Corporate Eye

...compare, compete, excel

Archives for August 2012

How to Judge the Tone of your Corporate Video

Given the ever-increasing importance of video to the corporate website, I invited Neil Davidson to talk about creating the right tone of voice in your corporate videos. Neil founded My Web Presenters, which has won a number of awards over the last 20 years, so he knows a thing or two about video…

Over to you, Neil

How to judge the tone of your corporate videos

Getting the tone of your corporate video right will be key to hooking in your audience so they watch the whole thing, rather than switching off after that all important first nine seconds. The tone will also be what lingers with your audience when they have finished watching. It will leave them with a sense of who you are, what you are about and what you can do for them.

Creating a particular tone in a video is quite an instinctive phenomenon, unique to each individual filmmaker. However, it is possible to break down some of the main factors you can consider and control to really shape the tone of your videos.

1 Your business and your brand

You will want your brand to be a part of your video. You need to decide how much. It may be that you just want your company logo on a slide at the beginning and end of the video. You may want it visible throughout in a corner of the screen. You many want the whole direction of the video to be planned around your brand e.g. colour coordinated with the consistent use of your business font. Your brand will therefore at some level dictate the tone of your video. Your brand should at least be represented by the tone of your video – if your brand is young and bubbly then your video should be too.

This is true regardless of whether your audience is external to your company or within your sales team/ customer service team.

Also, your business type and industry will influence the tone. It is unlikely you would use humour in a video about cancer drugs for example, but humour might be completely appropriate if your video is about a soft drink.

2 The purpose of your video and your intended audience

If you are being super conscientious you will have written a brief for your video. This will help decide the tone you are aiming for because you will have considered what the point of the video is and who your intended audience will be. Your intended audience will massively influence the tone of your video. However, be careful not to stereotype what you might expect a certain market segment will appreciate. Although there is always some truth in a stereotype, stereotyping will only limit the possibilities for your video.

3 The style you are aiming for

You will need to choose your style based on your audience and your subject matter. You might want a video where all footage has been gathered on a tripod with a very slick edit; this will give your video a very corporate and professional feel. You might want to consider hand held camera techniques to give it more of a relaxed documentary feel. Judge what you feel is most appropriate for your intended audience and the purpose of the video.

4 The script and language you use for your video

The language you use in your titles, graphics and scripts will be a major definer of the tone of your video. Poorly chosen language which is inappropriate to your audience has the potential to force viewers to switch off within a split second. When writing your scripts, be a human being and get on the wavelength of your audience. Use simple language that will appear to a majority of people and don’t assume that people will understand the jargon and anachronisms which are likely to be ingrained in your industry. When it comes to niche products and services, jargon may be appropriate, but don’t overdo it.

5 The structure of your video

The introduction to your video is extremely important. It will set the tone and is your opportunity to grab the attention of the audience and hold it. Whether you go for a traditional narrative structure (like a short story) or if you choose to do something a bit edgier, this will impact on the tone of the overall video and how the audience experiences it.

It is important to be aware of the impact of social media on our collective audiences. People are expecting a much more personal approach that caters to their individuality. They are now used to accessing lots of information that is relevant to them – they customise their feeds so that they are receiving it every day. This is what you are competing with and it is worth keeping in mind throughout the process of producing your video and also in terms of how you distribute your video and reach out to your audience.

If you are creating videos for internal teams then it is even more important to be personable and straightforward – people have little time for BS so cut to the chase.

Thanks, Neil

Neil Davidson is the Founder of My Web Presenters, who are a leading video production company specialising in video spokesperson videos. They work with businesses of all sizes to create and market compelling and emotive videos. They also write a video marketing blog regularly so please check it out.

No Brand Loyalty for Mobile Phone Users

iphone ipadThere are 6.5 billion mobile phone subscribers in the world, but according to a survey of 1,660 of those mobile subscribers during the second quarter of 2012, only 34% are loyal to their mobile carriers, meaning they’ve stayed with the same mobile service provider for more than five years.

That’s according to the study report by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and Ricoh. Not only do mobile phone subscribers lack loyalty to mobile carriers, but they are also extremely willing to complain about poor experiences with their carriers — not just to the company but to everyone they know. Check out the statistics from the study below:

  • 34% of mobile subscribers have been with the same carrier for five years or more.
  • 29% of mobile subscribers consider themselves loyal to their carriers.
  • 41% of mobile subscribers say they are apathetic, on the fence, or just about gone when asked about their relationships with their mobile service providers.
  • 41% of mobile phone subscribers will lodge a complaint about a poor experience.
  • 36% of mobile subscribers will cancel their service after a poor experience.
  • 29% of mobile subscribers will tell everyone they know about a poor experience with a carrier.

Lack of loyalty and a propensity to tell anyone and everyone about negative experiences are huge problems for brands, and mobile carriers should be aggressively trying to turn both problems around. However, mobile carriers continue to ignore the warning signs and have yet to make the necessary changes to attract and retain customers as well as to increase positive word-of-mouth marketing.

When mobile subscribers were asked why they switch mobile carriers, money was the most mentioned factor. In fact, nearly three out of four respondents cited money as the reason they switch mobile carriers (74%). The breakdown of survey responses showed the following:

  • 48% switch due to high service plan costs.
  • 26% switch due to better deals with more all-inclusive options from competitor carriers.
  • 23% switch due to poor quality of service, including dropped calls and bad reception.

The biggest complaints among mobile subscribers according to survey responses are:

  • Hidden fees = 21%
  • Bad service or network speed = 17%
  • High data or text costs = 17%

The study shows that customers want lower fees and more personalized service and they make those demands very clear. However, a separate study by the CMO Council and Ricoh, which surveyed 147 marketers at mobile carrier companies around the world, found that marketers think technology innovation and advancements are what consumers want and what will build brand loyalty. That’s in stark contrast to the findings in the customer survey which reports just 13% of mobile subscribers consider themselves to be technology fiends who anxiously wait for the next big innovation.

Mobile carrier marketers describe their top engagement priorities as:

  • Retaining their most valuable customers and increasing loyalty = 47%
  • Improving the relevance of communications to customers = 40%
  • Developing new points of engagement = 38%
  • Educating customers through relevant content = 33%

One thing is certain, until mobile carriers accept and deliver what mobile subscribers actually want and need, there will continue to be a lot of carrier switching by unhappy consumers. What do you think?

Image: Yutaka Tsutano

What the Media Wants from Brands

Journalists and bloggers aren’t getting what they want from brands, which means brands are getting less publicity in media stories. That’s the primary finding from the PRESSfeed 2012 Online Newsroom and Digital Media Relations Survey. Today, journalists and bloggers find stories in different ways and expect story sources, like corporate newsrooms,to provide more than a bit of text if they want to see their brand names in media coverage.

The problem for corporate newsrooms whose employees work to generate publicity for the company and its brands is that they don’t know what journalists and bloggers want from them anymore. Times have changed and the statistics below show you what journalists think is important versus what corporate public relations professionals think is important:

  • Images: 80% of journalists vs. 26% of PR professionals think images are important.
  • Embed Codes: 76% of journalists vs. 28% of PR professionals think images are important.
  • Video: 75% of journalists vs. 43% of PR professionals think video is important.

The disparity between what journalists think is important to get from PR professionals and what PR professionals think is important to give journalists is significant. Despite the fact that research has shown images can increase story views by more than 75%, only 56% of PR professionals routinely include images with their press releases.

Furthermore, since more than three-quarters of Internet users get their news online today, it’s more important than ever to optimize story content for search engines. Images can also be search optimized, which means not only are images and video useful in getting journalists to notice and write about your brand’s news, they also help more people find those published stories via search engines. That means more exposure for your brand!

The infographic below shows all of the key data from the 2012 Online Newsroom and Media Relations Survey.

Click the image to view the full-size infographic in PDF format.

pressfeed infographic

Computer Anxiety & Older Adults: Using Self-Efficacy to Break Usage Barriers

According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2012 Statistical Abstract of the United States, adult Internet users over the age of 65 jumped from 28% in 2005 to 42% in 2011.

Although this is an substantial jump in Internet usage among older adults, over 50% of this age group is still not benefiting from the Internet. Why?

There are several proposed reasons why millions of the elderly still do not use the Internet, computer anxiety being the largest factor.  Computer anxiety prevents older adults from gaining the social, economic, and interpersonal benefits that the Internet can provide.

Computer anxiety is partially due to the fact that most corporate website developers tend to overlook older adults as a part of the potential user audience. In fact, most website designs actually make computer anxiety worse in older adults.

An important psychological principle termed self-efficacy is deeply intertwined with computer anxiety and older adults. Self-efficacy, in short, is one’s belief in their ability to complete a specific task. Computer self-efficacy then, is one’s perceived ability to use technology such as computers and the Internet. Research shows a direct relationship between computer self-efficacy and computer anxiety; those with high computer self-efficacy have lower computer anxiety.

Self-efficacy is a key determinant in motivation and behavior; those with high computer self efficacy are more likely to be more motivated to face the challenges of using the Internet and thus more likely to engage in online usage. Computer self-efficacy can be increased by  ‘mastery experiences’, or successful computer experiences. For example, if one has low computer self-efficacy, but then master a certain element of Internet use, then computer self-efficacy increases and computer anxiety decreases.

The problem lies in the absence of ‘senior-friendly’ websites, and the related lack of opportunity for such mastery experiences. The National Institute of Aging and the National Library of Medicine addressed this problem by publishing Making Your Website Senior Friendly: A Checklist. This publication provides 25 guidelines to make websites more accessible to older adults. It covers three main categories:

  1. Designing readable text
  2. Increasing memory and comprehension of web content
  3. Increasing the ease of navigation

This publication enables web designers to help build the computer self-efficacy of older adults. Tactics as simple as incorporating specific fonts (i.e. sans serif typeface) or offering web site tutorials, can help to increase computer self-efficacy in older adult users, and empower them to take advantage of the benefits of the Internet.

An abundant amount of research indicates self-efficacy has a strong determinant on motivation and behavior. It has been applied to health, sports, interpersonal skills, academics, public speaking, and recovery from trauma. Not only is it powerful, but it is also easy to develop under the right conditions.

Website developers who incorporate ‘senior-friendly’ elements to their websites will enable older adults to partake in the social, economical, and personal benefits that can be obtained from Internet use.

References

For the U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 Statistical Abstract of the United States:

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s1158.pdf

For the National Institute of Aging and the National Library of Medicine publication Making Your Website Senior Friendly: A Checklist.

http://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/making-your-website-senior-friendly

For more information on self-efficacy in general:

http://jamiesmithportfolio.com/EDTE800/wp-content/PrimarySources/Bandura3.pdf

For more information on computer self-efficacy:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0305048395000356

For more information on ‘senior-friendly’ websites:

http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/61/older_adults.htm

What’s Next for Branded Apps? [Infographic]

age of apps infographic thumbnailThe past, present, and future of mobile apps, including branded apps, are depicted visually in an infographic from Neolane, which is shown below.

The Age of Apps infographic starts in 1993 when the first touchscreen phone debuted by IBM followed nine years later in 2002 with RIM’s first BlackBerry device. Fast forward just five years later to 2007 and Apple debuted the revolutionary iPhone. One year later in July 2008, Apple launched the App Store (followed in October 2008 by Google’s Android Market launch) and the worlds of mobile devices and mobile apps have never been the same.

By April 2009, over 1 billion apps had been downloaded from the Apple App Store, and exactly one year later, the iPad debuted. By August 2010, the Android Market reached over 1 billion apps downloaded. In 2012, Google Play (the new name launched this year for the Android Market) had reached over 15 billion app, and the Apple App Store exceeded 25 billion app downloads.

So what’s next for mobile apps? And why does it matter for brands? According to the infographic, some very important things will happen by 2016 that relate directly to brands:

  • By 2016, 44 billion apps downloaded
  • By 2016, app-to-person messaging will overtake text messaging
  • By 2016, 70% of iPhone users will have downloaded apps from well-known brands
  • By 2016, 60% of iPhone users will be interested in downloading apps from well-known brands

Check out the suggestions for creating branded apps based on the research presented in the infographic below. Hopefully, it will get your mobile creative juices flowing!

age of apps infographic

Image: Neolane

Culture Counts: How to Create a Global User Interface

navigating globeThink of your favorite website. Once you have brought it to mind, think about which aspects of the site reflect your particular culture. Assuming proper translation, contemplate how the website would appear to a reader from New York? Brisbane? Tokyo? Berlin? New Delhi?

In recent years, the globe has seen a tremendous surge in Internet popularity accompanied by an increase in Internet access around the world. This has left corporations to solve the problem regarding how to create a website that reaches out to all cultures.

Very generally, culture can be divided into two categories: Individualism and collectivism. Individualism is associated with interpersonal independence – one is expected to look after only themselves and their immediate family. In contrast, collectivism is characterized by the existence of strong group ties and impenetrable group loyalty.

The importance of appealing to both of these cultural categories is increasing at a rapid rate. But how can a corporation create a user interface that is conducive to a global economy?

The first step is to understand the differences in how members of each cultural category experience the Internet. It is helpful to know what readers expect and appreciate when they visit a website.

Design

When it comes to website design, those from an individualistic society are accustomed to and identify with images of people, while those from a collectivist culture are not. Instead, they identify with images of products, which are usually displayed grouped together.

Content

Content is crucial to any site, but strong differences are present in this web desigh category as well. An individualistic reader will often be attracted to content with a strong voice that tolerates or even encourages extreme claims. Subdued tones that reference official slogans and minimize controversy are more appropriate for a reader from a collectivistic culture.  Often they will place their focus on wisdom and inner state of being.

Although not every corporation represents a global product, it is still important to be aware of cultural diversity when creating a corporate website.  Corporate websites can follow the following tips to remain culture-neutral:

  • Avoid slang and puns that are unique to only one culture.
  • Do not include images or design that overtly relate to a select culture.
  • Omit the words we and us.
  • Create content that includes both cultural preferences in tandem

Creating a website that captures the engagement of readers from both ends of the cultural spectrum will contribute to website success. If the reader is engaged, and even better, feels an emotional connection with the website, then trust is established.

Trust is the pillar of success of any corporate website, regardless of culture.

 

References

For more information about the user interface and culture:

Marcus, A. & Gould, E.W. (2000). Crosscurrents: Cultural dimensions and global web user interface design. Interactions, July & August.

For more information about culture-neutral web design and content:

Barr, C. et al. (2010). Yahoo style guide. St. Martin Press: New York.