But like many companies, they’d never paid much attention to how their chosen production company were backing up (or not backing up) all their hard won content.  You can probably guess the rest, but suffice to say, losing two years of work was a very bitter pill to swallow, and will have a long term impact on their business.  We know that organizing your content is never going to be the sexiest of subjects.  But it’s a thousand times more appealing than the alternative, as our new client proves.

That’s why we’ve designed an entire system that lets you access your entire catalogue in one place, share it with colleagues, make notes,  but, above all, know that your video catalogue is safe.

For those of you who think a well organised filing system is a thing of beauty this is what a proper If your current supplier isn’t offering something like this, you might want to ask just how safe your work really is.

Coutts Institute which late last year launched Knowledge Exchange, an educational digital platform for clients, commissioned as part of it a five-episode mini-drama. It documents the philanthropic journey of fictional ‘Simon Teller’, from his ‘eureka moment’ to fulfilling his ambition to provide clean water to villagers in Ghana. The 52-year-old businessman, inspired by his daughter’s gap year experiences, decides to research more about the Ghanain villagers, and then to take action to improve their lives, discussing the best approaches with peers and experts, and ultimately achieving his philanthropic ambition.

The £35k film is delivered in five-minute episodes and aims to be a faithful portrayal of philanthropy in action with rigorous attention to detail, including consulting on the story-line with practising philanthropists and filming on location at a water project in Ghana run by Village by Village.

Jason Jarvis, of Coutts, says: “Philanthropy engages on an emotional level and we felt the best way to represent the steps on the journey would be to tell a story from the perspective of one individual, who was motivated by what he had seen through the eyes of his teenage daughter.”

Jonah Weston of award-winning Form Films that created the drama, said taking a dramatic approach allowed them to give the viewer a linear perspective of one man’s journey, which is not possible when using real philanthropists who are at different stages of their journey. “ Taking a dramatic approach also allowed us to convey the passion philanthropists have for their causes while presenting the facts- the film appeals to both the head and the heart. The challenge was creating a natural and believable script that told an engaging story while delivering the necessary educational messages.”

The film has been available on the Knowledge Exchange site for the past three months and is, says Jarvis, consistently the most viewed item in the Philanthropy section. “I remember the first philanthropy client that I showed it to for feedback was visibly moved by the first episode. It is what he called the “eureka moment” when our character, Simon Teller finally found his philanthropic passion. He could relate to this.”

The film can be viewed by clicking here: http://www.coutts.com/knowledge/philanthropy-drama

This article was posted on 16th March 2012
By:
Cheryl Chapman
Managing Editor, Philanthropy UK

What Google does share is that in addition to your lovingly crafted communications video, there are another 60 hours of new video uploaded every minute to YouTube! Which means that if we only consider the new videos added this month there will be over 2.5 million hours added.  And if your average visitor is watching 3.75 hours in a month, the chances of him spending that time on your video are somewhere around 0.0001%. And all this assumes that your business video is at least as entertaining, engaging and shareable as Britain’s Got Talent highlights, music video parodies and animal tricks that it is competing against.

The above example shows that the Fenton Phenomenon was driven by word of mouth with over 1 million users, (just on that version) tuning in.  However much we agree with Kony2012, it still got 80 million hits.  Whereas on the right, a huge global company like Accenture manages only 294 views.  Is it not the case that this Accenture video was produced but no real thought was put into where to put it and how to drive people to it – one would ask – why is it up there at all?

The conclusion: Make sure you’ve got your own video strategy on your own hosting platform which allows you to embed video into your own website that already has its own traceable footfall (AS WELL AS) a YouTube offering.  By doing this you will be spending time developing a video marketing strategy that focuses on how the thousands of visitors on your actual site are interacting with your videos. This isn’t as grand and sexy as the viral video splash, but it is much more likely to help you grow your business in the digital sector, and will enable you to use more enhanced video promotion strategies such as SEO and email marketing integration, to continue to drive more prospects to your site.

Well when it comes to your brand, just how brave are you?  I know everyone’s always talking about bold must see content.  But the truth is who’s really making it?  The problem is that when it comes to their own brands most marketeers and managers can be at best a little myopic and at worst narcissistic.  Sure, YOU live and breath your brand, but that doesn’t mean everyone else will too.  Shock revelation…. To really get watched you need to create something that people really want to watch.  And there’s a big difference between that and what you think people SHOULD like.

OK this film is for Orbit gum, but the point stands whether you’re a mass market brand or blue-chip professional services firm.  Build something people want and they will come.  Build what you want and feel the silence.  Nine times out of ten brave will win the day.

macro kingdom from clemento on Vimeo.