Everybody has a story.  If you can’t be there in person, video is the best way to convey a message.  It’s true that consumers far and wide are publishing video….but corporate intenties need to remember that they are branding themselves in everything they do.  Video professionals, men and women, who have spent their lives honing the craft, are expert storytellers.  In them, the customer may think they are paying more, but in the long run, the corporate entity pays more by unfocused messaging.  A recent article on CNET talks about the increase of online video and the importance of brand awareness.

http://news.cnet.com/8300-1023_3-93.html?tag=rb_content;overviewHead

 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10124842-93.html

As you look to the future of your brand and marketing strategies, don’t forget that a picture is worth a thousand words and video experts at Prizm can help you convey that message.

If you stick with something long enough and educate your audiences, eventually the maturity curve predictions come to fruition. Such has been the case at Prizm. Back when it was uncool to talk about convergence of the television and computer, Prizm stood by our understanding that we had to offer clients more in delivery while remaining focused and committed to our success as content producers.

This Labor Day weekend, we send our thanks to all of our clients who sincerely have impacted our company in such a positive manner. Our clients have allowed us the opportunity to not only be their content producers but have also stood with us as we have taken media convergence to a new level with the web. I’d like to highlight a few of those clients in this blog. We are grateful to you all and enjoy working hand in hand with you to make an impact in your long term success.

Indiana State University Foundation

Truman Medical Center

NCCT and Veterans Funeral Care

RiseUP – Ellis Marketing

Railcrew Express

The Spa Tuscano

Ace of Hearts BBQ

Simple Man Products

Bayer Animal Health

Global Praire

DeVries Public Relations

My Green Circle

SEI and so many more.

As we rest this Labor Day weekend, we are grateful and look forward to serving you all in the future. You give us something to look forward to after a long weekend.

I was at the Greater Kansas City Chamber “smooze” event this morning at Lucky Strike in the Power and Light District.  While enjoying the atmosphere I began talking to Keith, a gentleman who grew up in his father’s business.  As we talked about the importance of relationships in growing a business, my mind wandered to my grandfather, who recently passed away.  As I told Keith the story about my grandfather, it became so clear.

Pappaw, as we refer to him, was a very generous man, though the family didn’t know just how many friends he had until his visitation.  The line to greet us started at the casket and ran the length of the largest chapel at the funeral home.  It didn’t stop there, it ran all the way out the doors into the entry and outside…for three straight hours.

We heard many nice things about him, but the pastor said it the best “Henry wrote his own sermon.  He lived his life helping others and developed lasting relationships.”

Shouldn’t we all be so lucky.  Life is not made of the things we have, but the relationships we build.  When serving others, we pray that our work provides a great experience for the audience we created it for and that our customers can build long standing relationships that make a difference for those they serve.  After all, it isn’t what we take with us, but the relationships we build along the way.

A lot of folks ask us, what is media convergence? The best way to describe media convergence and how Prizm employs it is as follows: Media convergence combines traditional media and online media to provide multiple outlets to reach a target demographic. Media convergence provides not only return on presence with traditional media but also return on investment with online media.

Traditional Media (tv, radio, newspaper, billboard) doesn’t measure the actual eyeball, but rather impressions. Nielsen Ratings says we think this many people saw your program or commercial but in reality, they don’t know whether you fell asleep or fed the dog. We consider this a “return on presence” investment.

On the other hand, Online Media (web, email, social media) can measure the eyeball. We call this “return on investment”.

I’m sure many of you are saying, wait a minute, we’ve been measuring our ROI on traditional media for years. Yes, but you’ve actually been measuring your return on investment on what was available to measure. Now’s there’s more opportunity.

For nearly a decade, the maturity curves of media have been shifting. As we have studied this fact, we also understood that media convergence would provide the client the best of both worlds. Presence is still important as television has the ability to communicate to the masses, even though we don’t exactly know to whom. On the other hand, we can now talk to an “audience of one” with the ability to reach many online.

With Media Convergence, the power is now in our clients’ hands. If you are going to create a Media Site(tm) to build B2B or B2C relationships with your audience, you might also want to think about other communication styles such as EVM Mail(tm) – video email – or commercial television. If you strategize your goals in advance of shooting one element of communication, you can impact your budget and consistency in communication three-fold.

It is best stated by our friends at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce that unfocused marketing is deadly, particularly going through or coming out of a downturn. I share their thoughts and wanted to pass them on to you.

Advertising and Marketing Budgets Fall

The behavior is as predictable as the sun setting in the west. When economic times get tough, the budgets that get slashed first and most deeply are those that concern marketing. The assumption is always that attention needs to be focused on “core” issues like operations and the strategy of the day is to cut costs. Many companies assume that more emphasis can be placed on sales while reducing the emphasis on marketing and advertising despite the evidence to the contrary. The media business is staggering under the weight of these decisions as many newspapers are reporting dramatic reductions in ad revenue. Internet marketing has slumped and so have revenues from ads in radio and TV. The pattern is familiar to those in the marketing business but it is nonetheless frustrating given what is known about the impact this has on a business long term.

Analysis: The reaction by many business leaders is baffling and many have tried to determine why this attitude prevails. Perhaps it is because it is hard to directly connect a marketing effort to a consumer response. Perhaps it is because the leaders in most companies come from finance and operations background and doesn’t really “get” marketing. The fact is that consumers do not make unaided decisions about what they purchase any more – if they ever did. The vast majority of spending is discretionary and as such it is subject to influence. The average consumer seeks help making the dozens of choices they make every day – it is impossible for anyone to carefully study each and every move. That is where branding, advertising and marketing come in, the handy guide that allows people to sort through all these decisions. In a time of economic stress that guide is more important than ever. -CK

Really…It seems so obvious yet most businesses forget that a simple, trusted relationship goes a long way.

As we’ve studied through the duration of our careers, we’ve watched closely the dynamic.  As we approached video on the web nearly a decade ago, we found that people were more responsive to us when we offered a trusted relationship for them to do business.  Now, we have the opportunity to communicate through video when we can’t necessarily be there for the handshake (the handshake is still the best avenue to build trust.)  The thing is, if you can’t be there in person, then seeing a person’s soul through their eyes and in their mannerisms builds trust.  Human Host(tm) and now Intellihost(tm) have become a standard of our Media Sites(tm).  People do business with people they trust because they are being interacted with, guided, and informed.  Would you rather do business with a page full of text or experience the culture through carefully crafted messaging with a personal touch?  You decide?  I’ll take the trusted relationship anytime.