1. Global Communication: Specialization Vs. Massiveness.
The corporate video is not one, but multiple manifestations of a reality, the projections of which will depend on various factors, and above all on the market and the public to which they are directed.
Since its advent, the video as a promotional instrument on the one hand stretched the limits of communication (small groups, group audiences) and on the other deepened it (greater specialization of the message), but at the same time, its advertising use in television returned the massive.
Paradoxically, as it was rediscovered as an advertising and informational medium, the video was captured by a specialized but universalizing sphere: The companies that use it as a promotional and didactic tool in an exogamous sense - bringing the business image to the market environment - and endogamous - spreading knowledge among your staff. From the union of these aspects emerged the concept of "global communication", whose meaning here is different from that understood by mass media communicators
The term becomes a paradigm that involves the harmonization of external and internal manifestations, generated by the company's departments -the tactical directions- and governed by a coordinating center of corporate strategy. The effectiveness of the message depends on the unity of action and criteria, not always achieved among companies that use corporate video worldwide - and abuse it.
2. Exogenous and endogenous dichotomies.
The first dichotomy stems from these internal factors. The second is that as a corporate resource, video continues to be a medium for transmitting ideas and concepts, and in the appreciation of the audience when it is broadcast it suffers the consequences of any message: The receiver interprets it from its universe of reference, which can or not coincide with the issuer's concepts. It is the dichotomy generated by external factors.
The best approach to the desired effect will depend on the harmonization of both elements, made up of technological and technical resources. The first are the instruments to develop the product, the second the human capacities of filmmakers and managers. Another dichotomy, that of hardware and software (machines and people), since the infinite possibilities of digital manipulation offer more opportunities to hit and miss, as the premise of the Canadian expert Marshall MacLuhan says more than 50 years ago: The medium becomes part of the message.
3. Paradigms and Codes.
The success in the transmission of the message will depend not only on the communicative actions, but also on the paradigms of the market and society on the topic addressed, and that they must be well understood, a more rigorous condition while the message is more complex and ambitious. In order not to discourage executives, aspects that give business video some advantages should also be pointed out:
1) It uses codes of shared meaning between receiver and sender, whose reference paradigm is closer to the public. Terms like "market," "amortization," "investments" are universal codes in the business community, unlike terms like "emphaticism" or "superconductivity."
2) It puts in function of the company an alternative communication model, more dynamic and fluid, where it is possible to better manage information and image.
4. Processes and functions.
By the direction of the projection:
a) Monitoring of television information, by recording content of interest (exogenous function, but projected from the outside in)
b) Internal training processes, professional retraining, training with new equipment or on new services and products (endogenous).
c) Promotion of a company or service and to inform about the products and their elaboration, or to promote, update or modify the corporate image (endogenous function, projected from the inside out).
Almost all other business functions in video are variations of these. Similar, though incomplete, classifications are known to public relations departments when designing their promotional systems, which often “systematize” executive headaches. A more epistemological classification in the communicational sense should include other important aspects: The audience to whom the message is addressed, the type of company that produces it and the objectives of the message.
From the conjunction of these factors arises the treatment and production of the video that will give -or not- effectiveness to the message. Corporate video can never concentrate so much on the functions and characteristics of the company that it forgets the public to whom it is directed. A video aimed exclusively at executives cannot have the same bill as another promotional one, aimed at the general public. This is the key to why certain videos praised by the entity's executives seem bland, boring or pounding to the external public. As the old saying goes, "the master's eye makes the horse fat."
5. Corporate image vs. video-customer relationship.
The institutional promotional video must spread the global image of the company, its activity and objectives. Therefore, it is intended for two types of public: the general, for presentations at fairs or events and broadcast by the mass media, and the specific, to show potential clients and investors, in which case the fundamental objective is to influence and convince, create a favorable state of opinion that influences decisions. This is the most important objective and one that can pay higher dividends to the company, and if when addressing the general public it is necessary to know its reference paradigms, much more decisive is this modality, which may have two immediate subdivisions, since what it can convince a national investor or client it may not have the same meaning for a foreigner.
I always remember the experience of a video-shooting friend - by the way, one of the good ones - who prepared for months a formidable video to present a product that a firm wanted to sell in a certain Latin American country. When they screened it in the country in question, the mere vision of the title brought prolonged laughter to the audience, who nevertheless afterwards finished watching the projection politely. In the end, when my intrigued friend investigated the reason for the hilarity, they told her mockingly: It is because the name of your product, "Conchita", here is the vulgar term to designate… the genital apparatus of women.
The case typifies to what extent it is necessary to delve into the characteristics of the audience to whom the video is directed, if it is to have the desired effect on the audience. Often, due to financial constraints or for the purpose of saving, an institutional video used for years - inaccurately defined in relation to the public - is produced for any audience, from fairs to potential clients. This error threatens the success of the video as an instrument to gain clients, it reduces its effectiveness and in the end, like everything cheap, it is expensive.
6. From institutional video to video for clients.
The above criteria come from two main factors, conditioned by the type of public:
• The promotional institutional video, as a generalizing product, has strategic characteristics, cannot delve into tactical aspects and must be pleasant and understandable, when addressing a wider audience.
• The commercial institutional video, (for clients and potential investors.) Contrary to what its name seems to indicate, it is not promotion, but the exact and realistic exposition of the production process and the possibilities of a product or service, so that the client can value your prospects. Triumphalism and startups of advertising video should be avoided. Furthermore, they fall under a restricted classification as they may contain information that there is no reason to disclose to the general public, but may be relevant to a customer, another reason why any video does not serve both purposes.
Various sublevels of achievement and understanding can be identified, depending on the type of company and audience:
* Commercial sample.- It is more necessary for companies of materials or equipment that are difficult to move to points of sale or sample, such as heavy machinery.
* Services.- Used to promote and explain a service: banking, tourism companies, etc. The business profile defines the style: for example, tourists should be lighter, without forgetting professionalism, and banks more "serious", without losing the amenity. Those who go on vacation want to have fun, and those who deposit their money in a bank seek security.
* Safety and health.- To prevent professional risks and explain security measures. For the workers of the company, or for the inhabitants of towns where it may have a negative image due to its activity (mining, chemical), in which case measures to preserve the environment should be emphasized.
* Education and training.- For specialists and executives, on production processes and / or services, such as prevention of gaps - which usually exist - among these personnel, and to familiarize promoters and sellers with the product or service, as a reference when facing the relationship with the client.
* Registration of events.- Recordings of the most important activities of the company and internal issues of interest. As a means of information for staff, a page on the company intranet is much cheaper, but it is always convenient to record certain activities on video, because this will later save on the institutional video budget each year, or for special occasions, by keeping a valuable audiovisual record of significant events for the organization.
7. Find the keys to success.
Once the complexities of corporate video are generally known, it is understood that it is not as easy as it seems, although some executives believe that it is taking a camera and filming. Much of the success will depend on the harmony and interactivity between the filming team and those who outline the promotional strategy.
Only large companies can maintain permanent video equipment, and most often hire firms that offer these services. You must go to the most accredited, even if they are somewhat more expensive than others, if the name is a guarantee of quality and experience, and include in the budget the purchase of half-hour virgin cassettes, in order to have copies for the events planned during the year and executive work trips. There are entities that create these videos and include a presentation box with the logo and name of the company, which offers a better image. There are also good film and television filmmakers willing to do these jobs for hire. You should not forget to choose carefully the liaison executive between the company and the film team, so that they can communicate easily.
It will depend on all this that the company gets what it really wants from its videos and that the investment yields promotional and economic benefits, which can be difficult to quantify, but no less real.
* The author is secretary of the Cuban chapter of the Iberoamerican Association of Specialized Journalists and Technicians and member of the Iberoamerican Association of Scientific Journalism.
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