Yesterday I was perusing one of my thrice daily emails from HARO (Help A Reporter Out) which lists all kinds of queries from reporters looking for sources for stories they’re working on. One that I found particularly intriguing was a reporter asking for opinions on what is acceptable when it comes to the production value of online video.

Here was my response:

I’ve been in the advertising/marketing industry for nearly 30 years. For the last 15 of those, I’ve owned a video production and web site design firm that services a wide variety of corporate clients.

Don’t let my resume fool you though — I actually DON’T think all online video has to meet the same levels of production value. For instance, some of the best viral videos have worked partly because their production values were so low. Often low production value adds a level of credibility to a video that purports to be “bystander video” of an actual event caught in the moment. For spoofs, low-brow comedy and even promotional videos and web-ads where it’s hip to be grungy — low production value can be cool.

However, audiences today are more sophisticated than ever about the quality of what they see on screen — regardless of whether that screen is attached to a computer, mobile phone or their home entertainment system. Even kids know good lighting, editing and acting when they see it — or more to the point — when they DON’T see it. They may not have the vocabulary to express it — but they definitely notice and make a judgment call.

To me, the best way to decide how much production value is required for your video is to start by thinking about who your desired audience is. If it’s hipsters and 20-somethings looking for something fun — that requires one kind of approach. If, on the other hand, you’re hoping to sell thousands of dollars of software to medium-size businesses — that’s a completely different message that needs to be presented in a very different way.

Gary Vaynerchuk is a great example of someone who successfully used low production value video. His goal? Grow business for his parents’ wine store. His target (and this is what made his approach make sense) was younger audiences who knew nothing about wine — and maybe even felt a little intimidated by snobby “wine culture.” Gary’s personal style is irreverent, fun, and “in your face”. Yet, he really does know wine. He’s just not afraid to be enthusiastic, profane, rough edged, etc., in his wine reviews. I’ve heard him tell his audience that a particular wine is so bad its aroma reminds him of the smell of a county fair men’s room. His Wine Library videos were massively popular with exactly the crowd he was aiming for. His parents’ business sky rocketed.

But Gary will also tell you that he knows his style of presentation is a complete turn-off to older, more conservative audiences who have money to spend and are interested in wine. That bothers him, but not enough to compromise his focus on the young, hip market that connects with him.

What plagues me is all the discussion going on in chat rooms and on blog postings about how no business should ever have to worry about production value. Don’t hire that expensive production company — just set up your camera and go for it. Really? It’s one thing for hipsters to be drawn to a hand-held Flip video production about a new brand of jeans. It’s a completely different story for the CIO of a corporation to watch your cheaply produced, rambling video and decide to spend $10,000 on a software license with your company.

The point is, the audience makes the decision. There are just some things that I want to buy from a professional, solid-looking company. No passes for being on-line. On-line is your business’ number one way of connecting with me. That’s where you get to make your first, best and in many cases, ONLY impression. If your video looks amateurish — guess what? That’s now the impression I have of your company.

Think about it. Haven’t you ever seen one of those awful, locally produced TV spots for say, a tire company or furniture store and thought — “I will NEVER shop there. That Mom and Pop operation can’t even make a good commercial.”

The same thing applies to web sites. You know you’ve landed on a site that was so poorly designed that you thought “these people have to be working out of their basement”.

I could go on and on — and maybe I already have. Thanks for exploring this topic — it’s important.

So…what goes on behind the scenes in the making of a corporate video?  Here’s a sneak peak at a nighttime shoot for client Manhattan Associates.  The location:  the historic Fairlie-Poplar district of downtown Atlanta.  Some logistics:  we obtained permits for blocking off one half of a city block for the shoot … a small semi was rented for use as a portable green room/make-up/wardrobe, etc. … props included a delivery truck and boxes all labeled with a fictitious company’s product and logo.  The camera:  Canon 7D.  An unusual challenge:  the video had to be framed so as to work on both a 16:9 format TV monitor and a 60 ft., 4:1 format screen for a live event.

What’s the single most expensive element in a video production or web site development project?  Perhaps it’s the scripting or content writing?  Maybe the shooting or page design?  The editing or programming?

If you ask me, it’s none of the above.

The single most expensive element in any video or web project — in terms of money, time, frustration and overall quality — is the untimely request for a change or revision.

Don’t get me wrong.  Revisions and tweaks are all part of the process in a custom project such as a video or web site design.  The client and production team  need to collaborate on any number of decisions and directions throughout the project.

It’s the untimely part that makes change so ugly and divisive.  You see, every production schedule includes very specific time periods  that allow for changes and revisions throughout the life of a project.  For instance, once we’ve written a script or web content and presented it to the client, we usually build in a good solid week (or more) for the client to mull it over, share it internally, gather comments and then come back to us with an organized, collated list of requested changes and revisions.  The same is true for design work such as storyboards or page layouts.  Stock photography, video and music selections all have a scheduled period of time of client consideration and approval or requests for change.  The rough cut of the video has it’s own review period.

During those review periods, the production team busies itself with other unrelated work.  We don’t move forward until the client has approved the direction we’re going.

I  like to compare video and web projects to the process of building a house.  Most of us would expect to pay a premium if we  changed our mind about the color of the shingles just after they’d all been nailed to the roof.  Or if we decided we really needed an extra bathroom after the foundation had already been laid and the framing had begun.

It’s not any different in the world of video production and web site design.  Changes made at the wrong time usually have a domino effect.  Especially with web sites.  “Just” adding one more section usually has the domino effect of requiring changes to the site navigation on every page that’s already been designed.   “Just” adding another paragraph of narration to a video requires more shooting or time in the sound studio as well as more stock footage or b-roll shooting, more music to license, more of an editor‘s time in an edit suite to make all of these changes.  Additional graphics may need to be created as well.

So, from the client’s perspective, how can you guard your budget and your delivery schedule?  Here are a few tips that can help everyone in the process:

1.  Identify the decision makers in your organization and make sure they’re prepared to be part of the approval process throughout the life of the project.

2.  When you receive the production schedule, immediately distribute it to your internal team and make sure that decision makers are actually going to be available during the scheduled review periods.  If not, tell your production company immediately so that a new schedule can be drawn up.

3. Once you have a workable production schedule, make sure all important landmarks are blocked out on the calendars of the decision makers — well in advance.

4.  Be prepared for the unexpected — Part I.  C-level execs have a habit of ignoring their calendars.  If one of your decision makers suddenly isn’t going to be able to meet a production schedule landmark — let your production team know as soon as possible.  We can often adjust our schedules to compensate — or suspend work that might have to be undone, once the exec does his review.

5.  Be prepared for the unexpected — Part II.  Because CEOs and other heavily scheduled execs can be unpredictable, we suggest that the client set aside some portion of their budget (beyond the amount contracted with the production company) for last minute changes and revisions.  Padding your deadline by a few days to a week can also come in handy.

Bottom line:  in the world of video production and web site design, change is inevitable, but if you take the right steps upfront, it’s possible to minimize it’s more unpleasant consequences.