Tom Trinneer, a friend and former client of Communiqué PR, suggested I blog about YouTube and how corporations are using videos to promote their images and achieve their business objectives. He also suggested I check out Microsoftís video to promote Microsoft Surface, below. Right away I was intrigued.
Clearly, video can be a very effective medium for entertaining, educating, attracting a younger audience, reaching a completely new audience or breathing new life into a brand. Consider Doritos as an example. During the Super Bowl the company aired a 60-second music video featuring an artist voted to be the best by a group of online consumers. Not only did Doritos reach a broad group of consumers watching the Super Bowl, but the company garnered excellent coverage of its campaign in the Wall Street Journal on Friday, Feb. 1. Check out the article entitled, ’Super Bowl is Crunch Time for Doritosí Risky Youth Strategy.
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120182490729833669.html)
Microsoftís Surface video is also interesting. It helped me understand the concept of Surface, but it was a little long and dry for my taste. Immediately following, I then watched the parody video from a sarcastic gamer and found it to be funny and entertaining.
As a result the video, I am now aware of the new product, Surface. However, unfortunately for Microsoft, after watching the parody video I am left with a somewhat neutral impression of the product.
In summary, I think video can be a very effective means of communication from a company to its audience, but companies need to be careful when they are producing them. Marketing and PR professionals must think strategically about how both proponents and opponents will react to the message. They should try to adhere to the following guidelines.
Use humor carefully
Make sure the length is right for the target audience
Be consistent with corporate image and messaging
For more on best practices about making an effective YouTube video to grow your business, we recommend reading the Wall Street Journal article ’Lights! Cameras! Sales! or checking out this article, http://www.prnewsonline.com/researchandsurvey/chewonthis.html.