Creating a Brand Anthem with Holy Rosary Credit Union

This summer Windwood was selected to help our friends at HRCU (Holy Rosary Credit Union) create a brand anthem and series of videos to coincide with a brand relaunch. We worked with the HRCU team to help script, cast, and select locations - as well as complete an overall brand anthem as well as develop additional photo and video assets which can be deployed as a part of the brand relaunch campaign.

Team Windwood setting up a shot in an HRCU Branch

“Brett and the team were incredibly collaborative, taking the time to understand our vision and turning it into a beautiful final product. Their creativity and professionalism made the process seamless. ”

— Sydney Albee | Director of Marketing

With this project we were not only able to create support videos to prop up a main anchor Brand Anthem video, we were also able to deliver over a dozen brand photos and create a supporting graphic video that helped launch their new brand identity.

Windwood is a New Hampshire video production company, we couldn’t be prouder to support local businesses like HRCU which help our community stand out.

Promoting Your Business: Different Kinds of Video Content

You have a business and you’re looking to promote it with some video content, but you’re not sure what kind of video you want to create. There are all kinds of video styles, and lengths, but you want to choose whatever is best for your particular situation and business.

Here are some different styles of videos that might suit your business:

• Corporate Video

  One video option you have is creating a corporate, interview style promotional video. If you’re looking to just create a broad promotional video that encompasses the big ideas behind your business, this could be the right option for you.

  These videos usually involve interviews with business owners, employees, or trusted customers that understand not just your business, but the greater community behind it. You can mix these interviews with footage of your business actually running and functioning to give potential customers a picture of what it would be like to be a part of your community.

• Commercial Video

  Commercial style videos range more in terms of the types of content and style. You can create product videos that highlight the aesthetic or functionality of a new item you’ve released, you can stage a narrative video related to your business, or you can promote an event or campaign that your business is taking part in.

  Commercial videos don’t need to talk directly about your business or products, but can serve as creative ways of engaging your community and drawing more interest.

• Testimonials

  Another type of video approach is a simple video testimonial. If you’re not looking for anything particularly fancy and you just want to have video content that promotes your business, you can always sit down with a trusted customer and interview them about why they like your business.

  
  Video testimonials are usually different from corporate style videos because they’re more like positive customer reviews. For more on video testimonials, check out our blog post.

No matter what your business is, there are all different approaches to creating video content surrounding it. If none of these video styles speak to you, get creative. As long as you have the resources, you can always try to experiment with new ways of promoting your business.

If you want to see any examples, check out our video production pages. Additionally, if you have any questions, or need help with your own project, contact us here!

Developing a Conversation: How to Improve Your Video Interviews

As a video production business, we know all too well that filming video interviews can be challenging. Whether you’re working on promoting a business, telling someone’s story in a documentary, or crafting an informational video, you want to get the best interview possible. While some clients feel comfortable in front of the camera, most others do not.

It’s also difficult to figure out what questions to ask, how to set up the right interview environment, and how much to pre-plan or adapt on the fly. No matter which aspect of the interview you need help with, we have a quick guide to help you prepare the best video interview possible:

• Build a Intentional Environment

First, you should identify what kind of video you’re making, and therefore what kind of video interview you want/need. Talk with your client about what they want to get out of the video, and identify effective ways of conveying those ideas.

If you’re filming a promotional video for a small business that wants to show off their professionalism, you can set up a more formal sit-down interview with an aesthetic backdrop like their office. Alternatively, if you’re filming a documentary style interview about a mountain biker, maybe you want a more “casual” interview on the side of their favorite trail.

You want to think about what kind of video you’re making and what clothes, background, and style fit best for your video.

• Help Your Subject Feel Comfortable

One of the most important parts of an interview is getting comfortable with your subject, and letting them get comfortable with you and the camera. Being on camera can be daunting, so it’s good to expose your interview subjects to being on screen before your full interview.

Whenever you can, you should plan casual meetings, or b-roll video shoots before your interviews so that everyone gets used to being on camera. This will usually make the interview process a lot easier, since people will be more likely to open up and feel more confident talking to you in the interview.

• Craft Thoughtful Questions

Questions are an essential part of interviews, but there is more to coming up with questions than you might think. For most interviews you don’t just want your subject to answer questions. Instead you want to develop an engaging conversation with your interview subject.

Your questions can be simple and to the point, but you want to guide your subject into talking about what matters to them and why, instead of leading them to one sentence answers.

If you’re talking to a business manager don’t just ask them what their company does, find ways for them to talk about what inspired their business and what motivates their work. If necessary prepare a few questions for each topic so that you have multiple ways of talking about the same idea.

• Be Ready to Adapt

Once you’ve fully prepared for your interview (you know how you want it set up, you know everyone is comfortable and ready, and you know what kinds of questions you’re going to ask), you also need to be prepared to adapt.

No matter how well you know your interview subject and the environment you’ll be in, nothing goes exactly as planned. Whether you need to adjust your interview set up to get the right sunlight, or you need to come up with some new questions on the spot, you’re going to need to adapt.

The most important thing is that while you’re conducting your interview, make sure you really listen to your subject’s answers, and how they respond to certain questions over others. Use their answers to help you dig deeper into the interview and get the content you need to make a quality video and story.

If you keep all these ideas in mind and plan ahead, while also being prepared for unexpected things to happen, you should be able to craft a quality interview. If you still need creative ideas, check out some of our own examples. You can also contact us for help with your own project!

Portraying Your Brand: How to Advertise Your Business in a Video

If you’re looking to start advertising your business through video, it can seem like a daunting task. You want to be able to draw in new customers, but you also want to be authentic to your company, brand, and culture.

It’s easy to get caught up trying to convince customers to buy your product, advertising to everyone.

Instead of trying to force a connection with every customer, focus on creating advertisements that reflect your business’ goals, strengths, and attitudes. This strategy should help you find customers that are compatible with your brand.

Here are some tips to help you craft a more natural, but effective advertising video:

• Have Confidence in Your Business

You’ve developed a business that is filling a need in your community. The fact that your business exists, and that you’re looking to start an advertising campaign, means that there are more customers out there for you.

Now your goal should be to find the customers that are right for you. During this process remember what your company stands for and proudly stand by those attitudes and values.

• Identify Your Strengths

Before starting your video campaign, take time to reflect, talk to your employees and current customers. What do you do well, and what do you have to offer to others? What values does your business uphold? What is the story behind your business and how did you build the community you have already?

When making a video campaign, it’s not just about advertising your products, but it’s also about sharing your broader story. You want to be able to connect with people on a deeper level and build a community.

• Present Your True Self

Once you’ve taken the time to identify what values and ideas you want to get across, now you can actually plan and film your video campaign.

Get your community to join in on the video. If you can, film interviews with your employees and your customers. Show people actually engaging with you and your employees. You want to let people see what your community is like, so that when the right people see your videos, they know immediately they want to be a part of your business’ community.

The process of making a video campaign for your business isn’t easy, but it can be a rewarding process. Take your time and have fun with it!

If you’re still confused or need help starting your own campaign, check out some of our past projects, and/or contact us about your own project. We are happy to help you through any step of the process!