Video Marketing

Video is a powerful marketing tactic to deliver a message. At Alpha Dog Advertising, we are often asked to help brands create a story and an engaging and memorable way to communicate it. But what do you do when a client doesn’t have the budget for a large-scale video production — to hire a crew, to shoot at various locations, to pay multiple actors, and so on?

Or perhaps, as we are today, you are in the middle of a pandemic and physically can’t work closely with others?

Recently, Penn State Health asked Alpha Dog Advertising to develop a video celebrating diversity among their employees — without shooting any new footage. While some brand development and marketing communication firms may have pushed for a larger budget to shoot a new video, we accepted the challenge and went straight to work.

The Script

First, we met with the client to learn more about Penn State Health’s culture, their diversity programs, and the values that make the organization one of the top healthcare systems in the country.

Afterward, our team brainstormed universally important truths, regardless of where you work or what your background is. Then we got to work developing a script and the tone of our message.

The Visuals

Once the script was approved, we knew a daunting task lay ahead — digging through hundreds of thousands of royalty-free stock video clips that would visually tell the story that was being conveyed through the script.

This was a time-consuming task, but also one that required thoughtfulness and care to ensure we represented the diversity of Penn State Health accurately. Once we identified the best clips, we color corrected and balanced each one. Since they had all been filmed by different producers, with different cameras, in various environments and lighting situations, we wanted to make sure they had a consistent look. Our dedicated creative team worked countless hours to get the timing and color just right so the video clips blended together seamlessly to tell one compelling story.

The Soundtrack

The final step was finding the right music and voice-over to achieve the desired tone. We purchased a track through a royalty-free music site and hired a voice-over actor online. The voice-over was completed over a conference call so we could quickly work through changes together, rather than going back and forth via email.

In the end, the video came together better than the Penn State Health team had ever imagined — and at a fraction of the cost of a traditional live video shoot. So the next time you are considering video for your brand, don’t let budget or timeline restrictions stand in the way. Depending on the subject matter and type of video, you might be able to achieve the perfect piece using stock video and other online resources.

As we continue to deal with the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, this approach could be an ideal way to accomplish your video needs in 2020. Whether you choose this or more traditional filming methods, Alpha Dog Advertising is here to help you navigate your options and tell your brand’s story.

About Alpha Dog Advertising
Established in 2009, Alpha Dog Advertising is a full-service strategic brand positioning and marketing communications firm specializing in building strong brands that set organizations apart from the competition and create better revenue opportunities. Alpha Dog employs deliberate creative tactics and sound marketing activities to effectively communicate a brand’s point of difference. As a trusted resource working with mid- to large-sized organizations, the firm’s service offerings include brand creation and positioning, rebranding strategy, digital marketing, web design and development, print/production management, consumer and trade print advertising, media planning and buying, and public relations. For more information, visit alphadogadv.com.