The art of turning heads with video

I really like this video The art of turning heads... from Cooei, an Australian company founded by sisters Cassandra @castrevitt and Brooke @brooketrevitt.

The video focuses on the problems faced by Cooei's buyer personas (pain from high heels) and uses humor to tell a story quickly.

I asked Cas to tell us a little about how the video was done.

Cas and Brooke did the video on a very tight budget, thinking up the concept themselves and using family and friends as actors. Fortunately, their brother Luke has a background in film so he shot the footage (with a moderately priced Canon 7D DSLR rig) over two days. Friends helped with editing and other aspects. The music rights were acquired through APRA|AMCOS.

Lessons learned

Great video does not need to be expensive. If you have some creative skills and some friends to help, you too can make a professional quality video.

The big challenges are coming up with the concept that will interest your buyers and keeping it short.

Comments

[Rj_c]

I really like the look of the website and creating that video game me hope that once I get myself my DSLR I can do some experiments like that. Although I wish my family members went to study film.

I have to applaud them for the awesome job!

[Tom Tucker]

This video from Cooei.. yes it seems cute... humorous... and somewhat entertaining... but to me it did not offer a lot in the way of value. Does anyone really see the video going viral? Is this video really "moving the needle"? As of right now on Youtube, the video has a little more than 990 views since it was posted there 2 months ago. I don't know, maybe I'm missing something. Maybe because I am a guy and don't wear high heels is the reason why I am not that impressed with the video. Just my 2 cents.

[David Meerman Scott]

Rj_c - it is amazing what you can do with a DSLR. For most applications, a "regular" video camera is not required.

Tom - Thanks for the comment but I think you are missing two points. 1) You are not the buyer persona (unless you wear high heels to work) and 2) the goal is *not* to "go viral". That's a big mistake people make - assuming that unless a video has a gazillion hits it is a failure. In this case, the video speaks perfectly to their audience and when placed on the company site or blog, it educates and informs in an entertaining way.

[Cas Trevitt]

Thanks for your comments so far. One of the biggest lessons we learnt during this process was to plan ahead. After gathering insight about our target market, we discussed a number of ideas before we decided on a concept. This process was not rushed because we wanted to ensure the video would appeal to our audience. Once we were happy with the concept we then moved forward into the next phase of planning which involved coordinating a weekend where all
parties were available. Scheduling inside and outside scenes across the two days to allow for weather issues (which we had) and ensuring we had some fun along the way.

Rj_c - Thank you! We were lucky to have our brother work on this, however, when we don't have a family resource, or budget, we often engage college students. They are usually happy for the opportunity to have their work in the world and to be paid a fair price based on their professional experience.

Tom - Thanks for your comment. Every component of this video, including location and wardrobe was built for our target market. The video has been a hit with them, but of course cannot be a hit with everyone. With that said, we've been surprised with the number of men who have really appreciated our video, as it often evokes their own personal stories about their significant others (or female friends) complaining of pain from high heels. As for your point on the number of views, like most things, this takes time and what we wanted most was to engage and relate to people in a light hearted way.

Thanks David for the insight and knowledge you constantly share we have found it extremely valuable!

[David Meerman Scott]

Thanks for jumping in, Cas! Keep up the good work.

[Tom Tucker]

Thanks for your reply to my comment David. As usual, what you write is educational and useful. I did mention in my original comment that I don't wear high heels.

Keep up the great work. I'm enjoying your book "Real Time Marketing and PR", and looking forward to reading "News Jacking".

As someone who has worked as a story teller for 20 years (broadcast journalist), I am fascinated with this idea of companies and organizations using the tools of new media to tell the stories themselves.

Cas, thank you for your insights as well, and for sharing about the process and thought that went into this project. I found this instructive as well.

[David Meerman Scott]

Tom - as a journalist, you have an amazing opportunity right now to help companies tell their stories!!