Yes, There Are Marketing Benefits to the Self-Quarantine

It can really be tempting to believe that because the world is temporarily upside down with fear, anxiety, and uncertainty, any hope is lost in terms of developing new business, launching your new product, juicing your brand, and generally keeping eyes focused on your company or organization. And while there may be truth in your customers’ attention being drawn elsewhere, and for some really important reasons, that doesn’t have to mean your mission and goals as a marketer should also be on the same kind of hold. In fact, this may be the best time you’ve ever had to get ahead of the curve.

This time of year, it’s typical for brands of any size to be actively producing the engaging digital content that will drive business through the end of the fiscal year and beyond: content like videos, podcasts, customer testimonials, social media posts, the works. The bad news is how COVID-19 has squashed many of those plans. But believe it or not, there is good news. Although your audience may be on indefinite hiatus, the talented people who conceive and produce the content you need to attract that audience are, for the most part, not. They’re champing at the bit to keep moving forward. Creative vision doesn’t take a holiday, not even for global pandemics.

Of course, while this may not be the optimal time to drag out all of the cameras and lights to shoot your latest ad, creative firms like Kaboonki can still prime the pump for you, drafting new and exciting creative concepts, writing the revolutionary scripts you’ll soon need, storyboarding your groundbreaking vision, and prepping your killer podcast season. It may officially be Spring, but right now it’s time to gather like Winter is here, storing up more than enough of what you’ll need to get by so that when the first blooms of hope return, and they will, you’ll be ready and way ahead of your competitors’ marketing game.

Creatives, marketers, and executives, now is not the time to lose hope. Now is the time to build it, one unique project at a time.

We’re with you. Stay safe. Let’s make it happen together.

The Value of Openness in Telling Your Story

I had a conversation with a potential client the other day. It went something like this:

US: We think your story has a lot of potential, and we're excited about telling your company's story.

THEM: Fantastic! We're in! Just don't tell people exactly what we do. And you can't shoot any video of our operations. It's all proprietary. 

US: *dies a little inside*

Believe it or not, this is not an uncommon conversation for a marketer.

In theory, a great number of companies are eager to "tell our story" - a multipurpose phrase conveniently rolled out from the C-suite, or their marketing department, that may encompass a combination of written, visual and/or audio media. The words "telling our story" are typically engaged to avoid speaking other words like "self-promotion" or "company history", both of which may be assumed as a negative to the company's image or cool factor.

I don't mind the phrase, honestly. What I do mind is the inherent, and frankly misguided, baggage that comes attached to it - when it's used as a replacement for other more specific phrases of intention, and not as a set of words with its own unique meaning.

Telling one's story should be just that, carefully crafting and then sharing a listenable/readable narrative of one's experience as a business, or as an organization or as an individual. It should be like the relaying of a memorable event, or the sharing of a family anecdote or the telling of a joke. It should be clear, honest and entertaining. That's a story.

But in a litigation-heavy, trust-light world, I suppose it's understandable that some businesses feel the need to, at best, wrap themselves in a hazy gauze of unspecific statements and images, or at worst, in an impenetrable cloak of misdirection. It's understandable, but it's also a shame.

The best stories - whether business or personal - have at their core a common thread: openness. They are told to engage the listener/viewer on both an intellectual and an emotional level, to draw them into a world that is either foreign or all too familiar, and to leave them with a feeling of having gained something in the end. The best may take a "warts and all" approach where the teller is able to acknowledge, and often create understanding of, their shortcomings and a desire to improve. Memorable biographies do this. The best feature articles do this. Viral jokes do this. Why, then, can't business videos?

To be honest and open about oneself in your company's marketing pieces may be considered a liability in some cases, and I can't deny there may be the occasional spy around the corner looking for intel from the inside. But more often than not, the advantages of showing the marketplace you have nothing to hide, and even better that you are a relatable company with an easygoing spirit, an open door company if you will, may reap long run benefits greater than you could imagine. 

As human beings, we want to consume products and information from others in the "us" category, not in the "them" one. We do business with those we consider friends - the Apple's, and McDonald's and Nike's of the world. We consider them friends because we feel like they show us who they really are in everything they do, that they don't keep us at arm's length for fear of corporate espionage, skeletons in the closet or just general shyness (whether or not they actually do is fodder for a different blog post).

In business, as in business video and marketing, impressions matter. Next time, try erring on the side of openness. You might be surprised who responds.

Josh Dasal is an Emmy award-winning video producer and digital marketer with a 20-year history of telling stories that matter. You can Google him.