WHAT THE CANDY BROTHERS DON’T KNOW ABOUT MARKETING

delissa.com

If I was to open a restaurant tomorrow serving hedgehog sandwiches I may

not be in business long. Not unless I was opening up in a street serving

pixies, elves and fairies. However there are a lot of video makers spreading

butter on the pines of a hedgehog in fairyland.

My point is that in the same way a restaurant must consider who its customer

is – so must a video maker consider the viewer. Most of these ‘would be

directors’ don’t understand how content is consumed online. Firstly – it’s an

innate conceit to think “I’ve made it – so you will watch it”.

That’s not taking your viewer seriously enough. Understanding why the viewer

is there and providing what they’ve come for is paramount. Most viewers want

entertainment – and that’s the Trojan Horse for getting information across.

Our brains are trained to be entertained – and story is at the heart of

entertainment. It is also at the heart of buying – particularly now that 70% of

all buying happens on-line. Story is a powerful selling tool – but it’s a tricky

one needing unique skills and experience. Not least because the process of

creating must drive towards a two story outcome.

The story you tell the customer and the one they tell themselves. Enabling the

former is the easy part – it’s what the advertising world is expert at. The latter

is where it’s all going wrong. The quality of video in online content is rubbish.

From small companies to big ones – there is evidently a massive skills

shortage. There are few people delivering online content that works. The

skilled people who know how to do this are few and unfortunately the

companies who hire video directors/makers have no understanding of what

makes a film watchable. My guideline is – if you wouldn’t watch it on tv then

why would you watch it on-line? If its not compelling it doesn’t work.

Companies tend to commission directors who deliver video consisting of nice

shots cut to the beat with a few drone shots thrown in. But that’s not enough.

It’s the equivalent of finding your family photographs a riot so you whip out

your iphone 6 at a sales pitch to show the one of Auntie May tripping over a

dog. Part of the problem is that companies hire advertisers. Advertising is an

industry that has been built on 20 second spots where images are king.

Longer length story telling narrative is less evident in the world of advertising.

There is only one industry that has been borne and bred to grab viewers and

keep them. Broadcasters! We know that viewer’s attention is easily lost and

now increasingly divided. Broadcasters have learnt the tricks that grab

viewers immediately and keep them. In the broadcast industry there is a vast

talent – experienced storytellers who combine narrative and image to provide

compelling entertainment. That talent works in a team – producers,

cameramen, editors etc cog in a wheel doing their bit to create a story – but at

the top is usually the one experienced person – an Executive Producer.

This is the person who signs post everyone towards a story. That one person

is unique and highly skilled – they know what to leave on the edit room floor

and are able to take lumpy porridge and turn it into something smooth and

consumable. The result works for viewers – whether they are a tv license fee

payer or a consumer. Take a look at the website of One Hyde Park. A

massive development from the Candy brothers.

There are a number of expensive looking films on the website. In particular

one directed by Greg Williams. It’s a good film, lovely to look at and I am sure

the Candy brothers were pleased. But did it do its job? For a number of

reasons its not compelling watching and if you don’t achieve that one and only

crucial requirement – how can you sell. Overly long at 30 minutes the film is

strong on image but not narrative. The images are astoundingly beautiful –

but unless you are particularly driven to watch it – why would you?

A broadcast Executive Producer would look at that film with an abstract eye

and tell the story on behalf of the viewer – not the property developer. It’s their

job to make sure that the story is there. It’s what keeps people watching and

they do so with the vacillating viewer in mind. For me there is one particular

barometer I use to illustrate attention grabbing viewing – I call it the ‘Breaking

Bad’ Factor.

This hit tv series had an opening scene where a man falls out of a mobile

home in the Arizona desert in a gas mask and underpants. An attention

grabbing start to any story. Its worth remembering that the human race now

stands outside the microwave shouting hurry up. The viewers’ impatience and

wavering attention has got to be a film makers primary concern.

Understanding that and the basic skills of story telling is the difference

between a director’s compelling film that can deliver customers – and the

video makers who fill the internet with unwatchable hedgehog sandwiches.

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