Driving Engagement: Video Marketing Using Your True Colours

Posted in All Events, Community, Company News, Marketing, VideoBot. Written by Amy Yee on December 9th, 2009

It’s not a completely new idea, but it is newly accessible.  Just about any organization can do it, and if they did, each video would still be unique.  The requirement?  People.  That’s pretty much it.  And you must be able to get them to self-identify on some kind of recording.  If none of the people associated with you are willing to communicate in any way, then it probably won’t work.

So remember the “I am Canadian” video?  Posted here.  It’s all about the “I am”.  “I am” is powerful.  And everyone “is” pretty much something.  All you need to do is bring together people who have something in common, and ask them to state it.  The bonus is that this can lead to showing how they actually feel about whatever it is.

We recently saw a great example of this idea in action with the Association of Canadian Financial Officers. They’re running a campaign called “I am a Financial Officer” and brought in a VideoBot to record their members at a conference.  I conducted many interviews with these members myself, and I just loved hearing them say “I am a Financial Officer” on camera – and then add things like “..and I’m proud” all on their own.  Many of them had fun with their interviews, adding lots of colour to the title “Financial Officer”, which I’m certain will serve the organization well on their website.

What you do next is edit all the videos together so that you have a large number of different people all saying (or starting off saying) the same thing.  Presto – you have a video that’s watchable, and that many people can identify with because chances are – they can identify with or will remember at least one person in the video.

And it’s not just about the video for getting the message out – it’s also about the experience for your members (people).  They are being asked to share because they’re important to you.

Other examples:

“I care about rescue dogs…”
“I love tacos…”
“I am a survivor…”

The possibilities are endless here.  The one rule is that this works better when it’s honest.  Sure you can pay people to speak for you, but the real gems are when it’s real.  I was unable to find great video examples of this sort of video online, but I know they’re out there.  Please comment if you have any to share!

If you do decide to make a video, you can solicit submissions online, though this tends to favour people who are outgoing and enjoy making videos.  Seizing an opportunity where large numbers of your people are already planning to gather is a good way to get a better sampling.  Offering a reward of some kind, no matter how small the gift, provides both incentive and an excuse for people who may want to do it but are shy.  Of course, EventBots are a great option too.  We can also help you formulate your question(s), encourage participation, and conduct interviews to make sure you get the best possible content.

Whether it’s online submissions, your own standalone camera or an EventBot, do leverage your people by putting a face to your organization, company or cause and moving them online.  What’s new is that people are more inclined to participate, that you might be looking for new ways to engage your audience, and that leveraging video online has become easier to do.  (Also – EventBots are sort of new..)  Anyways,  it’s a lot of fun.  If you have done one, or plan to do one, please share it!

“True Colors” Dove Campaign – A variation on the collage concept in this post, this great piece by Dove shows silent videos of faces, and rather than have them speak they throw up captions to represent what the people are thinking but not saying.