The Top Ten Ways To Ruin Promotional Event Videos

All too often, corporate America's trade associations quickly slap together their promotional web videos. Unfortunately, these half-hearted efforts make even the most professional associations look amateurish.

Backchannel: June 2007
Timothy R. Hawthorne

The Top Ten Ways To Ruin Promotional Event Videos

During my twenty three years in direct response television, I have attended dozens of industry conferences. While I have never made it to Brand ManageCamp, I would if my schedule allowed. Its promotional videos are that good. See: http://www.managecamp.com/bmc2007/videos/

The Brand ManageCamp promos work because they illustrate the conference's promise to impart actionable ideas. All too often, corporate America's trade associations quickly slap together their promotional web videos. Unfortunately, these half-hearted efforts make even the most professional associations look amateurish.

For events that cater to church groups, history teachers, or home builders, promotional quality isn't nearly so critical. But industries devoted to product messaging shouldn't tolerate less than the best. Viewers see second-rate promos and think, "Why would I fly 2000 miles to learn to make something like that?"

Happily, it's easy to avoid the worst pitfalls, as the following checklist should clarify.

The Top Ten Ways To Ruin Promotional Event Videos

1. Record source footage in last year's conference site hallways. Viewers who hear only a few random words above the background din will feel driven to come hear what they're missing. Sure you could record in a quiet conference room or guest room, but you'd have to plan ahead or make your bed.

2. Procrastinate on production. If the planners sweet-talked you into creating the promo for free, who's going to care if you're not quite on schedule?

3. Wait twenty seconds before displaying actual content. Take time for a musical prelude, and leisurely post the tag graphic before viewers have reason to want the location and dates.

4. Keep the copy general. Withhold prominent keynoters and session topics. Nothing fires curiosity like a lack of information.

5. Cue the cheesy music. Thematic relevance is nice, but what counts is that the sound track is free.

6. Don't show ... tell. Powerpoint decks make perfectly functional videos, and you can shoehorn in voiceovers about "new and innovative practices." Proclaim your event "cutting edge" and perhaps even "2.0." But don't waste time filming that way or you'll have nothing new left for the conference.

7. Employ enormous logos and fonts that force viewers to peer between seriphs if they want to see through to the video.

8. So long as it's real, any footage will do. Cinema verité worked great on Hill Street Blues ... you think you're better than Bochco?

9. Get wacky! Nothing shouts fun at a conference like dissing your colleagues and donning funny hats.

10. When you have nothing left to say, you still can keep viewers engaged. Extend the video another ninety seconds with musical postludes or date and location graphics. Or both, better yet.

The bottom line is this: if you wouldn't charge clients full price for the promo you've posted, don't expect it to attract new attendees. In which case why bother at all?