Corporate videos don’t just happen. Corporate videos arise when there is a need that must be fulfilled. The more clearly the need is identified the more clearly it can be addressed by the video. One important corporate need that arises from time to time, is the obligation on the part of the corporation to insure shareholders and the public that the corporation is responding to a changing market. When the market change is extreme, the video has to be extreme in reassuring the public that the company is readjusting. The Kodak Winds of Change Video is an example of a video that addresses this very situation.
It is hard to imagine a company being forced to grapple with a more drastic market change than when Kodak, the leader in traditional photography, had to face the digital camera revolution. Kodak made a video responding to this revolution in photography, and it was as extreme in format, as the market change was great. After seeing it, no can say that Kodak sat back and did nothing to address fears among their shareholders that Kodak would be severely affected by this great technological change in their field.
The video, perhaps in a unique way, informs the public that Kodak is making a complete response to the digital camera revolution and is already making unique contributions, characteristic of Kodak, to the changes in photography. The video underscores this point by presenting the old and new Kodak in the video.
The opening scene presents material one might well expect from Kodak of the past, a traditional leader in photography. A dignified spokesman addresses the audience in an ornate classical theater setting. He describes the illustrious 100 year history of Kodak. Classic examples of Kodak pictures of children and family gatherings flash in the background, while pleasant elevator music, conducive to the scene, plays in the video sound track.
Suddenly as viewers begin to shift nervously in their chair, thinking that Kodak is living on their laurels, the mood changes. “Yep,” says the narrator, “they shoveled on the smaltz pretty thick.” “But,” he adds. “that kind of crap doesn’t work any more.” Then in a very worldly wise fashion the spokesman begins to talk about the digital photography revolution. He informs us that “Kodak is back and is “taking this digital thing to a level unheard of.”
As the video continues, the dialogue of the narrator thoroughly addresses all questions and concerns shareholders are liable to have about the large concerns response to the changes in the nature of photography. The spokesman admits that there was an initial hesitation on Kodak’s part. However, once it became clear that digital was the wave of the future Kodak jumped in feet first. The narrator then lists some of the new digital features that Kodak is developing in their laboratories; photography that meets “meta-knowledge.”
The narrator describes ways in which digital programming will allow home photographers to create unheard of sophisticated shows and displays of their photos, intertwined with background music and video sequencing. Then he describes how the old well loved look of Kodak, the shots of babies families and grandmas will come back in a new form within the digital media.
When the video is over, we are convinced, albeit in an unconventional way, that Kodak is not just a bunch of stuffed shirt faddy daddies, but that they have managed to mobilize their corporate resources to become part of the world of computerized photography.
The take home lesson from this video is to name and identify the challenge and task of the corporate video and meet it fully .
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