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Thursday, March 11, 2010

5 Ways to Save Money on a Viral Video Project

This is cross-posted from chapter member and March luncheon speaker, Jamie Brown's PR blog:

Most public relations practitioners think of corporate video has high-dollar productions. However, the rules in today's world of social media are such that creating a video for your organization doesn't have to be expensive, and it can be just as valuable as a big budget corporate blockbuster. Click here and check out this rapping flight attendant from Southwest Airlines. Southwest put it on their blog and not long after they were fielding phone calls from CNN and The Jay Leno Show! You can't buy that kind of press.

My opportunity to create a viral video came while working at JPS. We wanted to launch a new customer service initiative and roll it out to all 4,500 employees who were geographically separated. We decided creating a series of videos that used humor and was attention grabbing would be far more effective than sending out an e-mail telling everyone to be nice and smile more often. Check out how we created elevator heroes and reminded everyone to provide better communication to patients by clicking here.

You too can create heroes or promote your company's fun atmosphere without breaking the bank by using the following guidelines:
  • Write it yourself
  • Use your own people as talent
  • Keep it short 1:30 - 2 min
  • Shoot multiple videos at one time
  • Use limited:
    • audio
    • graphics
    • 1ighting
Use these tactics and you should be able to produce a series of viral videos for $6,000-$10,000.
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(Photo credit: Scott Kinmartin)
Do you have any additional ideas or tips on creating potentially viral videos on a budget? The comments are yours.
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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Change is Good

President's Column: Tom Burke, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA

Never mind that historic foot of snow on the ground, I still hit the neighborhood convenience store to pay my weekly state income tax by buying a lottery ticket. The clerk was all too perky. Must have been the weather. As he handed me the potential winning numbers, he said, “Get lucky. Change our lives.”

Not sure I want to change my life. Enhance it, maybe, but changing it at this stage of the game would be a bit drastic.

PR and communications professionals deal with change daily. Often we initiate it. Other times, someone else does, and we’re the ones to make it work. Well, the winds of change are blowing at Greater Fort Worth PRSA. The recession has caused us some minor headaches, one result being that the chapter will no longer pay the parking for luncheon attendees (although we did negotiate a garage rate of $2.50). But after this month that won’t be an issue, because the Petroleum Club is renovating, and we’re shifting to Colonial Country Club. Fore!

So come enjoy our last meeting at the Petroleum Club on Wednesday, March 10, and then recalibrate for Colonial, where the parking is free. The luncheon meetings will stay the second Wednesday of the month except in April for our annual Pro-Am Day. To be more convenient for TCU, UTA and Abilene Christian University students, that meeting will be Friday, April 9.

Whew! That’s enough change for even the most seasoned public relations/communications professional. By the way, the clerk didn’t give me any winning numbers. At least that’s one change I don’t have to worry about.

(Photo credit: TW Collins)
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