford cars. Real customers can tell their short stories in credible ways that a PR talking head simply cannot. Ford also had huge success in July 2010 when it used online video to reveal the new Ford Explorer. On its Facebook page, the company featured videos of Ford employees who had passionately worked on the new model, adding a compelling human dimension to a discussion about cars.

Ford also had success with its Fiesta Movement campaign. For this effort, they picked 100 bloggers to chronicle their experiences with the Fiesta during a 100-day free trial with the car. With a few boundaries in place, the results were largely creative, and “un-Ford” as Monty claims, and thus, credible. In one example, a blogger humorously highlights how remote engine start and keyless entry allows him to escape the zombies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu4_F_QNqYc), whereas the users of the “other” brands don’t. The result is a funny story that doesn’t push a hard marketing message told through the lens of creative and credible storytellers outside of Ford.

Tim Washer, the creative force behind IBM’s successful Art of the Sale videos and now a manager at Cisco, maintains that all great online videos add fun, surprise and a great story that grabs people. Brand comes second. In the Art of the Sale series, it’s not even clear IBM is behind the video series until close to the end of each video. There is no hard IBM sell.

Video lends itself to fun and surprise in a way that print media cannot replicate. In the case of IBM, a company not exactly known for its humor, the Art of the Sale videos (seven in all) upended all expectations about IBM. It was the surprise factor that a relatively straight-laced, white-shirt and blue-tie company could poke fun at itself that made such efforts a huge success. Fans have heavily parodied the video and the series has inspired a whole new way of looking at “serious” b2b video content.

While talking CEO heads aren’t usually the best examples of storytelling, sometimes real, honest conversation from an unprepared CEO can actually work. Take the Valentine’s Day Crisis for JetBlue a few years ago. Without time to prepare a “sewn-up” response, JetBlue’s CEO went completely off-script using a Flip video cam to record his rapid response to the crisis. Unrehearsed and real, the company’s video response earned some recognition for having responded effectively, quickly and telling the story that customers’ concerns matter. Disgruntled customers had their posted videos – JetBlue had to respond. (United could have handled the United Breaks Guitars issue better with honesty and humor). When real and off-script, a CEO “talking head” video can be effective. Unfortunately, it’s the “marketing” that gets in the way of many of these efforts.

Some of the best uses of video do not push a hard marketing message and, thus, don’t necessarily need high production values. It is also why every company can make video an affordable and creative part of its storytelling strategy. Several years ago, BlendTec swept YouTube by storm with its series of “Will it Blend?” videos. Without a big budget and without marketing polish, the head of small blender maker, BlendTec, filmed a series of short, fun videos that posed and answered the “will it blend?” question by blending the unthinkable. The videos showed the industrial strength of the blender as it blended golf balls, iPhones, and other devices no one would think of to blend, but everyone wanted to know if they would blend. Like IBM, BlendTec also showed that fun, serially produced videos that veered off the polished PR script could pull large online audiences again and again.

Finally, the best video strategies embrace a model that empowers the best storytellers in the organization. Most often, the best storytellers in a company are not found in the executive suite. So the bottom line is let go, let the people in your organization who are great storytellers tell their stories in a manageable way, let your customers tell theirs, and watch how video storytelling changes the company and product narrative for the better. Regardless of whether organizations tell their stories, customers will – for better or for worse. Today, it’s far better to be part of the conversation, than to be the non-participatory subject of it.

Consequently, every company today must be a storytelling company AND a media company. Stories are the amino acids of great marketing content.

February 8, 2013
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Tagged with: Art of the Sale, Cisco, content, content strategy, Don Bulmer, Every company is a media company, every marketer is a storyteller, Ford, Ford Fiesta, IBM, marketers, marketing, marketing content, marketing content strategy, marketing is storytelling, marketing stories, Scott Monty, stories, storytelling, Tim Washer, Tom Foremski, video, video marketing, video storytelling, Video tip

Got Digital Marketing Muscle? Shore Up Your Business Video Storytelling with Ten Practices

Jun 212012

Over the past few years, in addition to doing a lot of storytelling for video, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing digital marketers from Cisco, Ford, IBM, Goodwill Industries International and NetApp among other companies that are innovating successfully with video. While, of course, there is no home-run “formula” (except for cute kids and keyboard-playing cats!), there are ten practices successful companies use that can improve your video storytelling outcomes.

1. Find a human story. The purpose of a great video is to establish a human connection with your audience, not to drown people in facts. Video is a storytelling medium, and at the heart of every great marketing message is a great story. Companies that have been successful with video understand that it starts with a compelling story rather than worrying about going “viral.” Viral is not a strategy. Most B2B videos will never go viral. Your goal is connecting with your specific audience, and your chances of success improve if the story behind your video is powerful, and shows some human passion. Create videos that appeal to your specific community.

This is where B2B can learn a lot from B2C. Panera Bread, for example, does a great job showing the passion of the bakers behind the company. Goodwill Industries International has some great videos that focus on changing lives. Product and service videos, for example, don’t do as well when they are focused on the technology and features because the underlying human story is lost. A great technology example is Cisco’s Valentine’s Day video – it never gets into technical detail. Instead, it’s a funny story that grabs attention. Story always trumps production.

2. Simplicity and brevity matter. Videos have mere seconds to grab attention. Companies that are successful focus on content that is simple. Simplicity, like humor, is the antidote to complexity. Ford, for example, encouraged devoted fans to submit their own 30-second videos focusing on their one favorite car feature and why they love it. Videos should be well under two minutes; 90 seconds or less is ideal.

3. Humor works, so lighten up! B2B does not mean ‘blah to boring!’ Humor doesn’t just work for B2C. So, please, B2B, stop avoiding humor. Part of the emotional range of the human experience is humor, and it makes for a great “marketing” connection. Humor is also a great way to break down complexity and that’s why humor can work well in B2B, especially when the technology is complex. A simple, fun story can cut through layers of noise. NetApp has a great example featuring a rap competition. Another great example is from Serena Software, called “Mash it.” Kinaxis, the supply chain management solutions company, cleverly parodies the “relationship” customers have with their supply chain management providers. CodeWeavers had fun by having the CEO and the CTO dress in drag to increase press coverage of their product, CrossOver, at Macworld with New York Times tech journalist, David Pogue. And Cisco has several funny videos that have done well (see Valentine’s Day above).

4. Honor your brand and values. While “authenticity” has sadly become a buzzword, it factors into video credibility. When humor works, for example, it is also because the companies using it are authentically fun. Humor must be part of the brand personality of the company, and consistent with what people believe the company truly is. B2B companies including Hubspot and NetApp have been successful with their humorous videos, in part, because fun is an authentic part of their culture.

Dollar Shave Club is a great example of authenticity. Its successful 2012 launch video, which earned over 4 million views in less than one month, is consistent with the company’s marketing voice. From its website to its product packaging, fun is a key part of the company’s brand.

Even a video of a CEO talking to a Flip camera is OK if it’s sincere and not scripted. Several years ago in response to JetBlue’s service crisis, the CEO responded via videos that were effective because they were apologetic without the “BS” PR-speak.

5. Let go of control. Empower the best storytellers, who, by the way, are most often found outside of the C-suite. Of course, Dollar Shave Club’s CEO Mike Dubin, who put a human face on his company, is an exception. The best storytellers outside the executive rank have talent and credibility, and, because they are often close to the customer, they know how to tell stories without the PR-spin. Ford, for example, interviewed on video the design team behind the Ford Explorer and it was compelling because it was real employees discussing their experiences. Cisco did this to great success with intern Greg Justice, who rapped about his reputation as the most interesting intern in the world. This also includes letting your best customers and fans tell their stories. For the Fiesta Movement, Ford gave 100 bloggers cars for 100 days and asked them to video their experiences. The results were compelling and funny, including this one about zombies. Ford empowered others to tell stories in a way that Ford itself could not have done.

6. Take risks. The risks don’t have to bet the farm, but successful companies try, experiment, fail sometimes, and learn from those mistakes. Every company that experienced video success also told me about creating videos that didn’t work well, but the downside of experimentation wasn’t huge – they weren’t betting the brand per se. Cisco, for example, vets its videos internally first to reduce some risk and to make sure everything fits with its message and brand. Still, there is no way to be completely risk-free in marketing and innovative companies accept that. Cisco has taken some creative risks by releasing some very funny videos. Taking risks is also about upending expectations. The Art of the Sale series, for example, helped to change IBM’s stodgy image. It worked well precisely because it was unexpected from IBM!

7. Forge your own template – then reinvent it. After the success of the Old Spice video, parodies proliferated across the Internet. Cisco even did one – and while its target market loved it, many pundits didn’t. Yet, the video was meant for its core audience, not for the press. Marketing is in large part an art, not a replicable science. What worked for Old Spice won’t work for other brands. There are many templates to be written and successful companies experiment to see what works for them. Don’t try to bottle a formula. It doesn’t exist.

8. ROI Goes Beyond Sales and Views. Successful companies have clear objectives before launching video campaigns, and they have multiple ways of measuring video “success” that goes beyond sales. These metrics include unique viewers, the amount of buzz and favorable comments the video generated, the conversations created, and lead generation among the most common metrics. Despite the fact that B2B sales cycles can be long and complex and that tying sales directly to video is difficult, videos can drive awareness, press coverage, customer conversations, and positive PR – all of which can increase sales, indirectly, over time. Innovative organizations recognize that they have to be both flexible in trying to measure ROI, and in allowing themselves freedom to learn what works without obsessing over sales in the immediate short-term. Still, measurement is critical and social strategies evolve with experience.
9. Think ‘Call to action.’ Add a strong call to action for viewers at the end of your video; think about what you want them to do after watching it.

10. Distribution. And, of course, a clearly defined distribution strategy – involving some push methods and the right partners – is key to success. Plan how you will promote your videos before you launch them. Make sure you promote your video across all online channels and partnerships, and across offline channels, too.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on video storytelling. Email me at kathy@keepingithuman.com.

June 21, 2012
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Video Storytelling: Hey B2B Marketing, Lighten Up! An Interview with Tim Washer, Part II of II

Mar 192012

KKG: Your success at IBM led to more of those videos and it became a serial effort.

TW: Yes, 6 ‘Art of the Sale’ videos. We would improvise, and with my writing partner, Scott, we ended up doing a few longer ones. The best bet is to do things shorter – 60 seconds or less.

KKG: What’s new at Cisco? I’ve seen some of the funny stuff you’ve worked on!

TW: We did the Father’s Day video <laughs> and Valentine’s Day video! I believe that is why Cisco asked me to join their team – they wanted to mix it up and play. They are willing to experiment and try new things. You have to experiment. So many companies are putting out so much content – but they forget about getting the story right. What we do is a mix of story, an offer and entertainment. It’s critical that good video have all three. Making people laugh won’t make them buy a million dollar mainframe; yet, there is still an enhancement to brand equity that happens when you make people laugh. They will listen!

KKG: Do you think the surprise and novel element of ‘Art of the Sale’ can happen again?

TW: I think so. We really had the element of surprise on our side –coming from IBM! The challenge is the controls from a branding standpoint. Big corporations can get too risk- averse, and that keeps people from doing the necessary experimenting to see what works.

KKG: Do you see compelling video today? Anyone you admire doing cool things?

TW: Ikea did a funny video. B2B has to kick it up a notch. What Ikea did was make it look like an improv troop. They did these funny short vignettes around an office or a kitchen set-up. It was phenomenal. Now, you have Madison Avenue agencies doing this stuff. It’s harder to reproduce the kind of guerrilla feel we had that way. When I did this for IBM, we didn’t have budget or big agencies controlling it. I almost couldn’t use a writing partner because he wasn’t an approved vendor! It was total guerrilla style and cost $1,000 bucks. This was the one before ‘Art of the Sale.’ We just did it on the fly. The line is blurred a bit today because you have so much production with the big ad agencies.

KKG: You lose the organic nature when ad agencies script it.

TW: That’s the challenge going forward. I think that’s why so much video and story innovation will happen in mid-sized companies because they don’t have the barriers and big agencies scripting things. There is so much cool stuff that could be done.

KKG: What else would you like to tell people?

TW: Be aware of the challenges you will face when doing things differently in a large company. When there is risk, you will face some fear. The obstacles will be there…but you have to be committed to try to get around it. Go shoot something quick first and show proof of concept. Be smart about managing and make people comfortable. In big companies, it takes committees to get approval. With comedy – you have to only involve several people. You can’t have judgment, as you know, from your improvisation. Let people create first and then show script. Once you get a committee involved in script – you kill the comedy; an attorney or marketer gets involved, and three edits later, you get something a lot less funny that isn’t worth doing.

KKG: Creativity by Committee is the Kiss of Death

TW: Well said. You have to have convictions and a strong point of view. The first comedy class I took – one with Eddie Brill, the opener for Letterman – taught me that. You need to be truthful and vulnerable. Only by being vulnerable are you really risking saying something of value. Once you get someone to laugh, though, you establish a connection. You have them. You cut trough clutter. You have earned attention. You can get someone to listen to you.

KKG: And that’s what it’s all about – getting people to listen! Thanks, Tim.

Follow Tim at @TimWasher

Follw Kathy at @KathyKlotzGuest

March 19, 2012
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Video Storytelling: Hey B2B Marketing, Lighten Up! An Interview with Tim Washer, Part I of II

Mar 192012

An Interview with Tim Washer, Part I of II

I had the pleasure of interviewing Tim Washer, Senior Marketing Manager Cisco, a little while ago on the topic of video, humor and storytelling. Prior to Cisco, he served as head of social media video production for IBM, where he wrote/produced the company’s most successful YouTube series, “Mainframe: The Art of the Sale,” and award-winning videos for the smarter planet campaign. Tim moonlights as a comedy writer/actor, and credits include Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, SNL and The Onion Sports Network.

Kathy Klotz-Guest (KKG): You made my interview short list. Your background is a lot like mine: comedy, an MBA, etc. That’s a pretty funny contrast as it is.

Tim Washer (TW): It is! And I’m happy to make a short list. <Laughs!>

KKG: Social media is for stories, not messaging! What elements make a great video story?

TW: Yep – people are getting the message that what you wrote for your website or brochure doesn’t fly for social, and especially, video. Regarding storytelling, it’s the simple, classic definition of a narrative thread that matters. Think about three acts even in a 30-sec video. You need a protagonist, an obstacle and how he/she accomplished a goal. It’s critical to make this point in social media. The classic rules of storytelling apply even to short videos.

KKG: Where can we find great stories in a company?

TW: They exist a lot in corporate responsibility stories. You have a sense of altruism to a degree. There is a benefit of goodwill – a fiduciary benefit. Look for great corporate stories anywhere the company is doing something really different. We also respond to crises. Those are good stories in that they show how people manage them. You have to make sure you are telling the story for the right reasons. Sadly, even ‘authentic’ has become a buzzword! Irony! Audiences know when it’s not authentic. Another area ripe for storytelling is R&D. That’s tricky because the timing has to be right and the research close to being commercialized. It’s cool because that’s where there is potential to change the world with innovation. For small companies it might be a great story about their partners or how they got started. These are all rich areas for storytelling.

KKG: The best storytellers are often not in the C-suite; they are the rank and file closest to the customer.

TW: Exactly right. C-level execs are too much about “talking points.” You need people close to the work and to the customers. Find experts it the company who can speak in a way where people understand them. Get those people out there talking for the company.

KKG: Your ‘Art of the Sale’ videos for IBM were great. How did you get IBM – not known for fun – to let go? Do you see more b2b companies willing to go off script? Is there hope for b2b?

TW: HA! We had this buttoned up reputation and we were so deprecating. That is why it worked! We were making fun of ourselves. Being silly and ridiculous is OK, but you have to be funny. There is risk involved; you need to know what you are doing. We learned; and people at IBM are now more open and playful.

The first video I did – 4 months into being a newbie at IBM – people were like “no.” So start internally and reduce risk by getting people to say yes. Let people see the script and see that it can work. What we did at IBM was we showed it to a VP who was really open to humor. You need a champion who has influence and who can sell the idea for you. That’s what I had, fortunately. In the corporate world, humor isn’t done well often times and so people fear it.

KKG: A laugh is OK; ultimately, business gets done between people. You need a humor advocate to say, “Hey, we can lighten up and still get business done.”

TW: Yes! And there is such a need for it. But it’s hard to quantify the value of laughter. You look at client and customer scores across the board – there is a lot of stress in the system. There is no question there is a need. Stress makes people not want to take risks, though. One challenge today in all large companies is that employees are experimenting with videos and companies get worried. Some of this bad stuff might hurt the brand and so now there are more controls. There weren’t controls back in 2006 when we did the ‘Art of the Sale’ videos at IBM. It’s a struggle sometimes. You need to balance a social media plan with brand control. And it’s doable.

KKG: The bar seems higher for humor in b2b even if we minimize our risk. You have to measure a campaign anyway whether humor is used or not. Yet, humor has so many positive intangibles: goodwill, enhanced reputation, for example.

TW: Agreed. We can measure hard stuff – like views on YouTube. The first Art of the Sale video alone got over 250,000 views. The qualitative measure is more compelling and hard to measure. The SF Chronicle wrote an article titled, “What are they drinking in Armonk?” for example. The fact that the guy playing Bob Hoey was Bob Hoey was important. That he was willing to be playful and laugh at himself and at the company scored us points. How do you measure that type of goodwill and authenticity that enhances your reputation? If you can poke fun of yourself, people see that you are trustworthy. A few people internally didn’t like looking bad. I believe the opposite is true; because we are confident in what we do, we can take the risk to be funny. My boss said if our competition did one on us, this is what they would do. So we needed to make sure IBM got credit for it.

End Part I. Check out Part II.

March 19, 2012
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Millennials, Mirth, and Money: Making Gen Y Laugh and Learn Pays for Credit Unions, Post 3

Mar 062012

This is the third in a series of blog posts published on banking.com.

Apps and games: Another great way to increase engagement is to offer fun mobile and web-based applications that help people manage their finances. Infusing applications and great content with immersive gaming elements encourages interactions that are easily shareable with peers. A great example of this approach is the game “Nickled and Dimed” at creditunionfacts.com. The object of this game is to save Joe from getting barraged by bank fees, and, by doing so, build up savings. Similarly, Park City Credit Union in Merrill, Wisconsin offers an online simulation game with avatars called “Money Mission” aimed at helping teens learn real-life financial skills. Players are eligible to win scholarships.

Another example of an application that allows users to manage their money using their mobile device (there is also an app specifically for the iPhone) is PNC’s virtual wallet application. Credit unions have been slow to take the app plunge, although this is an area to add value and have some fun at the same time. According to ComScore, the Gen Y population, estimated at 79 million with about $170 billion in annual purchasing power, uses mobile banking more than any other age group (Jan 2012).

Another fun way to provide great content is via podcasts. Recently, I listened to a podcast given by a credit union on refinancing. The delivery was staged as a fun newscast filled with great information.

Social networks: One of the most important ways to reach Gen Y members is by allowing them to share information using social networks. This facilitates peer recommendations, and there are few things as influential as recommendations from a peer group. A credit union in Canada, for example, created a community, Young and Free Alberta (youngfreealberta.com) to enable Gen Y users to discuss, share, educate and comment on issues relating to credit and money. In addition to a video series on different topics, the site offers contests including a chance to be the paid voice for Young and Free for a year.

Burbank City FCU also mixes media, including Facebook, to encourage participation. One contest, based on the premise that nobody wants to spend more time on banking, asks users to submit a photo of what they would rather be doing (stand-up comedy, skydiving, fishing, hot air ballooning, going to the dentist!). Contestants are then entered into a drawing for $100.

Fun should not be hard!

Integrating fun and humor into your social marketing strategies for all members—especially Gen Y members—can help you cut through the noise in a crowded market. Keep it simple. Start with a great story that connects at a human level and offers value. Experiment a little and see what works best for you. Educate, inform, entertain and delight your customers by surprising them.

Funny is great, but just having fun is a great start. Besides, you can’t get to funny without having ‘fun’ first. Really. Try spelling it!

March 6, 2012
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Millennials, Mirth, and Money: Making Gen Y Laugh and Learn Pays for Credit Unions, Post 2

Mar 052012

This is the second post in a series of three published on banking.com.

Video: Gen Y consumers watch a lot of online video (research firm ComScore reports the average American viewed over 23 hours of video in the month of December 2011) and, today, a growing number are watching them on mobile devices. Video is your chance to connect with this audience at a human level in ways that traditional media cannot. Based on research I have conducted with more than 100 companies, the most important factor in video success is having a great story that is relevant to your audience. If your video happens to go viral, that’s great. Your goal, however, is to connect with your audience in a meaningful way and prompt them to take some specific call to action.

If computer giant IBM, viewed as stodgy and out of touch just 10 years ago, can change its image and poke fun of itself in the now famous “Art of the Sale” videos, so can credit unions. Video should humanize your brand, not bore people. That’s what collateral is for! There are credit unions creating some innovative and funny videos. One of the best videos to speak about the benefits of credit unions is a spoof of Apple’s celebrated Mac v. PC ads (Bankerspank.com or YouTube). The younger, cool guy represents the credit union, while the stodgy, “stuffed suit” represents the bank.

This video series, a handful in all, works well for a number of reasons. First, it’s a funny parody of well-known commercials. Secondly, it uses elements of “story” and metaphor to make its points, and to connect on a human level. The fact that a Gen Y actor plays the ‘cool’ role of the credit union—the banking equivalent of a Mac—is salient. Thirdly, the video series also educates younger viewers on the important differences between banks and credit unions without trying to sell a particular credit union.

Finally, it upends expectations about the way credit unions are marketed. It’s even okay for your credit union to poke fun at itself and its history (for example, maybe you haven’t always been on the vanguard of technology adoption)—as long as you demonstrate that you have changed and are looking to create better relationships with younger customers. Humor shows humility, and it signals to your audience, “Hey! We get it. We know how we have been perceived, and we’re ready to change.”

Another example of a fun video that shows credit unions with personality is “The Winning Team” by University of Kentucky (UK) Federal Credit Union. It shows a handful of bored Gen Y credit union employees who start an impromptu baseball game in the office. The fun is unexpectedly endorsed by the boss. Besides providing a great laugh, this video did not cost much to produce. Quality content is not the same as quality production. Content trumps production values, according to my research on video storytelling. The potency of the message is an important one: This credit union believes fun and service are all parts of a compatible winning team that serves, and is served by, Gen Y members. This matters, given that the credit union is associated with a university system. It’s a good example of what a lighthearted tone (and a relevant message) without a heavy budget can do. And just as with the Credit Union v. Bank video, this video is short. The ideal video is under two minutes.

Contests: Social media also enables content to be interactive and shared in a way traditional media does not, so take advantage of its participatory elements. People love to create and share their own content. Allowing users to participate by creating their own media (CGM, consumer-generated media) is a way to increase engagement and fun and enable your audience to help tell your story to peers. It’s also a great way to stretch your marketing budget and ensure that content is created by your intended audience with their own needs in mind. Fairfax Credit Union in Virginia launched a video contest for the Gen Y Extreme Checking Account commercial (on YouTube). They invited members of Gen Y to create short 30-second videos about the credit union’s new Gen Y Extreme Checking service.

This effort worked on a number of levels. First, it facilitated awareness and engaged Gen Y members to create content and, in turn, educate their peers about the new “Extreme” service. Secondly, the videos were funny, absurd and odd— an authentic reflection of Gen Y humor created by Gen Y participants. Finally, by inviting members to create their own videos, the credit union expanded its reach without having to create all of its own content. Often, an organization’s best storytellers come from outside its walls. Your engaged fans are your best and most credible referral sources. Just remember to make it fun, encourage creativity and allow them to share their creations on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Post three of three will focus on apps and games.

March 5, 2012
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Tagged with: apps, banking, banking apps, banking humor, banking parody, banks, Cisco banking data, ComScore, contests, Credit unions, games, Gen Y banking, Gen Y video, humor in banking, Mac v. PC parody, Millennials, mobile banking, video, video storytelling

Millennials, Mirth, and Money: Making Gen Y Laugh and Learn Pays for Credit Unions, Post 1

Mar 022012

This is the first of 3 posts that ran on banking.com.

Today’s financial institutions, like other industry sectors, recognize how important it is to reach out to the Generation Y cohort of 18- to 30-year-olds. Traditional, conservative and stuffy marketing approaches do not work with these digital natives—and neither does throwing social media technology or “cool” marketing on top of existing approaches. While Gen Y likes technology, a lot of interaction and great deals, they also want you to embrace fun and humor, and help them achieve their goals. They want you to change the way you do business in order to earn theirs.

One area where credit unions already have an advantage over banks is in developing deeper customer relationships, and social media can facilitate even richer connections. The good news is there are many ways to increase your relevance by using serious technology combined with a not-so-serious tone.

After all, marketing should be fun if you’re doing it right.

Humor me! Social Technology Meets Fun

In its research, Forrester found that Gen Y members value humor—even odd humor—and embrace it in business. They also view banks with a bit more apprehension, as they feel most financial institutions “don’t get them.” Consequently, it takes not only an investment in technology to reach this group; it also requires a commitment to changing the content of your communications. The key is to communicate that your credit union understands what Gen Y values. And humor is a way to build that generational bridge.

That Gen Y values humor is great news: it can help your marketing cut through lots of noise in a crowded market. Additionally, fun as a wrapper for great content adds value. There is no reason great information has to be delivered in a stodgy way. However, fun without a targeted, relevant approach is pandering.

It’s not enough to use mobile technology and web 2.0 platforms. A powerful and credible marketing approach to Gen Y must involve the integration of social technologies, the right messaging and personality, and an engaging, interactive user experience. Social media, like all great customer experiences, is about connecting with people. Otherwise, they would have called it anti-social media!

Work That Humor Muscle

So, how can you integrate humor with technology? First, it is important to understand what fun and humor are and how to make them pay off. Funny is great; yet, just having a fun attitude that makes customers smile is an important step in the right direction.

Here’s the most important point to remember: Humor is about the element of surprise. The question to ask isn’t, “How can we make people laugh?” Trying to be funny is a needlessly high and daunting bar to reach. Thus, the right question to consider is, “How can we surprise our audience?” When expectations are inverted, we are delighted. Here is the great news: because banking hasn’t exactly been known as a “fun factory,” there are many things your credit union can do to upend expectations and change the way you are perceived. Consider integrating fun, humor and technology into the following elements as part of your larger marketing strategy: video, contests, apps and games, and social networks.

By Kathy Klotz-Guest

To be continued. Part 2 will explore video and contests…

March 2, 2012
Posted by admin at 8:18 pm
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Every Company is A Storytelling Company

Aug 222011

EC=SC (Every Company Must be a Storytelling Company)

All great marketing requires great storytelling. The best stories connect viscerally and humanize. Organizations that successfully tell compelling, authentic, even humorous stories about products, customers, about their values and employees, and, in turn, embrace the narratives of their stakeholders, will be the victors in the changing world of new media. And aiding marketers in telling their stories better is online video.

Video Numbers and A Few Success Stories

There is growing demand for video. According to ComScore Media Metrix, U.S. audiences viewed an all time-high of nearly 34 billion videos in May 2010, and 14.6 billion of those May videos were watched on YouTube.

Consequently, every company today must be a storytelling company AND a media company.

The Organizational Use of Video Storytelling is a two-part seminal research study that focuses on how organizations are using video to enhance their storytelling both inside and outside the company. The results of this study will yield insight into best practices for organizations wanting to leverage video to reach audiences and tell their stories in new ways. All participants will receive a complimentary copy of the executive summary of the survey results and a special discount to attend the 2010 Society for New Communications Research Symposium & Awards Gala, which will be held in November in Palo Alto, CA, where the findings will be shared. The final results of the study will also be highlighted in the Society’s Journal of New Communications Research.

Link to original article: http://www.everycompanyisamediacompany.com/every-company-is-a-media-/guest-post/