Week 4 - Audio and Video

One of the ways to realize the importance (or not) of anything is to imagine life without it. It's a great technique to get rid of the stuff we accumulate in our closets but don't need. It's just as effective a strategy to revisit and appreciate the invaluable richness in our lives owing to sound and vision - Audio and Video. Helen Keller may concur.

Integrating audio and video messaging into organizational effectiveness strategies has been made incredibly easy and cost-effective, even free. There is a variety of mechanisms to create and share such communication pieces. Software such as Audacity/ Sound Studio/ iMovie / Adobe Premier (Source: textbook, pages 213, 215, 245, 246) and platforms such as iTunes, YouTube, Brightcove, Google Video (Source: textbook, pages 220, 519) respectively allow creation and sharing of audio and video content. And good business sense coupled with a careful understanding of the target audience will allow 'placing' this content so that it can be found easily. The breadcrumbs trail has to be laid, guiding people to the content. Just as videos can be 'hidden' by assigning cryptic titles and tags (Source: JCMC), the opposite is also true; clever and appropriate use of tags can help bring people to the content.

Individuals (comedians, artists, professors, etc.) are using these media and strategies to promote their ideas and products. We have one such example in our very own midst - if it hadn't been for Adriano's recent post, I might not have come across the very engaging trailer of Club Scene. And I admit that on various occasions I have 'youtubed' a comedian or artist whose show I'm contemplating watching, and it serves to either save me some precious (and very non-virtual) $$ or made me an eager audience.

There are also many such stories where businesses and organizations have used 'rich media' most effectively. An excellent example (also cited in our textbook, page 251), is of the uber-successful "Will it blend" video. The video itself has the key components of successful communication:

• focus on the key message (it is only about their product, the blender, and how well it does its job, addressing this very directly)
• effective communication through execution (using shock value, the surprise element, and humour/ entertainment to retain attention till the end... and it answers the 'will it blend' question too!)
  

What is also fascinating to note is that the company is further utilizing the social media power with things like building a 'fan club'! I have to admit this is one of the most effective viral videos I have seen, and I had encountered it earlier. However, for reasons that everyone in this course will understand, I am referencing another one that I like, one about the cat-herders:



Yes, I chose to mention this as it involves cats. Because the internet is made of cats. And according to Stephanie Bryant, "cat videos are just how people start doing videos online." (Source: Textbook, expert insight on vlogging, pg 247)
p.s. I think I just reconfirmed the phenomenon about creating exclusivity through references to inside jokes. (Source: JCMC)

So, clever use of audio-video content creation and sharing through social media can work, and it can work extremely well. There is a note of caution. And that relates to the double-edged sword of viral videos. Damaging videos can spread just as fast, as one company discovered. So the key to remember, I think, is not letting the excitement of taking advantage of the opportunity stand in the way of sound business decisions. It pays to hear and look carefully before one leaps.