The story of how the Russians sent men into space with pencils, whereas the Americans (actually an American company off their own back) spent a King’s ransom on developing the Fisher Spacepen is commonly trotted out as an example of how a simplified approach to a problem can save significant amounts of money. But that approach only works to a (carefully sharpened) point!
Yesterday I took issue with a man who I regard as a flim flam artist. A dangerous character (in my view) who, in his rush to buoy up his own ego is placing the wellbeing of other people’s jobs and businesses at risk. How is he doing this? By encouraging them to play fast and loose with the credibility of their businesses.
It’s a sad and simple truth that many ‘wannabees’ are attracted to the creative industries. Some are out and out charlatans out to make a quick buck. Others, simple bunglers who half-understand the job and operate in blissful ignorance. Others still, desperate to be ‘part of the scene’ scuttle about doing anything for anybody and never really develop a great level of competence at anything. The web design, marketing, graphics and corporate video industries do seem to be significantly affected by these types. It can be dangerous to buy into their ‘flim flam’. And that’s especially true of you’re a small business trying to compete in a big world.
One of the most influential marketers of the 20th century was advertising executive Leo Burnett who created such icons as the Jolly Green Giant, the Marlboro Man, the 7up “Spot”, and Tony the Tiger. One of the icons he used was of a black pencil that symbolised a commitment to the warmth and humanity of ideas, and to the work of the people who create them. Burnett also created an icon of a ‘hand reaching for the stars’, which he explained with the saying, “When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won’t come up with a handful of mud either”.
Reaching for the stars, TRULY, reaching for the stars is essential to make your business grow. Merely aping those who are reaching out is more likely to see you topple over face down in the mud!
So, you’re reaching for the stars. And you decide to use video in your promotional plan….
The first and most vital piece of advice we’ll give is to be 100% sure the production company you use are legitimate professionals; properly trained, properly qualified and operationally competent. Whilst it’s not necessary to use a broadcast company it is essential to use people who are broadcast trained and fully understand the process. Sadly many aren’t and don’t!
Whatever you do don’t be tempted to go down the ‘DIY’ route.
So-called ‘prosumer’ video cameras might cost just a few thousand pounds. And the ‘toy’ video editing packages you see in your local computer store may well make all sorts of promises about their capabilities. The truth is most of those packages are only just on the ‘right’ side of the law in terms of the Trades Descriptions Act. And buying just a video camera in the hope of making corporate video is a bit like buying an Airfix kit without budgeting for the glue, paints and skill necessary to complete it!
For instance once you’ve bought your ‘prosumer’ camera you need various accessories for it. A decent basic tripod to suit a Sony Z1 will cost you about £500. Then you need microphones (our most basic mic kit cost almost £3000) lighting (another £2-3000 or so) extra batteries, chargers, high quality headphones….. Count on spending £15,000 on basic shooting kit to match even the most poorly equipped pro. Oh; and editing software… Close to £1000 and you’re probably looking at £2000+ to get a very basic edit system that works properly.
Minimally you’d need to spend about £20K to reach a very basic level of professional operating capability. Then there are the skills needed. Yes; any idiot can pick up a domestic camcorder and with the help of some cheap software string together some sort of programme. But just bear in mind what you’re competing with: Slick expensively produced blue-chip corporate television.
We see far too many home movies masquerading as corporate video and they invariably reflect badly on the clients behind them. Only last year I watched first in bemusement then in horror as a woman wept at the reaction her husband’s DIY corporate had provoked. Their ‘corporate’ home movie was head to head with those from other small businesses. All of which had been properly produced by people who knew their trade.
The business with the DIY job were left looking like half-assed idiots! And with their credibility ebbed away their business, their income and the jobs of the people they employed! There are also legal issues involved with producing a programme which, if ignored or unknown, could land you in very hot water indeed. We’ll brush over the illegally used music the couple had incorporated into their video!
The sad irony is that the sort of programme they had attempted to produce would only have cost them about £1200…. Less than half what, it emerged, the hapless husband had spent on his new toy video camera! The best tools in the world are completely useless in the hands of those without the skills and training to use them properly.
On that score you might want to think about why it takes anyone legitimately entering the video production business around 2400 hours of full time study over at least two years to gain a basic minimum qualification that will allow them to train with a broadcaster or corporate producer.
We’ve often seen the notion of a ‘one stop shop’ floated as a positive selling point when it comes to video production with some so-called ‘media producers’ claiming to do everything ‘in-house’ from building your web site through to supplying you with a skating Santa Claus and designing your brochures! One of the most commonly floated notions by these operators being that this avoids the client being faced with bills from, or having to deal with, a number of different contractors or companies.
This would be reasonable coming from the sort of multi-million-pound production facility which services the high end of the market and charges five-figure budgets. Such organisations can afford to keep teams of experts on salary as well as invest in the complex, expensive and diverse facilities necessary for each task.
On budgets more appropriate to small to medium businesses though you should beware the bodger who claims to be everything from expert photographer through graphic designer to web designer through to ace film producer. Each of the specialism’s in the creative industries take many years and much training to master. Your business deserves the attention of experts not ‘blaggers’. It’s common enough for people to be to some extent multi-skilled. But the mark of a true professional is the knowledge of where their limits lie coupled to the experience to know quality and how it’s best achieved.
Jack-of-all-trades was master of none; remember? No creative professional worth hiring is so short of work they have to scrabble about desperately taking on anything and everything vaguely creative and/or pretending to be something they’re not. Such behaviour though is very typical of the charlatans who inhabit the fringes of the creative industries.
You wouldn’t hire a plumber to fit a new brakes to your car nor a motor mechanic to fit a gas heater. Putting the credibility of your business in the hands of an amateur bodger is almost as daft as playing fast and loose with your personal safety.
As for the ‘one stop’ invoice? This should be routine; it’s standard practice and not a unique selling point! ANY competent professional video producer will, as part and parcel of the process, FULLY project manage your production. This will mean of course that the various component parts such as music, graphics and animation come from different sources. However, unless you specify otherwise, the process should be fairly seamless .
If you’re serious about business leave the crayons and the mud pies to the toddlers. You don’t HAVE to spend tens of thousands on creative services its true. There ARE affordable, truly professional options out there. And the low-cost end of the creative market grows on a daily basis. DON’T hire amateurs, DON’T DIY … Properly qualified people aren’t necessarily expensive; it’s just a matter of knowing where to look!
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