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News, project launches and thoughts from our team.
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#WednesdayWisdom: Behind-the-scenes with Apple & Spike Jonze
One rabbit hole that clients fall into is assuming that video is a snap to make because it’s so simple to watch. You sit down, press play, and an entire world unfolds before you. Savvy marketers, though, will make it a point to understand the amount of work that goes into making a fantastic video so that they can intelligently spend their marketing budgets, and get the most bang for their buck. Knowledge is power, and video marketing is no exception.
Of course, if you’re the world’s richest company, you know that great video marketing takes high-caliber creative and a killer crew. At Apple, their marketing team spends millions of dollars on video – hiring choreographers, Hollywood directors, top-shelf dance talent and a crew of set designers to launch their latest product. Of course, the results are simply amazing.
This behind-the-scenes film of the making of Apple’s Spike Jonze-directed campaign for the HomePod is a great primer on what goes into making truly original, creative piece of video marketing – in this case, a short film. And while you may not have their budgets, knowing the creative (and budgetary) constraints you’re up against is half the battle!
Take a few moments and enjoy this educational look inside a high-budget shoot for this week’s #WednesdayWisdom :)
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PROJECT LAUNCH: INVIS & Mortgage Intelligence
When you’re a national brokerage with teams in hundreds of Canadian cities, how do you even begin to capture the spirit of the hard working brokers representing your brand? In the case of INVIS/Mortgage Intelligence, the answer was simple. You go to them. With a camera crew in tow.
Over the summer of 2016, the Double Barrel team was thrilled to film across Canada, documenting the passion and the people behind the INVIS/Mortgage Intelligence brand. In one of our most ambitious documentary projects to-date, we filmed in six provinces and seven cities, capturing the camaraderie that makes INVIS/MI truly unique. From wineries in Kelowna, to line dancing at the Calgary Stampede, from charity golf tournaments in Niagara to boat cruises off the Halifax harbour. Through it all, what stood out the most was an overwhelming sense of community and caring. Brokers that truly care for their clients, and each other, working exceedingly hard to ensure their happiness.
Double Barrel is thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with Invis/Mortgage Intelligence, documenting this beautiful country and their world class teams from coast to coast to coast.
This completed piece screened at the INVIS/MI annual gathering, to rave reviews. And it’s easy to see why! Invis Mortgage Intelligence has successfully built the only true full service brokerage in Canada, attracting top brokers that are continually diversifying and developing their craft to deliver the best support possible. That’s something to cheer about.
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Project Launch: Hamilton – Burlington SPCA
With nearly 10,000 hits in one day, this could be our biggest launch yet! SO excited to share this hilarious little piece we produced for an amazing cause – the Hamilton/Burlington SPCA!!
Thank you so much to Diana Frances and Jennifer Goodhue for lending their time and talents to this project ~ and to the Mulberry Street Coffeehouse for letting us grab one shot of their exterior. Thank you also to Shawn Lovering Photography for the excellent cinematography, Alex Last for the fabulous hair & makeup, and all of our extras (both human and feline) for keeping a straight face!!
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5 Reasons Video Is Essential For Your Marketing Strategy
By Keith Jolie
This past weekend I was busy volunteering with the annual Polar Bear Dip for Habitat for Humanity in Toronto. Amid all the interviews, media interactions and watching around 700 people run into icy cold water, I was struck by the prevalence of video at the event.
One of my interviews with a larger news media company was via Facebook Live, and many of the dippers had GoPros strapped to them as they ran into the water. Those videos, shared by a significant percentage of the participants, have allowed the event organizers to market the excitement of the event to a very large audience and to grow the event year after year.
Video has grown to become in many cases, the linchpin of a successful content marketing strategy. While content marketing is a bit of an overused buzzword, the concept is sound. Marketing your business or organization involves engaging several channels in order to attract customers and as with traditional advertising, mediums like search engine marketing ( SEM ), social media marketing, and email marketing all rely on quality content to entice the customer to engage with the medium and for you to meet your marketing objectives.
If you’re not already using video as part of your content marketing strategy, here are five reasons why you should give it a second look:
1 – Critical Mass
Recent statistics gathered by Google pointed out that 53% of consumers on mobile feel more favorable towards companies whose websites feature video content. Video more than ever has reached a critical mass. It is expected by your customers, and much like a business or organization that doesn’t have a website, not having video content will soon be seen as a sign that your business or organization isn’t professional.
2 – Distribution Options Abound
There has never been a better time for businesses to embrace video as part of their content marketing efforts, and with both free and paid distribution options it also has never been easier. Any business can easily (and for free) create a YouTube channel to feature video content and videos can easily be embedded in your website, sales presentations and used as part of conference displays. About 100 million hours of video are watched every day on Facebook. With both Facebook and YouTube (Google Adwords) offering complex targeted distribution through their paid advertising models, more than ever you are able to direct your video content to the most appropriate audience and measure the results.
3 – High Definition and High Speed is Everywhere
In 2017, high speed data is a reality on even the most basic of mobile networks and most newer mobile phones now feature high definition displays and sound that would have been unimaginable even a few years ago. This advancement has caused the global audience for video to grow exponentially. While high quality video looks best on the big screen, it is superbly suited for mobile consumption because it requires no user interaction and it can be shared easily. Video allows a mobile user to take in a large amount of information without having to scroll through lots of text or click through from page to page and the audience is definitely there. On mobile alone in an average week, YouTube reaches more 18+ year-olds during prime time TV hours than any cable TV network. (Google Think, 2016)
4 – It’s a Supercharger for your SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a constantly moving target with search algorithm updates being released frequently. Recent observations by SEO professionals agree that the inclusion of video on your website continues to have a very positive impact on how frequently your website appears in related search engine results pages. The benefits come from a few specific traits of video. First – multimedia content, and graphical (picture) content has for a long time had a positive impact on page SEO. Second, video content is sharable and social media shares are metrics that feed back positive SEO signals for your page. And third – properly embedded and encoded videos with script information expand the relevant keyword possibilities for any page that includes them.
5 – Buying Decisions Are Heavily Influenced By Video
The buying decision process in both the consumer and business to business markets has undergone a massive shift in recent years. Product and service information that was once only available from sales staff can now be readily accessed from a wide variety of sources including review sites, best of lists, and industry publications. For businesses and organizations, ensuring that your content is front and centre during that critical research stage of the buying process is more and more important. With 68% of YouTube users (70% in Canada) indicating that they watched YouTube content to help them make a purchasing decision, the importance of ensuring that it is your message that they receive in that video becomes even more magnified.
While video isn’t the only element of a content marketing solution a business needs to employ, there is a strong argument to be made that most businesses should be prioritizing video as part of their marketing strategy. To find out more you should also check out our video called “Why Video”.
Double Barrel Studios can offer your organization guidance as you consider video – give us a call, and let’s get talking.
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PROJECT LAUNCH: “Foodie” – A City of Hamilton Lifestyle Commercial
Hamilton is a city known for industry. But spend a little time within our borders and you’ll find there’s much more to this community than that.
So when the City of Hamilton approached us to produce a series of broadcast commercial spots highlighting the lesser known lifestyle benefits of living in #HamOnt.. we were thrilled. Thrilled at the opportunity to show you the city through our eyes. From rural charms and outdoor adventures to world class restaurants, arts and culture – these spots are our homage to the city we call home.
We filmed these spots over three days in a variety of Hamilton hotspots – from James Street to Cootes Paradise and everywhere in between. Featured are local farms, fashion designers, fitness enthusiasts, chefs and their fanbase of foodies. Chances are good you know someone in each frame.
Many thanks to the City of Hamilton, Tourism Hamilton and Hamilton Economic Development for bringing us aboard this project!
Special thanks to location providers (and amazing Hamilton restaurants!) Mezcal, Aberdeen Tavern, Nellie James Too and to intrepid foodie Chanry Thach!!
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PROJECT LAUNCH: W Booth School of Engineering Practice
Today’s engineering graduates have a tough job ahead of them. From water quality to sustainable living, from climate change to aging infrastructure, the engineering classes of 2015 and beyond will be expected to have the skills necessary to tackle the grand challenges of tomorrow.
The W Booth School of Engineering Practice provides recent grads with that skill set, through interdisciplinary education combined with experiential learning and mentorship. Their tagline: “Inspiring innovative leaders who will transform the world.”
No small task.
When the W Booth School came to us for help with their new commercial, we were excited to get involved. Double Barrel has a long history with McMaster’s Engineering department, but we hadn’t had the opportunity to work with the Master’s program. We knew that this would be a particularly tricky project – within a tight timeframe, showcase the depth and breadth of experiences and opportunities a W Booth graduate would attain.
After much discussion, we decided to go with a combination of green screen, animation and live action in-the-field footage.
After one particularly long shoot day with an amazing team of W Booth Graduates, our animator Taylor Heres set to work in the edit suite. Sketching, animating and keying out the green under the guidance of director Tyler Tekatch. We couldn’t be happier with the end result.
Many thanks to the W Booth School for involving us in such a great project!
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Jumping Back into the Judges Chair
I was so thrilled to be invited to sit as a judge on the panel of last year’s Economic Developers Council of Ontario Awards. It was a great chance to get an inside look at marketing, branding & advertising campaigns from all across Ontario. In November, I’m headed back again.
Categories that I adjudicated for last year’s competition were mainly advertising and branding related, and consisted of everything from simple awareness raising campaigns to complete brand overhauls for economic development regions.
Of the 20 entries I had the opportunity to look at and judge, some clear themes emerged in terms of what is being done right in the industry, and what needs some major rethink when it comes to marketing/branding your latest initiative.
A few of my do’s and don’t’s from last year’s experience.
DO your research. I was shocked to see how few departments actually conducted research prior to spending tens of thousands of dollars on marketing outreach. Too many organizations are diving into big spends without considering one of the highly critical marketing ‘p’s’ – people. Who is your audience? What are they interested in? What things do they enjoy? Everything from imagery to fonts to colour schemes should be based on what you feel will best relate to your audience. Too often marketing initiatives are based on what a particular committee thinks is great with no real thought to what your potential client or customer needs to see. Demographics should be your very first stop in determining any brand campaign. Be clear about WHO you’re targeting so that you can create the best campaign to reach them.
DO spend money on good graphic design. So many entries were conceptually great but suffered from graphic design that did not evaluate the audience or give it the respect it deserves. Many organizations look at having in house graphic designers create branding elements as a cost cutting measure – this is a big no no. If you’re planning to spend any amount of money on marketing your new initiative make sure it’s rock solid out of the gate – and that means clean, clear, legible design that invites your audience to look closer – doesn’t turn them away.
DO NOT use dated photography or video in your brand-spanking-new campaign. Many initiatives had beautiful new branding elements. Logos, websites, YouTube pages. These suffered due to the incorporation of photography & videography that was done 4 or more years ago. Technology moves fast, nowhere more so than in the world of cameras and online video. Image quality has gotten consistently better year over year. Make sure you’re not shooting yourself in the foot by incorporating photography or videography that was shot more than 3 years ago.
DO NOT blow the bank. Spending large amounts of money on a flashy bus campaign or large advert in a well known paper does not marketing success make. Creativity and talent is what counts.
DO the math. So many initiatives were thwarted by not having the proper analytics in place to gauge metrics on campaign success or failure. How will you ever know you succeeded if you don’t have benchmarks to measure against? Use free technology like Google Analytics to tackle web hits and easy measurements like in-person surveys to clock uptake from your intended demographic. Marketing’s a game – make sure you’re making educated guesses.
This year’s awards will be handed out in Hamilton on February 12th. See you there!
