The Video Production Revolution: Now Your Brand can Afford Video Marketing

Research commissioned by Google highlights that even though the B2C sector has been quicker to embrace video than B2B, 2012 is about to witness a big surge in B2B use of both mobile and online video.
According to the report:

5% of B2B marketers already using online video will increase their budgets in 2011
13% of companies not presently using online video for marketing will adopt it

..and there’s still miles more capacity. Although business is beginning to recognise the benefits of video marketing, there remains a perception that the costs of video production are beyond the budgets of SMEs.

In reality the video production world is in the process of being turned upside down. New technologies are driving new business models and costs are falling fast. It’s a really exciting situation, both for producers and their clients.

How Canon Made Video Affordable for Your Brand

It all started about 3 years ago when Canon responded to Associated Press Agency requests for a stills camera that would allow their photojournalists to acquire short bursts of news video footage whilst on photo assignment. Almost by accident, Canon discovered a way to extract video from a 35mm photo chip (the biggest in the world) and its quality has proved a game changer and provided a viable alternative to video cameras costing in excess of £60k. There are problems with video: it looks like, er; video. Everything is sharp, it looks electronic and has limited dynamic range. But by combining prime cinematography lenses and a range of 3rd party products, modular camera systems have been developed which deliver truly cinematic quality “digital film” at relatively inexpensive costs of production.

A New Generation of Filmmakers

This technology requires a resurgence of traditional photography skills to make it work. The video camera operator is dead: long live a new breed of producers who have the skills and the eye to produce online content technically as good as anything in Hollywood. In fact, one of this year’s OSCAR nominations is a film shot using this technology and some episodes of the international TV hit, “House” was also shot on this camera. What does this mean for your business? It means high-end cinema quality production is accessible to promote your product or service. If you want the highest production values to support you brand, you no longer need to to hire kit costing thousands of pounds a day.

This new wave of producers is also becoming multi skilled and is reducing costs by multi tasking; operating as one man bands with their own editing facilities; allowing them to significantly reduce costs.

The Race is On

Camera manufacturers are competing aggressively to bring new and affordable cameras to market with extraordinary light sensitivity which means that expensive lighting is no longer necessary. Other areas of the industry are also responding fast. For instance, vendors of eyewateringly expensive post production tools such as colour grading, now see a much wider market and prices have dropped significantly – from $13,000 to $1000. Again this indirectly allows clients access to the highest production and post production values and manipulation of look and feel of their marketing videos. It’s a very exciting time and allows producers and clients to produce highly effective content of a quality previously available only to those with very deep pockets.

When we look at the effectiveness of video marketing combined with the falling costs of production and zero cost of hosting through social media sites, the ROI is compelling. Never before has the return on investment been so efficient.