Take Your Brand From Commodity to Community
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1. Tom Clifford helps companies tell their stories through short documentary films that focus on personal stories from employees rather than scripted talking points. This creates a sense of authenticity and emotional engagement for viewers. 2. Rather than just producing videos for internal use, Tom encourages companies to share these stories more broadly through social media to facilitate external conversations and strengthen their brands. 3. Communications departments can help identify compelling internal stories and facilitate their capture on video, but typically lack experience producing engaging films. Their role is broader than just crafting messages.
Take Your Brand From Commodity to Community
- 1. ConversationAgent.com & DirectorTom.com 1 Take Your Brand from Commodity to Community Ask(?)Away is a candid conversation between two people published on a blog. This transcript includes comments from the readers and space for your notes. Our second guest in this format at Conversation Agent is Tom Clifford of Bringing Brands to Life! Valeria Maltoni: I don’t know about you. I always thought that being in a movie would be fun. Many are in love with the idea of having their fifteen minutes of fame. So filming corporate videos should be a great experience, right? Not quite. Many corporate videos do not bring your brand to life, says Director Tom. Your story is often not told in a clear and authentic way. Why is this important? So it can stick. You want your story to jump off the screen and into your customers’ hearts. Credits: Logo design courtesy of Ryan Mesheau via Mark Goren. PDF design and light edits by Valeria Maltoni.
- 2. ConversationAgent.com & DirectorTom.com Thomas R. Clifford, Director Tom, is passionate about enlightened corporate 2 remarkable organizations tell their story and bring their brand to life. This is the transcript film making. He has been producing and of a conversation I had with Tom by email. directing corporate videos for over 22 years. As we’ve done in the past, I look forward to Tom has won awards because his videos are including your take (pun intended) in Part energetic, engaging, compelling, meaningful, Two. and authentic. Valeria Maltoni: Tom, despite the skepticism How does he do that? He sees himself as we’ve reached from most forms of advertising a documentary filmmaker who can capture -- print, online banners, billboards -- and what corporate stories on video. He does that by some call internal propaganda -- newsletters, sitting down with your best storytellers -- your Intranets, memos -- there is one medium that employees -- your “heroes.” I’ve seen boring continues to captivate us: video. and staged corporate videos; Tom promises short “PBS films on caffeine!” The success of YouTube is not accidental. It is anchored to the wonder we associate with film He has directed videos that tell the stories of and the use of video narrative to tell a story. Deloitte, Honeywell, the Epilepsy Foundation, In 2003, BMW pioneered short films with its The Hartford Financial Services Group and campaign The Hire (Fallon Worldwide) that Loctite, as well as local non-profits. The results saw the debut of British actor Clive Owen. have been memorable experiences that have The shorts were offered online only and strengthened and extended the recognition managed to stir a lot of buzz. of those brands by igniting conversations and connections. The quest for talent is one of the challenges organizations face today. I receive at least Customers do not buy products -- they two calls and three email inquiries a day from buy stories about who you are and what recruiters asking me to connect them with you stand for. Tom’s passion is to help talent on behalf of companies -- I’m sure I’m ♪♫
- 3. ConversationAgent.com & DirectorTom.com not alone. To find and retain talent, companies need a new way, one that can convey messages 3 Think about this for a minute. Story. Film. In many corporate films, what happens when that are energetic, engaging, compelling, two of the most powerful and emotionally meaningful and authentic. And you help them engaging mediums collide? What gets do that with film. produced? A talking head. Boring pictures. Dispassionate narration. How can a company Tell me how you do it. possibly inspire anyone this way? They can’t. Tom Clifford: You are absolutely right about My films focus on people and their story. companies needing a new way to communicate Sounds simple, but it’s rarely done. Here’s their messages in an authentic and meaningful what I mean. way! Pick a topic...let’s say, diversity. And let’s say, an Before I tell you how I help companies organization is seeking a way to tell their story communicate messages that are energetic, on diversity. emotional and meaningful through the short documentary format, let me first “set The classic corporate video approach is the stage” with some quick background on to write a script based on the marketing corporate videos in general. department’s talking points. Then you might interview some senior level executives to Over the years, corporate videos has had a bad pontificate what the voice-over has already rap...and rightly so. said. Film some footage that is clearly staged, perhaps with actors, and call it a day. Many corporate videos have been poorly There’s something terribly wrong with this executed simply due to a lack of story; not picture...there is no story. No drama. No budget. I’ve worked with the tightest and tension. largest of budgets, and I can tell you this: story rules. I actually had to produce and direct this film ♪♫
- 4. ConversationAgent.com & DirectorTom.com for Deloitte as part of their national kick-off campaign on embracing diversity. Here’s a real- authentic, emotional and engaging. 4 life example of what I did and how I typically In editing, the story told itself. I just enabled craft a corporate film, no matter what the an invisible story to come to life. subject. Documentaries by their very nature are First, I spent time with my scriptwriter personal in their approach. The viewer cares discovering four employees, or “heroes” as I a lot more about a personal story than a call them in my films, who had very diverse corporate story. So capturing several personal backgrounds and who could really articulate stories helps shape and tell the corporate story their personal views on diversity. I pre- in a way that a narrator just cannot do. interviewed them over the phone to get a sense of their story. When it came time to film Valeria Maltoni: So if I understand correctly, them, I interviewed them at length with no you are viewing the story unfold from behind script; no questions were sent ahead of time a lens -- unfiltered and personal. Is that always for studying corporate speak; no one over my the case? head second-guessing everything the heroes said. What was captured was real, personal How do you insert the view from the top, and from the heart. what the management and leadership teams in a company are? Are managers willing to go But I also went out on a limb: I wanted to film the unscripted route? And if so, why have a our heroes not only in the Deloitte offices communications department, what is *their* but outside the office. I really wanted to role? capture our heroes engaged in their hobbies or passions to showcase their entire self; not just Tom Clifford: Most of my films do feature the “office worker.” After a week of filming, corporate employees as “heroes,” so the story we captured some absolutely remarkable and unfolds right in front of your eyes...that’s unexpected scenes...all totally spontaneous, part of the appeal and quite frankly, the authenticity of the short documentary format. ♪♫
- 5. ConversationAgent.com & DirectorTom.com If people speak honestly from the heart about ideas that are important to them and we of trust. It’s unspoken. It’s implied. My experience has seen managers implicitly 5 capture that footage in “real time,” it creates trusting their people to tell their story that is a “reality” the audience can identify with; unique to them. After all, it’s their story, their there’s a level of honesty and emotion that experience. It cannot be duplicated anywhere a marketing department has a hard time re- and that’s exactly what an audience wants to creating (IMHO.) see and hear...a story that is different, take them on a journey of sorts and resolves itself. Is this always the case? In my experience, most times, yes. But, of course, there are times I What’s the role of a communications need to break outside that “hero” framework. department? Great question. When it comes There are situations where the information to video, 99% of the people I work with do in a film may be more technical in nature. not have any working knowledge or experience Having employees or executives deliver that producing a film; it’s not part of their everyday information would not be the best choice. I work-world so it often gets done poorly rarely work with actors, but sometimes that is or not at all. I worked as a producer and the best and most natural choice. director inside a Corporate Communications Department for almost 10 years for a Fortune Inserting the view from “the top” can be fairly 500. Their role is critical in areas outside of easy. If upper management insists on having a video; annual reports, promoting events, etc. presence on screen, fine. I’ll just make sure the I do think their greatest role in promoting “heroes” get as much screen time as possible. video is to discover their own “heroes” and The “C Suite” can be captured and edited in start collecting remarkable stories about them a way that does not interfere with the stories and the organization in general. Then, when it from the employees. comes time to produce a video, a story bank is available to tap into. Managers are willing to go the unscripted route and here’s why: they realize the role Valeria Maltoni: So you view communicators ♪♫
- 6. ConversationAgent.com & DirectorTom.com as facilitators of conversations, in the same way that I would. Their role is broader than 6 corporate storytellers--their employees--and they choose not to share that story to an just crafting messages and producing them. audience outside their corporate brick and How do you propose they transmit some of mortar. Disappointing? Again, I think so. the great stories you craft to external audiences as well? With the ultra-fast emergence of new social media tools and You Tube “look-a-likes,” Tom Clifford: Before I answer, picture this... companies now need to think beyond their DVD as the end of the story. In fact, just the Imagine hearing an amazing story from your opposite is true: the DVD the are holding in best friend. It’s a story that immediately their hands is the beginning of a new story. touches your soul; it’s grabs you and makes A new story where the video can instantly be you think. Imagine that story changing how published for all to see. you see your world; even how you see your best friend. The thinking needs to go from: “commodity to community.” A DVD is seen as a In a moment, your current frame of reference commodity by many. But that same DVD can shifts; now your point of view is different. create a community in an instant. Acquiring You feel like telling the world about your your corporate story on DVD should now be friend’s story. seen as the beginning of telling your corporate story. But there’s a problem. Of course, I realize not every video is suitable You can’t. You can only share it with a few for wide distribution. But for the most part, people...that’s it. Only a select few will benefit almost every film I have ever produced from the story and experience. Would you feel over the past 23 years could have played on disappointed? Sure you would. That’s exactly YouTube with tremendous benefits to many. what it’s like when a company produces what I call an authentic story on film from their If one of the goals of communicators ♪♫
- 7. ConversationAgent.com & DirectorTom.com (marketing/PR/sales) in corporations is to facilitate conversations and strengthen brand 7 Since I do a lot of presentations coaching and have a media background, I work with recognition, then why not embrace social a number of clients who are on TV/Video. media? Trying to convince them to just relax and go with their stories is often a tough sell. Now imagine the role of communicators as “creators of conversations;” “conversation Tom’s documentary model would serve architects.” A role where discovering, creating executives well regardless of what they and publishing meaningful personal stories had in mind to begin with. The day of the from organizations is now designed from the talking head is long gone. It’s the Age of ground up with the --intention-- to help others Conversation and storytelling. learn, grow and benefit. Just imagine... ► Thanks so much for thinking of me and inviting me into your “conversational world!” I Watch a selection of Tom’s films here. love your site and ideas...keep it rockin’! ▼ Tim Johnson: Having met Tom in person at SOBCon, the passion shows through in every interaction and conversation he has, so it’s no surprise that he’s a huge success in his life’s calling. Steve Roesler: Tom’s take on corporate videos as documentaries is right on the money. I became enthused just listening to him. ♪♫