We took the kids to Hamleys this weekend - partly because it was my sons Birthday and partly because I have never been and thought that Christmas would be the most magical time.
I'm not going to disappoint you - I'm going to draw up an analogy for Hamleys and your website/film.
The toy industry in the UK is the fourth largest in the world and has a value of £2.9 billion (Toynews 2011), competition is fierce.
So you walk in and are confronted with thousands of toys - everything is packaged to appeal and to sell. Some children may have come in for specific items (so know where they are headed), but many are there to be sold to.
Hamley's have demonstrations at every corner, be it Marvin's Magic; Magical Snow; flying saucer things, colouring pens; helicopters - the list goes on. If they have something they want to shift they get their trained staff to play with it and it draws the crowds.
That's you that is - hundreds of websites to choose from - you may well have packaged it up well but you are there on the shelf with thousands of others. You need to find a way to get off that shelf and into the crowd.
My kids won't remember the Star Wars figures I was looking at - but they have already told their friends about the powder that turns into snow when you add water to it.
Films go the same way - I can stick a film onto your website, it can be like a blockbuster movie but unless that film comes out into the open and draws a crowd then you are not using that film to its fullest potential.
To take it one stage further - multiple films are like multiple products - one catches your attention, the second one draws you further in, then maybe you'll have a quick look at another one . . .
In short, what I'm saying is - yes, it's great to have a website and yes, it's great to put a film onto that website but in today's day and age we have social media and the links back from such are going to do your company a lot more favours than the methods that were fashionable a few years back.
So in 2012 - rethink the way you do thinks a little and start getting into the thick of it and drawing the crowds.
Merry Christmas
(Hamleys Magical Snow - It was like real snow when they added the water)
Monday, 19 December 2011
Thursday, 8 December 2011
Vlogging - an introduction
It's all very well for companies (us included) to bang on about the value of using film to increase brand awareness and help with your SEO.
I'm a firm believer in multiple films helping you up the ranks of Google and up Youtube. Having said that we also have to think about the smaller business'. If you get a crew in every time that you need to make a statement or review a new product, or announce an occasion, then your bill could venture well into the thousands.
Let's say that you vlog twice a month; do a couple of trade fairs; promote a couple of events; shoot a couple of virals or funnies not to mention a few heavy dose of "how to films"; then there's the client's endorsing the products . . . the amount of films that you are making soon racks up.
How easy is it ?
Don't you already film stuff ? Don't you already use your phone or your flip or a camcorder to record those most important events at home ? When they're on Youtube does anyone complain about the quality ? (I'll let you into a little secret - even the biggest TV camera's have "auto" buttons (not that the best camera men use them)). And don't you already have the software to edit it ? Even if you don't you can now do it on Youtube.
I guess what I'm trying to say is on some occasions you don't need a professional in so that you can get yourself heard. You can do it yourself which gives you the opportunity to react to the most freshest of headlines and get there before everybody else.
Ok, ok, there are times when you need your film to look glitzy, when you need the bells and whistles etc etc but for these - I suggest you spend nothing more than £100 on a camera (if you don't have one) and put aside an hour every 2 weeks.
http://www.fiercebadrabbit.co.uk/
I'm a firm believer in multiple films helping you up the ranks of Google and up Youtube. Having said that we also have to think about the smaller business'. If you get a crew in every time that you need to make a statement or review a new product, or announce an occasion, then your bill could venture well into the thousands.
Let's say that you vlog twice a month; do a couple of trade fairs; promote a couple of events; shoot a couple of virals or funnies not to mention a few heavy dose of "how to films"; then there's the client's endorsing the products . . . the amount of films that you are making soon racks up.
How easy is it ?
Don't you already film stuff ? Don't you already use your phone or your flip or a camcorder to record those most important events at home ? When they're on Youtube does anyone complain about the quality ? (I'll let you into a little secret - even the biggest TV camera's have "auto" buttons (not that the best camera men use them)). And don't you already have the software to edit it ? Even if you don't you can now do it on Youtube.
I guess what I'm trying to say is on some occasions you don't need a professional in so that you can get yourself heard. You can do it yourself which gives you the opportunity to react to the most freshest of headlines and get there before everybody else.
Ok, ok, there are times when you need your film to look glitzy, when you need the bells and whistles etc etc but for these - I suggest you spend nothing more than £100 on a camera (if you don't have one) and put aside an hour every 2 weeks.
http://www.fiercebadrabbit.co.uk/
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
What are you having for Christmas Dinner? 1st Blog test
“Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat. . .”
It is traditional to eat luxurious food during a celebration and Christmas is no exception. A huge slice of the British population will opt for the turkey roast this year , a tradition amongst the rich for many centuries, Henry the VIII championed the turkey and then Edward VII made it popular as a Christmas dish. The Common man has only been able to afford a turkey for the last 50 years or so.
Before this time people would celebrate with Goose many paying a small fee to use the local bakers oven to cook it in. Pre-dating the Turkey, which only arrived on British soil in 1526, was the boars head carried into the feast as everyone sang the boars head carol. In Roman Feasts the Boar was the first dish served and there are historical writings of boars stuffed with quails being served at ceremonies.
The Romans were great a having a good party and the notion of stuffing one animal into another animal became quite the norm. Writings also tell of another meal involving stuffing a chicken inside a duck inside a goose inside a pig inside a cow.
The Georgians also did well with marking an occasion with food. In 1753, James, Earl of Lonsdale sent a Christmas pie to King George III which weighed 22 stones (140 kgs) and contained 177 birds of differing varieties including 12 fieldfares, 46 yellow-hammers and a curlew.
By 1807 the rôti sans pareil ("roast without equal", a dish that the cook credited to the Romans) was reborn. Grimod de La Reynière presented his 17 bird roast with the largest bird being a bustard and the smallest a garden warbler. This is not the largest multi bird, however, in 1829 a cookbook was produced in Brussels which cited 20 stages.
In the modern day we are more refined but no less luxurious. Companies such as Pelham and Talbot (http://www.birdroast.co.uk/) provide the most “Royal of roasts” a succulent, fresh turkey breast, stuffed with goose, stuffed with chicken, stuffed with duck, stuffed with partridge. A delicacy which Mark Walker, Head Chef at Cambridge University’s Madingley Hall describes as :
“approximately 5 kilos of gourmet poultry and game with absolutely no waste. It is a mouth-watering cacophony of taste; succulent, juicy and very, very moreish indeed.”
The question is what is your traditional Christmas fayre? Can it be traced back to the Victorians ? The Romans ? Or the Tudors ?
Whatever you do make sure to spoil yourself this Christmas, if there’s one day of the year that you can treat yourself it’s the 25th of December, so eat like a King.
By http://www.fiercebadrabbit.co.uk/
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