The following story was written as a white paper for the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). The purpose was to give a general view of modern multimedia production.

The landscape of mass communications changes every day. Ten years ago, the way for a company to reach its audience was relatively simple: take out an ad in the paper, and maybe spring for a commercial on TV or radio. Today the average consumer has matured to a point where they no longer receive their information from such standard sources. Fortunately for Bclip Productions, the multimedia industry has matured right along with them.

Bclip Productions is a full service multimedia company with production offices located in Asheville, NC and Baton Rouge, LA, and sales centers in Atlanta, GA and Orlando, FL. Over the past five years, Bclip has worked with over 150 satisfied clients from international manufacturers to non-profit organizations. Their range of media gives them the flexibility to speak to various audiences on multiple fronts, and their diverse production hubs allow them to fulfill the needs of companies across the country.

Businesses today require innovative marketing strategies to reach their target audiences – and strategy is the key word. Knowing your consumer and creating a plan to reach them is essential. Fortunately, through creative Web design and interactive delivery of digital video it is possible to assemble a marketing strategy that hones in on your specific demographics.

When a company begins its quest for creating a multimedia presence, it must establish a brand identity and remain faithful to that identity across the board. From logos to fonts and from music to video, consumers must be able to see and hear who you are, and recognize your company. The look and feel of your company should be the same from your Website to the label of your CD. If you already have your logo and colors, make sure and get them to your production company right off the bat. Once you confirm the look, sound and feel you desire, you are ready to move forward and begin exploring the various cutting edge methods of marketing at your disposal.

In this day and age the basis for any marketing campaign is a stimulating, user-friendly Website. Visiting a company Website is the closest a customer can get to that business, short of walking in the door. And with online sales, specialized search engines, and interactive advertising, visiting that Website may be even better. All good businesses want contact with their customers, both current and prospective. The Website does this in such a way that informs the customer, and drives them to take action – whether that is picking up a phone, or placing an order online.

One of the key purposes of any modern marketing campaign is to drive people to the Website. Once there, customers are most receptive to messages that appeal to them in unique ways that require little effort. No media conveys a message with emotion and enthusiasm like video. With the advent of digital video production, it is now possible to proudly and effectively display company videos online.

When a business signs on for a commercial, a training video, or even a television show, that video should appear on the company’s Website. It provides an informative and entertaining way to convey information. When video functions as a stand-alone piece on television, it is essential that the video drives the viewer to the Webpage. But there are even more ways to entice an audience with digital video production. There are three important rules to remember with any digital method of displaying video: short, sweet, and to the point. It is much better to create five two-minute videos than to create one ten-minute video. Keep the customer clicking. Keep them involved in the active viewing process. Whether they are viewing a DVD, CD or some other marketing tool, they will pay closer attention to succinct, precise messages. The days of one-way communication are over. Now our challenge is to engage the customer with interactive, instant gratification through concise, direct messages from which they can pick and choose.

For those of you not in the know, podcasting is the new digital audio and visual medium that’s sweeping the globe. A podcast is essentially an audio/video magazine a user subscribes to online. Derived from the hip new iPod from Apple, and the viewing and listening program, iTunes, podcasting is the new way to send your own radio or television show out to countless numbers of viewers and listeners. It began as a grass roots pirate radio movement: an extension of people’s web logs. The bloggers, as they’ve become known, realized they could embed media into their blog entries, creating audio and video content for their blog subscribers.

Contrary to popular belief, viewers and listeners do not need to own an iPod in order to experience podcasting. Once a person downloads iTunes, available for free at www.iTunes.com, they select the podcast button on the player and search for their favorite media. The program will play right on their computer, and update weekly with a new episode similar to receiving a weekly magazine subscription. Bclip Productions has had great success podcasting one of their most popular television shows, “The Sunday Home Showcase.” Burns & Company, the real estate firm that sponsors the show, found an affordable and precise way to target an elusive demographic. Now their show can be sent directly to an interested and committed viewer every week. Consumers on the go can watch a show on their laptop or video iPod as they are sitting in the airport or waiting for a meeting. And just as digital video is changing the way people watch video, it is also revolutionizing the way corporate TV shows are produced.

Showpak 2.0 is Bclip’s efficient, affordable and flexible solution to television programming. Authored by Bclip’s Development Director, Brian Berlin, this computer software program is changing the way television production is done. With a diverse client base ranging from real estate firms to automobile dealerships, Bclip specializes in providing their customers with unique control over the content of their shows.

For the first step in the production process, Bclip sends a crew to the location and shoots for two days. They acquire enough segments to provide the client with a wide variety of programming, resulting in several months of unique shows. The programs feature helpful tips for the viewer, segments driving would-be customers to the client’s Website, and several large sections featuring that client’s inventory.

That’s where Showpak 2.0 comes in. Bclip’s new program puts control of the show’s inventory sections in the hands of the client. The result is a television show that carries all the hallmarks of national programming, with the flexibility of adding the most recent elements of the client’s inventory.

Users of Showpak 2.0 load all of the pictures of their inventory, as well as any voice over that accompanies those pictures into the program. After the primary upload of assets over Bclip’s FTP server, the weekly updates of the show’s programming take roughly five minutes. When the assets arrive at Bclip, the scripts and files are automatically exported to the production department, ready for editing. Editors then animate the pictures to push in, pan across, and zoom out, providing an active viewing experience. The information provided by the client automatically updates in the Bclip system. New voice over is recorded, and new text is automatically generated to correlate with each picture. The end product is a resourceful and adaptable program that produces entertaining television and satisfied customers. It is a much higher quality alternative to the nationwide trends of stale and boring photo driven cable TV shows. Showpak 2.0 is truly the unique and innovative wave of television future.

The final piece of the digital video puzzle is the CD-ROM. Once just a suitcase for music and information, CD’s today have become interactive live-action marketing tools. There is no extra software, and the CD’s are bullet proof and can play anywhere. Suitable for a myriad of applications, CD’s in the Bclip library range from training videos that can stop and quiz a student, to fundraising pieces that target a specific audience. The marvelous thing about CD’s is their versatility. Here are some examples of what one might find on a fully-loaded Bclip CD:

• Digital video categorized on the front page of the interface
• Audio/Video animations
• Links that connect directly to various relevant Websites with one click
• Email links that allow the user to communicate directly with your company
• Downloadable forms applicable to the end user
• Printable drawings, tables, diagrams and copy
• Tests to indicate a level of the user’s retention (the test score can be automatically emailed back to corporate headquarters)
• Tracking to indicate to corporate headquarters which clients have viewed the CD

The CD is a fantastic culmination of the various branches of the multimedia tree. By remaining faithful to the central theme established at the outset of production, a company can create a fluid and targeted marketing tool. This can incorporate multiple unique videos, and drive the user to the company Website with the click of a button. It can be viewed by an executive at work, unlike VHS tapes. CD’s can also be incorporated into a matching brochure and inexpensively mailed anywhere.

CD’s are also a useful tool to supplement another one of Bclip Productions’ successful products, the interactive kiosk. ATM’s, gas stations, and grocery stores have already trained the general public on using these wonderful interactive point of sale items. With a kiosk the user literally gets hands-on exposure to your business and products. A series of succinct, targeted videos serve to engage the viewer, and keep them interested. By giving them an interface with navigation options they stay involved and pay closer attention to the product’s message. If a customer can buy gas or groceries, they can navigate a touch screen kiosk. By providing a supply of CD’s you give the customer something to take away with them and revisit once they get back to their home or office.

Truly, the information described above is just the tip of the multimedia iceberg. With so many options available, it is important to contact a multimedia company that is comfortable with the technology, and aware of new and exciting developments. The key point is to deliver a consistent message to the customer. Give them a web page that looks like the video that looks like the brochure that looks like the kiosk that looks like the CD that looks like the DVD. As the consumer becomes more and more accustomed to the digital age, it is our job to remain one step ahead of them, streamlining our presentations to keep them involved and attentive. As we discover fun new ways to spread our message, our responsibility becomes finding ways to use those discoveries to best serve our customers.

- Chris Bainbridge is the Project Manager for Bclip Productions