The most powerful medium is a sound investment.
A smart organization should explore the return on investment of any messaging campaign, and that’s what quality video production is. It’s an investment.
So, not only is it OK to ask, we expect you to ask. Are we worth it? (So glad you asked!)
Let’s answer that question by first addressing another one. Why does video work?
Our team has more than 40 years of video production and strategy experience. We’ve seen firsthand, time and again, that video moves people to action in a way no other messaging platform can.
That’s not just us saying that, based on our experience. There has even been research to explore why.
An American neuroeconomist named Paul Zak once studied the link between behavior and oxytocin—a neurochemical responsible for human empathy. His research studied the levels of oxytocin in the blood of study participants before and after they viewed character-driven narratives shot on video.
The result? Zak found that viewing the video stories caused a spike in oxytocin. Further, the amount of oxytocin released by the brain predicted how much people were willing to help others; for example, donating money to a charity associated with the narrative.
We use video as a medium for change. In other words, quality video production that gives a voice to the human experience has a deep effect on behavior. Narratives evoke emotion, create connections, build relationships, and spur people to act.
Take, for example, what happened when Gift of Life Michigan hired us to produce a video to encourage more people of color to become organ donors.
More than 50 percent of patients on the organ donation waiting list come from multicultural populations, but those same populations are underrepresented on the Donor Registry. The organization wanted a video series that would help break down some of the cultural barriers that have led to the gap between donors and patients.
We started by working with a man who was generously willing to tell his personal story as the family member of a donor. When his wife passed away, her tissue and organs were donated and saved the lives of four people. His story of heartache and triumph from the side of a donor family could have created a piece fit for episodic television, but we knew we needed the message to reach the right ears.
Using his story, we created a longer video for Gift of Life to use at in-person meetings and at public presentations. We then crafted a second, shorter version for social media.
The result: More than 114,000 video views by 92,000 people, and donor registrations in the target population have risen.
The video series was so successful that the national donor registry organization, Donate Life, asked us to create a version to use nationally. We were, of course, happy to oblige.
That’s just one example. Giving voice to the human experience results in increased opportunity for stakeholder engagement of all levels for a vast array of organizations:
We helped raise awareness to increase Michigan's seat belt usage by 8 percent in a few years.
We increased student applications to a university by 20 percent in one semester.
We can create sponsor commitment for a scientific R&D company.
We help build communities.
And when the organization contributes to the greater good, it creates more momentum for the initiative.
So, is video worth it? Yes. Because video works.