On the first of August 1981, at 12:01 a.m. MTV introduced itself to the world by airing a music video by a London-based New Wave band called The Buggles. They didn’t know it at the time, but Video Killed the Radio Star would be a prophetic harbinger of not just video’s effect on radio stars, but on our culture, lives, and modern world. Decades later we can see how video has changed the way we communicate, ingest news, consume entertainment, advertise, and express ourselves. We live in a video world. From the moment we wake up and scroll through social media we are bombarded. When we fill up at the gas station, video screens. At the grocery store, videos. In 2023 people are watching 88 minutes of video a day. Every day video continues to overtake print, radio, and television.
At Communications Strategy Group (CSG®), we understand that not all video is created equal. As businesses and consumers endeavor to keep up with the content, technologies and trends, we have gone a bit further. At the end of the day, video content creation isn’t about the kind of camera it is shot on. It isn’t about the quantity of videos and in some cases it’s not even about the quality. Effective capital V video is about the right content, on the right platform with the right messaging. It is about video with purpose!
From a business perspective: in this video world, too many content creators and video producers fall into the “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail,” trap. With the barrier to entry lower than ever, it is easy to default to video as a catch-all solution for marketing and messaging needs. At CSG, we aren’t the hammer. We are the whole toolbox.
Our approach to video isn’t limited to creating eye-catching content and storytelling. Make no mistake, we do that, but we also do so much more. Our approach is rooted in behavior design. We have built in-house custom models that factor in every aspect of the customer’s journey and know how to craft messaging that engages at each specific step. Our videos are created with careful attention to the type of behaviors or engagement that are specific to each client, each endeavor, and each audience in both B2B and B2C.
Our videos are put together with artisan precision at not just every aspect of the production process, but well before that. There is no shortage of producers, content creators, and production houses that can create a solid video ad. But how many of them research the specific motivators and behaviors of the prospective audience? And how many can offer geo-targeted A/B testing with said audience to determine what type of content is the most resonant? At CSG, we look at the whole picture. We are collaborative and our pre-production process goes well beyond the standard scripting and storyboarding. We work with every client to find out what motivates their audiences and how to leverage that messaging into behavior that overcomes their ability blockers and gets them to act. Sometimes this is a simple screen recording of a Zoom meeting. Sometimes it is dressing someone up in a T-Rex costume and rampaging them through their office!
MTV has been laid low by the very innovation it platformed. There is no real need for a music-video channel when we have access to every video we could ever want at our fingertips. They were once trendsetters but failed to innovate enough to stay relevant in our new video world.
At Communications Strategy Group, we are storytellers. We are dreamers and designers. We are tacticians and trendsetters. We don’t just stay abreast of the ever-evolving technologies and platforms that define our industry. We make sure that every video we create has the right messaging, with the right content, on the right platform. We do video with purpose.
Interested? Contact us today!
