So, obviously your company is going to change the world - changing people's lives in every corner of the globe. The problem is that they don’t know that... yet.

Video brings your company and your data alive, helping to share your ideas, attract customers and even secure your next round of finance. Video has an amazing ability to capture the essence of what you are doing and share it in a compelling way that will make people sit up, notice and remember you after you have left the room.

This is one of the reasons we have produced so many videos for tech businesses. You might be thinking that a video could help you and that's great. Here are five examples to get your creative juices flowing. Enjoy...

1. Verve Street Team

We love animation because of its ability to illustrate processes in a clear and engaging manner. They also allow you to bring your brand colour palate to life. This film for influencer platform Verve makes a really great job of this. There are other benefits to animation like this too – once you have the illustrated assets you can use them in other productions, you may also choose to use them in other marketing materials too. Animation also allows you to show functionality which is either in development or is difficult to film.

2. Moveworks

We love this brand film we recently completed for Moveworks with our friends at Emotive Brand. It’s got energy and more than a little verve. The animated captions do a great job of illustrating the problem and solution all the while driven by the sound track which conveys the no nonsense approach of the platform.

3. Lattice Semiconductor

Maybe you don't want an illustrated animation but your product is still difficult to film. That’s cool – that’s where using stock video can really help. This film for Lattice Semiconductor was relatively simple to produce but that doesn't stop it from being extremely effective for explaining exactly what the business does.

4. Glint

It can be really useful to enrol the help of an expert to build trust with the audience. Interview led/talking head remain one of the most effective and cost efficient ways to get your message across. Here, the interviewee explains the product in a simple and easy to follow interview. When combined with the overlaid footage of people using it, it makes for a very strong product promo film.

5. Pavegen - Crowd Funding

Sometimes you might need to wrap it all together in a package to persuade people to invest in your idea. We made just such a film for smart cities firm Pavegen. Their innovative technology captures the energy produced by pedestrian footsteps and turns it into energy - approximately 5 watts per footstep!

This video featured on their CrowdCube funding page and helped them to smash their original target of £950,000 with a total fundraise of over £2.6 million! We wouldn't be so crass as to say that our film was the reason for this success... but it probably didn't hurt. 

So there you go – five examples of ways that you can bring your tech business to life with video. We’d love to talk to you about how video can help you. Drop us a note, or send us an email, and one of our experienced producers will be happy to help you find just the right idea for you and your budget.

We're extremely grateful to Vodafone's Global Head of Learning, Catalina Schveninger who was kind enough to share her time and ideas with us in the first of our Better Video Power Hour Webinars. We managed to cover a wide range of thoughts and ideas in just 40 short minutes so there's lots in there for commissioners and producers to benefit from. 

Catalina started out in HR in 2002 working for GE. Since then she has worked in a variety of international roles, including T Mobile in the Netherlands. She joined Vodafone in 2014 as their Global Head of Resourcing and Employer Brand. Over the year she has commissioned a wide variety of content projects and so is well placed to share how to get really effective work made. You can watch the recording of the webinar here.

Vodafone - Youth Hero Film

This is one of the films that we discussed with Catalina - an attraction piece for younger potential employees. She was at pains to say that if your finance department don't like the content you're producing to attract a young audience to find out more, the chances are it's about right. She shared how you can build support to help to get the content that needs to be made made. Given the amount of noise in the online environment, making content which doesn't differentiate is not an option.

Some of the questions we covered include:

• Why use video?
• How to get creative ideas made within a large corporate?
• Who is doing it really well?
• How to get your videos seen?
• The importance of purpose in internal engagement?

If you missed it, don't worry you can watch the recording right here. We will also hold another one on the 18th September (exact time TBC) on how to get the most from your existing videos/assets. Special guest to be announced.

Click on the image above to watch the recording

If you have a project that you would like to discuss, please drop us a note, an email or a call. Our experienced producers are ready help make your next project the best ever.

If you are keen to kick your project off on the right foot the best thing to do is to get your brief exactly right. You can download our guide to doing that right here.

One of the best things about being filmmakers is the breadth of things we get to make films about. There are the dawn shoots in the desert, the police chases through suburbs, even a spot of husky racing through the Arctic tundra. We’ve definitely had our fair share of filmic fun.

Believe it or not though - the job isn’t always passport stamps and wrap martinis in rooftop bars. Every so often we get to scratch our heads a little to convey something a little less energetic. This is where the creativity of the job really comes into its own. Much (if not most) of our work focuses on the types of things which business and financial services companies want to communicate. That includes audit, tax, regulation and compliance.

This is where the true creativity kicks in. One of the great things about making films for companies is the fact that they have to fulfil very specific objectives. This means that we have clear bounds within which to work. It also means that we can choose creative treatments which really clarify what is being shown – which really ‘tell the story’ we are trying to relay. This is where fairly physical ideas can come into play.

For this project for a top four professional services firm, we created a technological Rube Goldberg Machine from calculators, computer parts, and robots in order to visualise the digital journey insurers will undertake in preparation for a new piece of accountancy software.

Our brief was to make a film which will convince insurers that IFRS17 will be an asset to their business. We wanted to show them that by embracing technology and digital advances, they won’t only minimise disruption to their business, they will maximise their disruption to the marketplace.

The moodboard helps to show commissioners what the visual style of the film will be

This film is to be used across social media, for events, and in presentations - but we knew that we needed to create something completely different and unexpected in order to resonate with our audience.

As we travel around the circuit, we move from old technology - paperwork representing cumbersome legacy data, to new technology - digital graphics and robots. This journey shows the technological advances made through the years in accountancy.

The visual represents the ease of automation, the smooth journey for insurers, and the build of new processes and systems. This idea allowed us to create a hugely inspiring and impactful film, which is sure to generate high levels of engagement amongst our target audience.

The storyboard. This is created in the initial stages of the project to show what will be happening onscreen during the film.

We were really pleased that this film was recognised at the New York Festivals Awards with a Silver Award for production design. Which just goes to show you really don't need to be contained by the subject matter, in fact it just might be the things which inspires you to greater heights. You could end up toasting your film nonetheless.

If you're interested in getting a few more tips on how to make better, more effective videos in less time for less budget download our our TOP TEN tips right here:

In our blog on Building Trust in the Era of Fake News, we discussed the value of purpose in all of your communications. Here we take a moment to look at why purpose is important, particularly for recruitment and internal engagement.

Vodafone: Equal in Work

Your business' purpose or 'why' is an extremely useful resource when looking for content to broadcast or campaigns to run. This doesn’t mean that all the content you create should suddenly be about charitable causes or that it should be about ‘do-gooding’. It also doesn’t mean that all your content needs to be about your corporate purpose. It means that all the content that you create should have a tangential relevance to your ‘Why?’ as a business. This will provide an underlying coherence to your content at the same time as reinforcing your brand identity. It is a step towards your purpose being about actions, rather than just words.

While purpose is extremely valuable to corporate communicators, it must be ingrained in your way of doing business. It is not enough to simply talk about it: it must become part of your DNA. Your customers and employees will thank you for it, as will your shareholders in due course, so everyone ends up happy.

Purpose and the Zuckerberg generation

Purpose has become particularly important, given the evolutions in employment patterns in the current century. Speak to most employers, and they will complain that today’s youthful workforce has become less loyal and more flighty, but the facts don’t entirely bear this out. According to LinkedIn, millennials – those born between 1982 and 2000 (and among the 500 million who use the platform) – change job four times on average in their first ten years in the workplace. There is disagreement over whether this represents a significant departure from previous generations. A US Bureau of Labor Statistics study of the baby-boomer generation found that they had held an average of 11.7 jobs between the ages of 18 and 48. This is certainly more than the baby boomers’ grandparents would have had at the turn of the 20th century.

What has happened, without question, is a shift in what the workforce want from a job. Millennials have seen their contemporaries overturn convention and earn billions as the creators of global technology brands. From Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber to Malala Yousafzai, they have seen how a compelling story can pluck anyone from obscurity and plaster them across the global stage. They mainline videos that show them what is happening in the world – their world – and how they can and must play a role in shaping it. ‘Shape the world’ is what they plan to do.

Young people naturally find it easier to pick up new things (which is just as well). This has meant that they have been disproportionately empowered by the Technological Revolution. This is upending traditional power structures. They know they have this power, and want to know what the brands they interact with – as their suppliers, employers and broadcasters – will do for them. Young people no longer live to work, they work to live. Work is something that the modern employee does as a part of their life. They expect to live the life of their choosing, which means that all employment is viewed through a ‘What’s in it for me?’ prism. Each job has to be a stepping stone or stamp to their career passport, enhancing their skills and experience to enable the next leap onwards.

Millennials have never known a world not negatively affected by human impact. Climate change, the ‘plastification’ of the oceans, mass extinction and social inequality all play on their minds. They want the businesses that they have a relationship with to be part of the solution to these problems. This explains why business purpose is so specifically important to them, particularly when choosing an employer.

They believe that business can be a genuine force for good in the world. Of the 7,900 young people surveyed as part of the Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2017, 76% view ‘business’ positively and believe that it has a positive influence on society. This rose to 89% among those considered ‘hyperconnected millennials’; i.e. those identified as being highly digitally connected compared to the average in their own countries.

"Nine out of ten of the most influential millennials believe that business has

a positive influence on society."

As the guardians of business, you should seize this opportunity and build on it.

Why should this matter to you?

This matters because the millennials are becoming the most powerful generation in history. They are the largest generation (92 million in the US), surpassing the baby boomers (77 million US), and are entering the workplace and their prime earning/spending years. By 2025 they will make up 75% of the global workforce. They already control US$2.7 trillion in annual expenditure. In the West, over time, they will inherit the wealth of their baby-boomer parents, much of which has been protected and built by final-salary pensions and significant real-estate-asset inflation. They are the future of business and our planet.

Young people want purpose, belonging and ownership of the brands they interact with – your brand. They want to take part. They have grown up surrounded by social media and technology in the post- 9/11 world. Having a purpose to work towards makes them more-engaged employees, more-loyal customers and more-active advocates for your brand. They want you to be part of the solution, and they want you to be the enabler.

For employees, the ability to take part in charitable causes at work leads to an increase in loyalty. Deloittes’ aforementioned survey found that of the 54% of millennials who were provided with the opportunity to contribute to good causes or charities, 35% stayed in their job for 5 years or more (vs 24% without the opportunity). They were also more positive about the role of business in the world and optimistic about the social situation generally.

It’s not just employee engagement that makes this a good area for your business to get involved in. There’s also the direct-profit motive. Around 89% of millennial consumers have said there is a strong likelihood they would buy from companies that support solutions to particular social issues, and 91% said that this fact would increase their trust in the business. This would explain why market-research firm Nielsen identified that, in the financial year 2015, sales of consumer goods from brands with a demonstrated commitment to sustainability grew more than 4% globally, while those without grew less than 1%.

 Vodafone: Belonging

How can this work for you?

As we saw in the Building Trust blog, it is essential that you don't just talk the talk. It is essential that you walk the walk. Take the work that Vodafone have been doing on promoting themselves as the number one employer for women and LGBT+ people. First they have to take the steps in that direction and then tell the world about it - in that order. Of course there will always be a degree the marketing driving the reality, but tangible steps towards the new reality have to come first. The great thing about this type of film is that it makes for really powerful, engaging outputs. Ideal for recruitment and staff engagement.

Whatever you're making videos about it's essential to make them the right length to get your message across. We've pulled together everything you need to know, platform by platform, to help you with that.

Check it out here.

Make your next video the best yet webinar

This might sounds a little obvious (not to mention cheesy) but we are pretty passionate about making really really great films at Casual Films. Nothing makes us happier than watching a fine filmic filly leave the Casual stable ready to hit the social media or intranet racetrack at a gallop. It makes us sad too when we see projects that don't go quite as well as they should and the production vet needs to get involved. I'll give that analogy a rest now - put it out to pasture if you like - (sorry).

Anyway, over the years we're made around 10,000 videos of all different sizes for every type of purpose and for every type of client. That has lead us to develop our very own exacting methodology for making videos that work. We've wanted to share this process for some time and we felt that the best format for this was through our own version of live TV - a webinar!

 

Register now

MAKE A DATE: 11th JULY 2019 - 17:00CET / 16:00BST / 11:00EDT / 08:00PDT

I (Nick) am going to be joined by Casual UK's Managing Director and production powerhouse Oliver Atkinson. Over the space of 50 short minutes we're going to share our step-by-step process for making better quality videos in less time and for less money.

Our Extra Special Guest

We're extremely excited to announce Catalina Schveninger, Global Head of Learning at Vodafone as our special guest. Catalina is now responsible for the development of the company's global team of over 110,000 people - quite a remit - so we're extremely happy that she is making the time in her schedule to share her thoughts with us. 

Catalina was previously Global Head of Employer Brand at Vodafone having joined following time as HR Director of T Mobile in The Netherlands. She began her international HR career in 2002 as a member of the Human Resources Leadership Program at GE and held different roles, including the HR Director of GE’s Security EMEA division. 

A mother of 2, Catalina is a passionate advocate for the attraction and development of women in organisations and an avid learner of all things AI and neuroscience. These interests are reflected in a number of the projects that we have produced together including this one promoting belonging at Vodafone:

Vodafone - Belonging

One of the reasons we're really pleased that Catalina is going to be able to join us is the fact that she will be able to give the commissioner's angle to the conversation. We are going to use a global employer branding project that we did with her as the backdrop for the learnings that we want to share. You can see one of these films here:

Vodafone - "The Future is Exciting, Ready?" - Digital Ninjas employer brand

 

Register now

We will be holding a live Q&A at the end of the session so please come armed with anything that you want to ask. We will do our best to get to them. Also - please share the link with anyone else you think might find the session useful.

This is the webinar for you if...

• You've commissioned video but you feel it's been too expensive, time consuming and ultimately ineffective in the past.
• You want to understand the simple techniques that the world’s best communicators use to land their message with video.
• You want to know how global telecoms company Vodafone uses video to land a global brand launch with their 110,000+ staff.
• You want to understand where most people go wrong and how to avoid expensive, time consuming pitfalls.

We look forward to seeing you there.

One of the most exciting developments in corporate/brand video production over the last ten years has been the growth in content which is very light touch on branding or marketing messages. As audiences have become more empowered to choose how they spend their time online brands have looked to align themselves with the types of content which their audiences go out of their way to find and watch.

This has led to some really cool, very watchable examples. Because we really love a list here we thought we’d pull together five of our favs to whet your appetites for the opportunities that are available. As Red Bull showed with their Stratos Jump even the sky isn’t the limit when it comes to this stuff…

Star Alliance – Connecting Cultures

Jobs don’t get much more desirable than being an actual travel journalist. Star Alliance and Wall St Journal tasked Robert Reid with going to six of the destinations serviced by their airlines around the world. The challenge was for him to have an adventure in each which went beyond the standard experience that visitors to those locations usually enjoy. Cue Muay Thai kick boxing in Bangkok, racing with huskies in Canada and performing live at the Native American Gathering of Nations. Beautifully shot, dynamic and brilliantly presented by Robert, these are a gem.

Robert Reid drums at the Gathering of Nations in New Mexico.

Allianz – #CarStories ‘Safari’

How can branded content work for an insurance company? Well, armed with the insight that by providing car insurance, Allianz facilitate the huge amount of family life experience which is lived in the family car, we set about creating a series of videos for social which illustrated what that means. The short, honest portrayals were a massive hit and generated huge engagement on Facebook, where their short length made them easily consumable and sharable.

“The YouTube view completion rate was 85%!

Which was so high that the YouTube team got in touch with

us to find out how we did it.”

In order to be real the production team set up a fixed rig of cameras in each car and then let the families get on with it while the production was monitored from a car behind. The director was able to communicate with an ear piece in one of the adult’s ears to keep them on track.

Adobe – Jonathan Adler

Adobe have created a wide range of really lovely content for their Create channel – which is well worth checking out. We really like this video because Jonathan’s character comes across to clearly and amusingly. This goes to show that if you can find a great interviewee, the ‘talking head’ and b-roll format can be extremely effective.

We also recently delivered this film which features London graphic artist Sharm Murugiah. Again, thanks to Sharm's stunning work and some overlaid graphics, the film looks kind of delish.

Glenmorangie – Evolution of Craft

Prestige whisky brand Glenmorangie wanted to illustrate the craft that goes into making their Scotch. What better way of doing that than getting celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson to take a trip to the distillery and see the process for himself. His presentation and genuine passion for the product really shine through.

Upworthy – Acting Stereotypes

Sometimes branded content can be about something that really matters. This film for Upworthy excellently illustrates the challenges of racial stereotyping in one of its most blatant forms - the way non-white actors are asked to respond to casting and direction. A hard hitting point made powerfully and all the more effectively thanks to the tiny bit of humour added by the actors at the offensive bizarreness of the situation.

Whatever you're trying to create, getting the brief just right gets you off to the very best start. You can download our free guide to writing a really effective brief right here.

Once upon a time, corporate communicators could produce materials which were either read out at departmental meetings, shared in company magazines, or played from VHS tapes to teams in smoke filled magnolia washed rooms. They sat there once a week or month to hear what the overlords from head office had deigned to share. They had no choice. They were effectively captive. This was not a golden age for communication quality.

Now your audience are rather more… dynamic. They can choose what to watch and when to watch it. For good or ill, you have the power to reach them almost 24 hours a day and yet engaging them can be as hard as ever.

Attention is the new currency

Applications designed to capture and sell our attention have turned our time into a commodity. This means that everyone is now fighting for it. Their Instagram or Facebook feed, their families and friends, billon dollar box sets and your piece of comms. It’s noisy out there. You need to cut through that noise to be noticed. Why is this so challenging?

This has made the quality of content skyrocket 

The technological revolution which has put the power of television studios and distribution networks in our hands, has pushed the bar up drastically on what constitutes quality. From Netflix to HBO, and Amazon Prime to network on demand, broadband Internet has substantially increased the amount of excellent content available. From live sports coverage to stunning wildlife documentaries, new technology is enabling a level of access and production values that were pretty much unimaginable just a few years ago. We’re living through the golden age of glossy TV.

What does this mean?

This means that whomever your audience are – external or internal – they are judging the content you share against the most sophisticated systems to capture human attention that have ever existed. I know that seems pretty tough – and it really is – but there are ways that you can still reach them… 

Most important: deliver genuine value

The number one thing that you need to do to cut through to your audience is to deliver them value. For more information on what I mean by this check out this blog here. As Seth Godin says, you should create content which your audience would miss and seek out if it wasn’t there. A simple way to think about this is through the mnemonic TRUE – Timely, Relevant, Useful, Entertaining. Lead with the value with the material you share – make it easy for them to consume. 

Be consistent

Whether you are sharing material internally or externally, it’s important that you are consistent with the material that you share. Once you’re sharing work which is of value to the audience, they will begin to look forward to each iteration. Meet them half way by sharing to a schedule.

Think creatively

Are there other ways that you can cut though? Of course –  you just need to get a little creative. There are a number of ways that you can do this. One is by using new technology.  There is now 360° video/virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and interactive video. They represent new and ever-improving ways of providing immersive stories to the audience. They are a goldmine for corporate communicators who are willing to push them and use them with a little creative flair. They provide an opportunity for a different type of immersion in your brand narrative from what was possible before – enhancing and enriching the stories that you choose to tell around your brand. 

Don’t forget about emotion

Video’s ability to communicate emotion is the most powerful asset in the communicators bag of tricks. This means that whatever you are trying to communicate, you should look for to include a human angle to help it to land with the audience. That might mean using animated characters, finding the stories of individuals that illustrate the experience of the many, or just getting a member of your team on the screen to explain the point. This will help the audience to make sense of it and remember it.

…

We hope these help. Whatever you’re trying to achieve, for whatever audience you’re trying to reach, our highly experienced producers are ready to help you get there. Fill in the form on this page and one of our producers will give you a call back to discuss your project.

Lots of the content that we share in this blog focuses on what the Red Bulls of this world are doing to communicate with their audiences. We share these because the more extreme examples help us to illustrate the underlying principles more clearly. The fact is though that most of the videos that we produce don’t have people jumping out of space balloons, or helicopters or stunts of most kinds. Most of our work is a little... slower paced. That in no way means that it needs to be boring though. There are some really great ways to make even the driest subject matter engaging and interesting. It does help to follow a few key principles though...

1. Keep it Simple

OK - this is a strange way to start a blog about making videos about complex content but do bear with us. The point is you need to condense your information down to the key point you are trying to make - as much as feasible. Do not overload the video with too much content. Think about what you want the audience to think, feel or do as a result of watching and then focus on achieving that one thing. Clarity is essential. It is almost impossible to make a film which is too simple in what it is trying to achieve.

Focus on the elements of the brief you most need to relay to create videos which land the message.

Take this film for RBI Recruitment. They wanted to illustrate the fact that they have eight recruitment titles in their stable. What else is famous for having eight 'bits'? Quite. This animation cuts away everything else they could have included and focuses on the one this that RBI were trying to get across. As a result, it lands the message effectively.  

2. Think about actual people in the target audience group

When making videos about complicated ideas particularly there is a tendency to make them even more complicated by trying talking to the audience as a block rather than a collection of individuals. This can lead to weird phrasing and a quite impersonal feel. The best videos are the ones that speak directly to each audience member. A great way to do this is to think about two or three members of different parts of the target audience when creating your script and film. Do test it by thinking about other members. If you don't know any, it's usually worth doing a little bit of leg work to find them. 

3. Use experts who know and love the material

'Talking head' or interview led films are an excellent, cost effective way to get your message across, particularly if the interviewee has an in-depth understanding and can relate it clearly and with energy, as the fund manager does in the above film for Glint.

A knowledgeable expert can explain ideas clearly and interestingly

4. Use animation and visual metaphor

Animation is a brilliant way of communicating more complicated ideas. This is because it allows you to show and tell the concepts you are explaining at the same time. Normally, you should never explain what you can show - but - using metaphor to underline the principles of the voice over helps to demonstrate the ideas without feeling overly obvious. This makes the information far more tangible and memorable. You can see this at work in this animation for the EIB.

Visual metaphor is a great way of underlining the key ideas in your animation

5. Don't forget emotion

Content that focuses on creating an emotional response in the audience beats the purely rational in effectiveness tests every time. No matter the subject, it is important that you include a bit of character as this engages a different part of the brain and helps the information to stick. This means the audience are more likely to remember and act on your message. As a quirk of the way our brains work we automatically attribute agency to the objects we see moving. This can be used to great effect to build engagement with the audience. Look at how the character of the ball bearing in this film helps to draw you into the message. 

Rube Goldberg machines are satisfying to watch. Here it demonstrates the interconnectedness of the subject matter in a nifty visual metaphor.

But...

Sometimes video works best promoting other media

This might sound slightly contrary to the whole point of this blog, but there may well be some occasions when video is not the right route to take. Emotion and information exist in a balance in all films. Too much focus on emotion – with practically no information – and the film can feel superficial and lacking in substance (think of most fashion ads). Too much information and not enough emotion, and the film will be dry, difficult to follow and impenetrable (some corporate reports embody this pitfall).

They should be like yin and yang. In every informative film you should have a bit of emotion, and in every emotive film you should have a bit of information (even if that is a basic narrative structure). Because of this, if you have lots and lots of information to get across, video might not be the best way to do it. You’ll probably find it more effective to create a PDF document, use video to outline a few salient points and promote reading the PDF through a shorter, more engaging film.

Whatever you're sharing videos about online it helps to make sure that they're the right length to maximise engagement and action. To help you do that - no matter the platform - we created a whitepaper. You can download it right here.

How do you make the most of video content assets that you already have? Most businesses will now have a large amount of past material that they want to reuse or repurpose. This could be footage from past brand or corporate videos, TV commercials, internal films, promotional stills or even music. It takes time, money and thought to create content that is worth sharing in the first place so it makes sense to want to get the most from it. If the content is for social, having more helps you to get noticed and to stay front of mind for your audience. A bit of extra mileage can make a big difference. So what are some of the ways to find it?

1. Tell the Producer

The earlier in the process the production team know that you want to create as much content as possible, the better. This allows them to look for ways to maximise the final outputs throughout. Share the all the content that you have so that they can see how to best incorporate them. Don't worry about whether you think it's right or not - they will know what they are looking for and will be able to help you.

2. Speak to the Editor

No-one knows the footage as well the the person who has just spent hours pawing over it. Sometimes the production team might have shot hours of footage to create a single 60 second output. This is a very rich hunting ground for additional content. If you want to know what's there, speak the editor. They will be able to let you know what you did or didn't get. Quite often what you think you got and actually got can be quite different things, so it's always a useful conversation to have. Don't worry if you don't get a chance though - this is the kind of thing that your producer does on your behalf.

3. Transcribe your Interviews

It can be a little blinding to look at four hours of interview recordings. One way of making this a lot easier is to get it transcribed. This allows you to do a search for words or phrases - significantly reducing the time needed to scoot through. It can also make it easier for you to understand the content that's there. There are some really excellent websites which do this automatically. The output is not perfect but it's certainly good enough to be getting on with. We use and recommend Trint.

4. Think Cross-Platform

Sometimes a piece of content may have run it's course on specific platform might by ripe for another. For example short reedits which wouldn't work for your company website can be really effective when used with some overlaid graphics on Instagram or Facebook. You may be able to grab still images from videos and share them as Instagram Stories with some supporting copy.

5. No Piece of Content is Ever 'Spent'

Finally, try not to think of content as being 'spent'.  There are always ways to get a little more mileage out of the material that you have. Try to look with fresh eyes. It can be as simple as going back over an old project with a different frame of reference and seeing clips or soundbites in there that make sense in a whole different way. 

Reused assets can lead to really powerful results, particularly when included from an early stage...

BMW Careers

This film for BMW Careers is a perfect example of using pre-existing content from the business’ library. Naturally they had a large amount of really lovely footage from the promotional material produced for the main brand. This was combined with graphics, some library, some UGC – also from BMW – sound design and a specifically composed music track. The addition of the track really pulls the production together – making it more than just a collection of disparate material. This is a clear example of how making the producer aware of the stipulations at the outset of the project allowed the creatives and the production team to incorporate the different assets seamlessly.

Whatever you are trying to achieve with your video content, it helps to have people who know what they're talking about on your side. Our team of producers, strategists, creatives, editors, animators and filmmakers have made literally thousands of films for people just like you. They would be happy to discuss your ideas, requirements and the potential that video holds for you. Book a no strings call back from one of our filmmaking team, right here.

We’ve recently delivered a series of films for London Zoo on Behalf of Evening Standard Independent Group. It’s been a real labour of love for the crew, particularly Olly Atkinson, who has always had a bit of a soft spot for our furry friends. In his rich and varied careers before Casual he produced none other than the Secret Life of Hedgehogs. David Attenborough watch your back.

To find out a bit more about the process of shooting in the zoo we caught up with Olly to ask him about some of the challenges of shooting in a synthesised rainforest. Misty camera lenses and plastic cased GoPros watch out – the climbing anteater is about…

Casual's London MD, Olly Atkinson, who produced the films explains some of surprising challenges of shooting in a zoo! Keep watching to see the film at the end

Whatever you want to make a video about or expert global team are on hand to help. Fill in your details and thoughts on the form on this page and one of them will get back in touch very shortly. We've produced work from the Canadian Arctic to the Iraqi Desert (and a fair few conference rooms in between), so our staff understand your challenges and how to translate them into effective video content efficiently, whether your films subjects are going to try to break open and eat the camera, or not.

You can find the book a call back form here.