The New Fire: Harness the Power of Video for Business
What's it About?
The last ten years have seen a revolution in the way that video is used. Broadband internet, DSLRs, camera phones, viral TikToks, YouTube, content creators, drones, consumer editing programs, virtual reality, 360, augmented reality, interactive video... the list goes on. All these things have completely changed video from a unidirectional tool for the few and put it in the hands of the masses. The democratization of video significantly changes the communications landscape for business. The pace of change has been so fast, that most businesses underutilize video as a tool.
If you understand who your target audience is, what makes them tick, and where that intersects with what you stand for as a brand, you can get a huge amount of value from video.
This could be in direct ways – increasing sales by explaining your products or recruiting better staff. Or less direct ways, like improving brand perception, which ultimately sells more and allows you to charge more. The potential to build brand value is so huge. Enterprises need to think about their content production as an additional product.
You need to have a specific plan to deliver value for the business through content production. Whether you like it or not, you have a content channel, and your audience expects you to use it. The New Fire breaks down how to do exactly that.
Who Should Read This Book?
- Senior executives who want to understand more about using video for brand building, HR, communications, and marketing. The New Fire will help you to think, speak and plan around this important asset from a position of understanding.
- Corporate/brand video commissioners who want to get more from relationships with third-party producers. The book breaks down the commissioning process from strategy to audience, brief to distribution.
- Marketers who want to understand more about what makes video one of the most potent tools in their toolkit. This will help you to use it more effectively, improving returns from your campaigns.
- Recruitment/HR/Employer Brand professionals who want to understand more about how to use video to attract, recruit and motivate staff.
- Video producers/filmmakers working with video for businesses who are interested in more context.
About The Author: Nick Francis
When I was ten years old, my father died suddenly. He was a successful, conscientious, inspiring man, but he was gone. This was the defining event of the first half of my life. Given 25+ years to think about it, it has affected my approach to life/work in three ways:- Life is finite. Enjoy the journey. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
- He still inspires me to work hard to make the things I do the best they can be.
- The ultimate dent we will make in the cosmos is zero. Relationships matter. People matter.
I do what I do now because it provides the best way I have found to live these lessons. I work with brands to understand why they do what they do and then use video – the most powerful communications tool invented – to recruit followers, fans, customers, and colleagues.
I co-founded Casual Films in 2006 to cover a 9,000-mile rally to Mongolia in a Mini, following a stint with BBC News. Today, Casual is a multi-million dollar company with six offices across five continents, employing over 100+ people. We've produced over 15,000 projects to date and delivered results for our clients through video. And we've been fortunate enough to win hundreds of awards in the process.
I'm a keen snowboarder, cyclist, photographer, and cook, and I currently live in San Francisco with my family. Thanks for reading, and I hope we can collaborate soon.
- Nick, Co-Founder & CEO
