He was speaking at our latest client round table lunch at the Groucho Club. Paul was explaining that the then Director General said that he had a building full of people who could produce the greatest long programmes, but none who could do an ad. Paul’s thesis was that the days of the 30 second ad are now passing – and the era of the 2-5 minute video story is here. Paul describes this as ‘the new advertising’.

This is part of a more general view that video brand storytelling is becoming a lingua franca of business, and the issues are moving into delivery, reach and effectiveness. The stats are too big around viewing and engagement to even have the debate any more about whether people are interested in searching for and watching video online.

The end of the world is nigh

Now, when I was being trained as a broadcast journalist, I was always told that you should be able to tell the story of the end of the world in 2 minutes. Actually, that’s probably one of the simplest stories to tell. “We’re all going to die. Grab someone quick. I’m off. Here are some pictures to fill in the gaps.

Why are you watching television? Didn’t you hear me? WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!”

It’s a different challenge to get across in 2 to 5 minutes the intricacies of a business transformation idea, or a technology which has revolutionised a company’s performance, or a new financial product. But not that different: at the heart of all stories are 2 or 3 essential ideas, and if you can bring those to life you have done most of what video communication should do.

“We’re all going to die” is a simple, clear message which can be illustrated by the stories of those who have already done so or are about to do so (the case studies). The way we’re going to die can be shown in a beautiful and effective graphic, with some video evidence of how this works (the product or service). And the helplessness of Planet Earth can be evidenced by the sound bite from the President or Prime Minister (the authoritative expert). I’ve now got the essentials of the story.

Or is it?

By simply flipping this around, you can see how this report can suddenly explain how we’re all going to live (longer) because of some new drug, or why this means we need that fantastic financial product.

Back to our lunch. Paul set out his view that, in a world in which the audience controls what they read, see and hear, engaging and interesting video works as an effective way to communicate. The audience retains more information (research shows); they trust it more (I can see it for myself – it’s like broadcast news); they have a greater emotional connection (people like me or people I believe); it is environmentally beneficial (you don’t need to travel to see that conference speaker, or to hear the core sales pitch); and it transcends language in a global economy.

I piped in with a view about future trends. The big one is search engine optimisation of video content. Video is now a key part of any SEO strategy because it is searchable by Google – and YouTube is itself the world’s second biggest search engine.

But there is an important trend in screen convergence. Online video is of course accessible anywhere via mobile – and will soon be much more commonly viewed via ‘real’ TV sets. Delivery and access become even easier. Tablets like the iPad make video even more compelling. It has moved centre stage in all of our screen habits.

On the global front, research shows viewership of online video is even higher in developing countries than the developed ones. Professionals in Asia and Africa, for example, are hungrier for that business content. And that, in my view, levels the playing field for them even further – if we’re all looking through the same window on the world.

Ok, I would say all that. It’s my job. But what struck me in the discussion among people from a wide range of large companies was the consensus behind the ideas. In similar discussions 2 years ago there would have been greater scepticism. That’s gone, quite rightly. The issues, as I say, are about effectiveness, getting the content right, and getting it out there beyond the company’s own site.

Plus, the really big issue in really big companies: management. On the one hand, that means an element of control. In some cases, that means nervousness about the brand impact of content which is no longer simply in ‘our’ domain ; in others, it’s also about some pretty major compliance issues. This of course is a much broader discussion about digital strategy and social media, and the lost control of the message. Of course, the trend is towards openness, sharing, getting it out there to be part of conversations.

But lots of companies – and fund managers around the table were particularly strong on this – have to be totally compliant in everything said in their name. The issue then becomes about ensuring highly produced content fits the bill – but can then be distributed more widely.

The other side of this which came up is about the management of video as an asset. Too much tactical commissioning, not enough strategic thinking. The result: a series of one-offs which come and go. Often there’s a huge focus on doing them cheaply, but taken together they’re expensive because they deliver poor value. Lots of nods around the table.

The end of the lunch is nigh

So the world didn’t end. Food was eaten, wine was drunk. But the real warm glow which comes from events like this emanates from a sense of shared knowledge – and the commonality of experience.

Or perhaps it is the wine.

Our speaker happened to be our Senior Consultant, Paul Twivy, who is also the part time CEO of the Big Society Network – the organisation at the centre of David Cameron’s Big Idea designed to encourage greater involvement and engagement by the UK’s citizens. Dave and Nick (Cameron and Clegg) were staging a media briefing on the subject and Paul’s presence was required (Paul shown with Dave and Nick in the photo below).

When he arrived to lead a discussion about ‘video storytelling is the new advertising’, most of us were more interested in the inside scoop on the morning’s events. It prompted a number of us to swap our Number 10 stories (buy me a beer and I’ll tell you mine).

So, having swapped the Cabinet table for our own oval lunch table, Paul led the debate. He’s been an ad man for 30 years and seen the greatest 30 second ads, but in a digital world we all expect more meat than that, and Paul feels the 2-4 minute video is the new advertising. He reeled off a slew of stats that shows we all watch more video online. UK consumers watched 37% more video over the past year than the year before; YouTube is the world’s second biggest search engine; BBC’s i-Player now gets 116 million views per month in the UK; the i-Pad is already a major video platform in the US.

Paul gave 6 reasons why he believes video is becoming the lingua franca of communication.

• Research shows people remember and trust more of what they see and hear.

• The moving image gets to the heart as well as the head.

• Visualisation makes complex issues and product stories understandable and memorable.

• Video news leverages the authority of TV news.

• Video communication is green – BroadView’s research around a webcast two years ago showed those who viewed it used 17,000 times less carbon than those who attended the event.

• Video transcends language and distance in a globalised economy

I would add to that:

• Watching a video briefing is more time efficient than downloading and reading a PDF.

• Video leverages people and time – you can do it once, perfectly and get your audience to see it many times.

• All new devices are video enabled and so it is becoming ubiquitous.

• Over the past 5 years we have all become used to the idea of video on demand rather than when broadcasters choose to show it.

The issue which Paul raised and which was discussed was this: great, but what will it look like when it is grown up? Do companies take the medium seriously enough to think of using it strategically, as a key corporate asset, rather than tactically as just another piece of collateral.

Many of those around the table were B2B focused – discussing whether video is the right medium in that environment. If so, how?

It’s difficult to pull a consensus from a discussion featuring senior communicators from major companies. But I felt some important themes which came out were these.

1. The purpose of the content needs to be clearly defined and well considered. No-one is interested in video for its own sake.

2. How it is leveraged is crucial. Simply putting it out there is meaningless. How it fits into the overall online and offline strategy is the key determinant of success.

3. A number of large companies are still at the starting blocks, thinking about where to start.

4. A lot of individual projects are taking place, often not in a joined up way. But I get the sense that most organisations are frustrated at this.

Certainly, there was a consensus that this is a medium to be taken seriously. And I don’t think it was just because it was a BroadView lunch. Was it? Guys? Guys…?

At the age of 26 Paul co-founded what became a top 10 ad agency; he’s helped over 200 brands with their marketing; he founded one of the first integrated communications agencies, Circus; and he’s been heavily involved in major charity projects from Comic Relief to the Big Lunch, where he is currently Managing Partner. Way back he began his career comedy scriptwriting with people such as Ian Hislop and Chris Tarrant.

So why has Twivy decided to work with BroadView now?

“I think that video storytelling is already important and is at a very interesting stage of development, potentially going from a tactical fad into something more mature and strategic. YouTube has now become the second largest search engine in the world. Companies are looking at how they can make their web strategy more compelling and video is moving centre stage.

A lot of my life has been spent on the art of the 30sec/ 60sec commercial and conversely at the BBC on researching and marketing 30 to 60 minute programmes. Between the two is the art of the 3-5 minute video and now it’s really coming into its own.

What attracts me to Broadview is that BroadView wants to lead an intelligent, strategic use of video. This goes beyond production into careful planning - almost media planning -  and a move towards looking at video as a major corporate asset. This means proper archiving and redeployment of video assets so that they hit different audiences in different ways. This is a much more sophisticated approach to the medium and more like the kind of thinking I’m used to from my advertising background.”

Paul will be involved in new business activity with BroadView with a new focus on challenger brands as well as the company’s portfolio of blue chip corporates. He’ll also be available to key clients as a marketing strategist to help develop programmes of content production to support external and internal engagement strategies.

BroadView Managing Director Stuart Maister is excited about the new collaboration.

“What’s already clear from our work with Paul is that he’s elevated our thinking and pushed us to be more challenging of our clients. We’ve always regarded ourselves as an agency with a clear point of view about the use of web video, but he’s ensuring we apply some of the creative disciplines of an Ad Agency or Brand Consultancy to the way we develop our solutions.

Paul has a very big view of the role of video storytelling in the marketing mix, and his involvement with BroadView will ensure we are able to engage at the highest level with leaders who share this perspective.”

As well as working with BroadView Paul has senior roles at The Partners, The Big Lunch and runs his own consultancy: Twivy Consultancy Ltd.

If you would like to arrange a meeting with Paul about potential work with BroadView, please email stuart.maister@broad-view.com 

This month BroadView launch our WebPresenter service. We think it's a smart and innovative way to humanise your customer web experience and engage in a friendly, helpful and informative way. Most importantly though: it can really improve your conversion to sign ups and sales.

The WebPresenter service isn't all about people either. We can make jugglers, fireworks or a herd of elephants appear. The only limits are your imagination... oh and brand relevance.

This is innovative video overlay technology, which enables us to put moving images across your site without any impact on your website infrastructure. It makes your site really come to life, with people and images leaping out of the screen.

When using a WebPresenter some of the things we think are key in getting it right are:

• Opting in or out of the engagement with the WebPresenter is very important. Engage with those who want to engage only.
• Presenters need to be professional and genuinely natural and engaging.
• Get your script right and provide relevant advice in bite size chunks. Don't be boring.
• Give timely advice at relevant parts of the customer experience.
• Steer, up sell, cross sell, encourage to respond, but be friendly not salesy.

Make sure the presenter and content is relevant to your brand, enhances the customer experience and naturally extends the journey. Get it right and your customer will be more informed, more engaged and it'll show in your stats and sales figures.

Imagine you have a complicated product. How much easier to have a person explain how it works than long reams of text. If you have a celebrity sponsor, how cool to have them appear on screen to talk direct to your website audience. Is your company founder very passionate about your products or services? Get him (or her) to enthuse on screen. There are so many possibilities.

We created a WebPresenter recently for the ACCA website, here's what the Marketing Manager had to say;

"We wanted to bring some life to some necessary but involved requirements our trainees have to follow. Using Web presenter seemed like a good way to tell trainees what they have to go and help them navigate the resources available.  We're hoping it will lead to more visitors, greater time spent on pages and ultimately greater levels of engagement with ACCA"

To see more about WebPresenter you can contact us or come along to a lunchtime event we are planning for 20^th May

Please email info@broad-view.com for more information

More info on WebPresenters.

The festival launches with 2008 LIFF winner Jan Dunn’s film The Calling with a stellar British cast, led by Academy Award nominees Brenda Blethyn and Susannah York and BAFTA winning actress Rita Tushingham. Then there are 12 days of exciting short films, features, independent classics, celebrity talks and workshops

Over the next couple of months Gemma will be spending most of her spare time viewing films, managing volunteer teams, co-ordinating jury verdicts and short list over 700 short films and feature films. She has played a big part in ramping up the festival this year. From using her commercial skills to re-write the mission statement and set KPI's, maximising publicity working closely with the Works PR team, getting their social networks all fired up and launching the first ever London Independent Filmmakers' Fair.

Gemma says, "I find my job helps the festival with my commercial ability to organise and take the long view and my festival work inspires my creatively in my job. I'm glad that I work for a company who endorse and support my personal passions for film and storytelling and allow me to manage the festival business within my work time."

Because of our support for Gemma in this BroadView is a sponsor of the Festival.

Gemma has a real passion for film making and storytelling. She co-produced a HD split screen short film last year entitled  "I'd rather have a memory than a dream" with her director partner Matt Strachan which is currently doing the festival circuit. This year they have licensed 2 published short stories which they intend to produce by the end of the year.

If you too have a passion for storytelling and British filmmaking talent, check it out. Maybe we’ll see you there.

The London Independent Film Festival takes place from April 15th to 27th. For more information goto www.londonindependent.org, the London Independent Film Festival on Facebook or LondonIFF on Twitter.

MD Stuart Maister led the team with senior producer Nicholas Walton working in a hotel next to the conference venue. It was not the easiest of projects as Stuart says "It was bitterly cold, the transport infrastructure had almost ground to a halt, protesters were everywhere and logistically it was horrendous. But despite all that it was ultimately satisfying to be reporting from the heart of a major global event on behalf of such a significant global organisation."

PwC had experts from all the key markets talking part commentating, speaking and interviewing key people involved. They see sustainability as a massive issue but also a huge business opportunity for the necessary auditing of behaviours of companies and countries. New forms of sustainable energy and other green businesses also present a great opportunity for their clients. Sean Lucy from the Australian National Bank comments "There is no shortage of capital for this kind of activity and in fact there are pools of capital that are attracted to solving the problem."

The experience is best summed up by the closing comment from Richard Gledhill, Head of Carbon Markets and Climate Change Services from PwC:

"The business community is going to have to step up to the plate. Investing in the future, investing in clean technology, changing the way they run their businesses, changing the way they respond to carbon markets, to policy, to regulation. This is going to transform the business climate over the next 10 years."

Watch highlights from PwC at the Copenhagen Summit.

Spend 2.02 minutes having a giggle and seeing how not to do it.

Here at BroadView we can create B-rolls and video news packages that are intelligent, interesting and relevant. Even Charlie Brooker doesn't mock the credible!

For those younger than me (sadly now an increasing number) half a crown was 2 shillings and sixpence and would now be worth 12 ½p. That’s a pathetic amount of money now, but it seemed a lot to me back in 1971 (ouch) when decimal currency came in. More interestingly, the actual coin was really really big – it seemed huge compared to modern ones.

I got the impression that the shrinkage of money was an apt metaphor for some of the experiences of those in the discussion. Budgets had gone the way of British coinage over the past year, despite it being a year of enormous change, often big decisions and a lot of news to communicate. But budgets were slashed as companies fought simply to stay in business.

My experience of discussions with marketing leaders is that 2010 looks very different. There, the outlook is as bright as a shiny new pound coin (love the new modern designs). Companies are investing in customers as they sense there are growth opportunities.  But not necessarily in employees.

If our discussion at the Bank was anything to go by, employee communications this year will be about tightly controlled costs and a ‘steady as she goes’ mentality. The big decisions are so 2009; now it’s about managing well with the staff and resources we have. I suspect that in some organizations there is an sense that, in a recession, employee loyalty is not such a big question and staff are highly motivated just to keep their job. Therefore it’s about improving the execution of the business rather than getting people excited.

Our discussion was very tactical: top tips for what is working well with companies looking for ideas about channel development. I got a strong sense that there is a real focus on the nitty gritty of employee communications, although an awareness that employees need lifting and, in some cases, need to have their trust in management rebuilt.

On that score one of those present had clear advice. It’s a long journey. There are no gimmicks. Their experience was that it is about consistent messages put into practice over a number of years, supported by amplification of those messages, until everyone gets it and believes it. At the heart of effective employee communications is integrity, openness and honesty from the top, and a genuine telling of the real story.

Hey, that’s true of any communications. You can only spin for so long. It’s a bit like the currency. Unless it’s backed by a solid economy, real reserves and a believable story about the country, the paper becomes devalued.

There was evidence in the room that in those companies where there has been real openness and honesty, the currency of company communications is still sought after and valued.  In those where there has not, the value attached to internal communications by employees has crashed faster than sterling.

One of the things you can do in the Bank of England Museum is try to lift up a genuine gold bar. It’s very heavy. But if you lift it, you’re carrying a lot of value in your hands. Engaging employees in 2010 may require some heavy lifting in 2010 – but it will be worth a lot.

That became obvious at a round table lunch we hosted last week for a number of online heads and managers, all from large companies. It confirmed my experience that a key driver for all organizations, whatever they are selling, is to develop content which is of inherent interest and value to their target audiences. This content may only mention their products or services as a by-product, it may be entertaining, but it is designed to attract and be of service to these groups. Just selling is not enough in the online world. It’s a pull, not a push, universe.

This content-based marketing is the key trend right now in digital strategy and it was fascinating to see how such diverse companies are all focusing on it for 2010. And, because web video was the main item on the agenda, we largely discussed how this medium could play a role in the strategy.

Another key idea emerged: in the era of YouTube, does quality matter anymore in web video? Is home made good enough? Many of those present had experimented with some kind of basic video on their websites, often produced very cheaply or even for nothing, and felt it had achieved something. One participant made a telling point: he said that it had got the ball rolling to show how they could use video online, so that he could then bid for budget to do it properly. In other words, it was a sprat to catch a mackerel.

If that is what it is, then great. But it cannot be the end in itself for major companies. My own view is that in a drive for authenticity, speed and cost-effectiveness there is a danger that online marketers could lose sight of how they need to be consistent with their brand. If I go to the site of a major, trusted brand, do I expect to see written content which could have been produced by a teenager who has never been trained to write professionally? So, why would I expect to see the same when it comes to video? Especially if I can barely hear it because the sound is bad or see it because it is shot so badly. How does this enhance the relationship between buyer and seller?

The content has to be consistent with the values of the brand, otherwise it could detract from the quality and reputation of the products and services it is seeking to support. Well, as the guy running a professional production company, I would say that, wouldn’t I? Yes. I would and do. You can produce authentic, honest, rapid and even quite cheap video content but do so to professional standards. And, interestingly, even on YouTube more and more content fits into this category, with high end company video content appearing alongside product reviews shot in someone’s bedroom.

Of course there is room for video UGC, just as there is for blogging. The point is to flag up that the content is exactly that, an area for customers or employees to upload their own material, rather than using UGC-standard content as the official video content of the company, representing its face to the world.

Among the many other fascinating themes we explored was how you then link this video content directly to the sales journey. One company at the lunch appears to have cracked it. They track who has watched what through registration, this links directly into their CRM and their consultants get flagged when one of their customers or prospects is watching something of relevance. The whole point is to feed these business conversations, and that is the way to really make the content deliver a measurable RoI.

Most other companies are a long way from that situation, but in my view that is where we need to go. Two three letter acronyms will be the drivers of this: CRM and SEO. When web video content is fully integrated into those two strategies, we’ll really be rocking.

So, what came out of the Communicate Magazine conference this week focused on rebuilding confidence in the sector?

Firstly, I felt there was a lot of defensiveness, and in some cases a sense of persecution. That's understandable since the tin hats are only gingerly being lifted to see if it's safe to emerge into the public domain. the whole financial sector has been damned by the media and public alike for the current crisis. One of the very interesting presentations was by the head of media relations at Goldman Sachs, not an organisation associated with humility and a sense of victimhood. She presented a series of headlines from the past year which painted a clear picture of the company being close to the devil, and it would be amazing if that didn't have a psychological impact on those involved.

Even the representative of the business media was defensive. Ruth Sunderland, the Business Editor of the Observer,  gave a spirited and articulate defence of the role she and her colleagues had played in reporting the crisis, conceding only that perhaps they did not ring loud enough alarm bells or make the connections about the impending crisis that was also missed by regulators and companies. It was clear that, whenever in front of such an audience, she too had a tin hat handy as the blame culture knows no boundaries.

And then we heard a presentation from three people involved in the hedge funds industry...

Actually, that's why I felt this conference was well timed and achieved quite a lot for those who were there. It was cathartic and also, naturally, began to develop a much more spirited discussion about the enormous value of the financial sector to the UK economy. It felt as though it was a small part of a much bigger reawakening of the communications around the sector. It also felt to me that communicators in the sector were keen to start being more proactive and using more innovative ways to engage a wider group of audiences.

I think everyone felt that the sector had spent too much time speaking to itself through the usual business media channels and not engaged any wider communities, with the result that it had no breadth of support when the crisis hit. Therefore I sensed an appetite to do more with wider audience targets and use a broader range of communications tools in the process.

Naturally I was there to discuss how video communication can form part of this new world and how organisations and the sector should be creating new images in the minds of their target audiences to replace the ones which currently exist.  I gave a presentation which outlined three strands to a video communication strategy: provide content for media and other platforms; create virtual announcements so that people can see and hear the story for themselves; and produce a rich digital media kit which showcases the what, why and how of the organisation. It felt to me like that, plus some other presentations on new ways of doing things, got a good response.

Of course I could be fooling myself about this and the idea that anything will change as the financial sector emerges from its purdah. But I don't think so. The world really has changed and even CEOs realise this. They know they need to engage more widely and they know that talking to the FT is no longer enough, even for the most esoteric financial organisation. I came away bullish that there is a real hunger to almost start again in temrs of the reputation - and maybe even some of the practices - of the UK's financial sector.

Stuart Maister, MD of BroadView