Using visual candy to “trick” and “treat” your audiences – Happy Halloween!

Creative new approaches to video – as an invitation

Anyone having a marketing discussion today is talking about the importance of video.

But is video always the answer?

I asked Kate Schermerhorn whose commercial and documentary film company,  Luna Park Productions team has won Emmys, Peabody Awards, Tellys, Maggies, and Oscar nominations.

Laurel: Is video always the answer?

Kate: They can backfire. A video can be counterproductive if:

1. It is out of touch. (“Are you sure you understand your audiences and what else they are watching,” asks Kate.

2. It is not high quality. (“Quirky only works sometimes,” says Kate)

Laurel: Why? Isn’t iPhone video considered the “snapshot” of the video industry?

Kate: The problem is that there is a lot of footage out there:  the internet is resembling TV. On the one hand,  people don’t want to read anymore. On the other, the challenge is that videos are so common that they have become mundane. In an area where there is so much video, one has to be unique in the presentation.

Laurel: What resources do you draw upon to be unique?

Kate: I lure people into to watching my videos by injecting “visual candy.” I capture their attention by appealing to their emotion.

My “tricks” include:

1. Humor
2. Visual Appeal
3. The unexpected

Videos should not be another form of PowerPoint, but a means of presenting in an entirely new way.

Laurel: Can you show an example of this story-telling technique?

Kate: This was an attempt to tell a story in a new way. Rather than letting the audience know the kids are in juvenile hall up front, we chose to draw the audience in with the creation of beautiful art by these kids before revealing where the classes were taking place…..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOLNJXY-Weg

Laurel: What’s your vision for where video is headed?

Kate: Creativity will reign because audiences are becoming too sophisticated for canned video. I foresee a time in the near future when organizations will work harder to have remarkable video vs hoping that any footage will get viewed. It won’t.

Laurel: Where are you pushing the creative limits of video to get results?

Kate: I’ve enjoyed coming up with a new concept – the video-invite. I’ve never seen anything like it, and created this with a client. It is proving to be both beautiful and effective in terms of getting click-throughs and RSVP’s for the event:

http://bit.ly/1puFG4s

Producer Kate Schermerhorn

About Kate Schermerhorn

• Award ­winning and endorsed ­ – Luna Park Productions team has won Emmys, Peabody Awards, Tellys, Maggies, and Oscar nominations. Endorsed by The New Yorker, Scientific American, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle.
• Sensitivity to high profile subjects ­ – Past interviewees include Cesar Chavez, Daniel Ellsberg, Pete McCloskey, Simon Winchester, Michael Pollan, Ethel Kennedy, Howard Zinn, Gordon Moore, William Miller, Al Badgley, Paul Saffo, Rita Moreno
• Highly experienced with long and short form documentaries ­ – Over 30 years of experience on documentaries, corporate, non­profits, and commercials (Seeking 1906 trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcr00rha9rs )
• Innovative and creative ­ – Luna Park’s approach to storytelling includes humor and beautiful imagery for entertaining, engaging, and unexpected content to engage a wide variety of audience perspectives.
• For more about documentary film producer Kate Schermerhorn, see her articles in the Huffington Post, or learn about her recently PBS debut, a film on what constitutes a happy marriage at: http://www.afterhappilyeverafter.net/#!watch or visit her website: Kateschermerhorn.com