The Personal Collection
Before we begin our look at the "Personal Collection" -
Cue the broken record:
Previously we discussed how important telling the story of your business is to your success, because it sets you apart from your competitors, engages customers and makes you memorable.
And, we introduced four main categories business video using the simple analogy of building a house –
- First you start with the foundation
- Then frame some walls
- Top it off with a roof
- Finally, you fill the place with personal items
We also reviewed the –
- The Foundation Collection with its Testimonial Videos and Brand Doctrines.
- Then we looked at the Frame Collection – A behind the scenes look at more information on - how you do – what you do - complete with, tutorials, DIY and staff features.
- Our third installment looked at the Rooftop Collection – films with an emotional appeal – those special things you want to shout from the roof top.
If you want to review further you’ll find recent articles listed in the sidebar to the right of your screen. Or, you can just scroll down.
This has been a test of the AtelierIMD emergency broadcast system. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program – already in progress.
The Personal Collection
In this fourth and – thank god… final – installment of our “What should My Movie Be About?” series we’ll look at the Personal Collection.
Remember the house we’re building? Well - with the roof firmly in place – we’re ready to move in! And, that means we need some curtains – and furniture - and assorted tchotchkes – in other words… personal items.
And, that’s what the Personal Collection is all about - films with direct, one on one connections for your most valued friends, donors or clients.
You won’t always post these publicly – they’re mostly for email or social media messaging. Because – wait for it – they’re personal.
You could never actually do Personal Collection movies for all of your customers. That would be a full time job in itself. These movies are for your best, most loyal customers – or new customers you want to move into your best, most loyal customer club.
It’s a nice way to say – “Hey! I remember you! Here’s a little reminder so you’ll remember me too?”
Personal Collection movies are usually inexpensive and easy to create – gather your staff in the break room and record a Birthday Song – or an Anniversary Message – (Remember “Happy Birthday” is protected by copyright – at least for the moment.) Then, wrap said message in a graphics package with your logo and a brief message. i.e. “Congratulations from – Your Logo Here” and hit send.
The real value in the Personal Collection is that you took the time to create it yourself!
These movies can celebrate anything – holidays, graduations, milestone achievements in “their” lives like – winning an award – shooting a hole in one – or even - finally having that pesky gallbladder removed.
They’ll love it because, it’ll make them feel special and most importantly - they won’t have to click another “LIKE” among the twelve hundred birthday greetings on Facebook. And, your message won’t get lost among all the - people they don’t remember from high school.
And, oh yeah - They'll share it with everyone they know!
Taking the time to record and send a direct personal message says you’re paying attention – that you value their business.
It can even rescue you from a faux pas – like something you promised, but forgot to deliver. It’s the business equivalent of a dozen roses.
Which brings up another point.
Avoid being too familiar! They’ve already got one creepy uncle in the family. You can be personal and still stay appropriately generic. And, make sure you keep up with what’s going on in their lives. There’s nothing worse than getting a “Happy Anniversary” message on the same day the divorce papers arrive.
In other words - Please post responsibly!
Things like holiday messages, that we all celebrate together – can be posted publicly! If in doubt - send it privately and let them decide. They almost always share it themselves anyway!
If you want to celebrate Groundhog Day though – just remember to celebrate the “day” and not the movie – or you’ll find yourself recreating the same post day – after day – after day…
As with home decorating, the Personal Collection should have its own consistent style – one that reflects your style as a company. My office is decorated in Early Big Lots – though WalMart Provincial is nice too!
So, how do I create a style for my movie? You ponder pensively!
Remember that graphics package I mentioned earlier?
That’s the quickest, easiest way of creating a style that retains and reinforces your brand. Every movie you’ve ever seen opens with a motion graphics package featuring the studio’s logo. The studios refer to this device as a "vanity plate!"
A vanity plate identifies your brand - from the opening frame. It also acts as a kind of sorbet, cleansing the palate for what’s to come – giving the audience time to settle and focus – all while staring at your logo!
You can get a professionally designed vanity plate for a few hundred bucks. That may seem like a lot - but consider this - a generic “We’re Celebrating at…” or “Congratulations from “YOUR LOGO HERE” animation graphic – wrapped around a personal message – reusable for a couple of years – will cost you about the same, per customer, as a good round of drinks.
Before the protests begin - I know - nothing will replace face to face attention with your clients. But, you can’t always be there on the day – and not all of us need that second round of drinks anyway.
This is a good alternative – until you can make that next face to face.
But, how do I put the graphics and the video together?
Here are some options.
- The BigLots version - You can create a lo-fi parody of an existing media icon. For example – you could type up some text in your favorite word processor –angle your laptop screen at a 45 degree angle - point a camera at the screen and using the scroll bar, create a parody of the StarWars crawl from the start of each movie – tilting up at the end to reveal your staff ready to perform.
It may take a little practice but, this kind of parody can be quite funny as long as the viewer gets the reference – and it’s not too cheesy.
You could, of course, parody your own logo - I work with one client who hung a plastic globe from a string – spinning ridiculously fast. It is, of course, meant to parody the Universal Pictures vanity plate. What makes it so funny, is that the client is Universal Pictures. Which leads me to another point - I really only recommend using this approach with people who already know that you’re brand conscience, professional and are sure to get the joke without thinking – “Wow these guys are terrible!”
(Note: Parody is protected speech, as a "Fair Use" - meaning it's not a copyright infringement. If you parody someone else's logo however, you could still be looking at an infringement - depending on the Courts latest interpretation of Fair Use. You could also face a trade mark violation or - a possible libel action depending on the nature of said use. Contact your legal department for clarification.)
- Of course, you can hire a professional to design graphics package then - if you - or someone on your staff has the ability – assemble the piece yourself – what I call the IKEA, flat pack version. It can save you money and still looks great.
- Or you could bring in a film crew and do a professional shoot and edit session – the Henredon Version.
Let’s be honest - you probably don’t want to spend that kind of money on a Birthday Message. Though, I’ve done it! (Note: If the subject of said movie accounts for 70% of your Billion dollar annual revenue – by all means – bring in the posh director! Who wouldn’t like a birthday message directed by Steven Spielberg – or narrated by Morgan Freeman? Trust me. It’s been done!)
- But, most likely – you’re gonna want something in between - the “Rooms to Go” version. You shoot the greeting yourself and hand off the assembly to a third party – preferably at bargain basement prices. If in doubt – use a professional.
So where do I find these magically delicious prices?
Frequently – if you just ask – the production company you already use can help. If it turns out that you’re one of their best, most loyal customers – you might even get the service at cost – or even sometimes free – It’s our version of a gift card – for those special clients.
Hey! It never hurts to ask!
It also never hurts to advertise – So! If we at AtelierIMD can be of any assistance please give us a shout! Thank you!
So that’s the Personal Collection – the tchotchke of corporate motion pictures - reaching out on an individual basis - helping your brand stay relevant to your most loyal customers - and keeping you well ahead of the competition.
And, we all have that shelf full of tchotchkes from somewhere or another. We save them and revisit them time and time again – in spite of the fact that they are ostensibly worthless – at least in monetary value. In personal value thought, they’re priceless and become some of our favorite possessions.
So let’s hear it for the tchotchkes!
Gesundheit!