The video is definitely spot on in terms of marketing strategy – How To Authenticate Luis Vuitton is great content, and positions the company as an authority in luxury goods (with the added benefit of making viewers also feel like in-the-know fashionistas after watching the piece.) There’s a reason it’s garnered 38,000++ views so far.

However, there is one sadly inauthentic aspect to the video – the singsong, yet somehow still stiff delivery of Senior Director for Authentication Graham Wetzberger – the only moving element in a wide, static shot framed against a white background (in other words, how could you NOT notice his delivery?).

From his dress, outfit, and mannerisms, Mr. W seems quite fabulous. And obvi, his topic is fabulous. So why is he discussing such a fab topic with the  soulless efficiency of an airline safety video?

You would think that a Senior Director of Authentication would know enough about his biz not to need a teleprompter to get through it. After all, there are only 4 points to keep in mind (see, I paid attention). And unless Mr. Wetzberger actually talks in real life like he’s reading from a 5th grade book report, the natural flow of his voice would have been worlds better. One wonders what the Junior Director of Authentication would have been able to do. Maybe a little youth would have helped the piece out.

Alternately, if Mr. W was uncomfortable in front of the camera (and he seemed to be), why have him in the video at all? The full shots with him in it were only a couple of seconds long. The rest of it featured his hands pointing out the details of flawless LV’s. The copy would have worked – maybe even better – if accompanied only by images and text. And some music, perhaps?

The point being – people aren’t handbags. It takes more to prove a person is authentic than just their hardware or the way they’re stitched together. If you put someone in a video, make sure that person is comfortable, confident, and ready to sparkle – not just a moving mouthpiece for teleprompter copy. Thecommich says: People have personalities. Make sure they show through!

Thecommich loves a good collaboration. In the past year, Ampliphi Media has been fortunate enough to work with great branding people and other production companies  to create kickass videos (if we do say so ourselves).

Which is why, when a video comes along that incorporates not just great moving images, but also a killer concept, soundtrack and yes, typography (!), we just have to share it.

This video is part of a marketing campaign developed for EF Language Centers. These cats really knew how to make the most out of video. Not only does each commercial take place in a beautiful, eminently filmable locale (Barcelona, Paris, Beijing, and… LA, but whatever), each one also uses custom typography to illustrate the words highlighted in the video. This negates the need for any actual dialogue – in a video about language, no less! – and opens the video up to great music, scored by Magnus Lidehäll. The words and typography tell the story; the photography and music set the mood. Each element works seamlessly with the other to create a cohesive whole, which to my mind is as good as a collaborative effort gets.

Extra bonus points for the fact that the entire campaign has its own website - easier for users who will probably want to see the other films, like I did; minimizing home page clutter on the main EF website; and enabling the EF marketing team to measure unique visits to the page (which equals effectivity and reach, i.e. how much the campaign has actually done to move the needle).

Check out “Paris”, and use the comments section below to tell me which other videos you enjoyed.

Thecommich is incredibly sleep-deprived. Like, forreals. I am kind of a mess.

The reason for zzz deprivation, is, of course, the arrival of our newest addition, Lucas Steven Salta – born March 2 2013. He is great. He is adorable. He never stops eating.

In the evenings, eating has become a full contact affair, with much fussing and whaling of mini-fists of fury. A desperate Google search led me to www.kellymom.com, Bible of breastfeeders everywhere, which stated that such fussiness was normal during growth spurts. To wit:

“Baby will nurse a few minutes, pull off, fuss/cry, nurse a few minutes, pull off, fuss/cry… on and on… for hours. This can be VERY frustrating, and mom starts wondering if baby is getting enough milk, if something she is eating is bothering baby, if EVERYTHING she is doing is bothering baby… ”

But, fear not! There is, apparently, hope:

“Don’t allow a growth spurt to rob you of your confidence in nursing. Instead, allow it to instill confidence in your ability [as a mom].”

As I grapple with the reality of having to calm a human being without resorting to the use of alcohol or a phaser set to ‘stun’, it occurs to me that growth spurts – and dealing with discomfort and fussiness – don’t just apply to nursing moms and infants. Oftentimes, the things that make us most uncomfortable in life make us grow the most.

In my business life, numbers have always been a source of discomfort. As much as I pride myself on being observant and analytical, my confidence around anything mathematical is smaller than Lindsay Lohan’s current film credits.  But, in my struggle with finances (why did I choose the one University major that didn’t include pre-requisite accounting?), I have experienced a couple of breakthroughs. One of them is finally understanding how to price products and services profitably and fairly. This in turn has led me to clients who really understand the value of the videos I produce, which leads to better paydays, and freedom from having to constantly convince unwilling business owners why my services are valuable to begin with. In short, being uncomfortable with one aspect of my business has ultimately led me to better the entire enterprise. Instead of being down on myself for “not being good at math,” I’m starting to feel better about my ability to manage a staff, and handle my business in the most professional way possible. It’s also giving me an incentive to go after bigger accounts with higher level clients – which as I explained in the last post has become a priority for me.

Of course, Lucas isn’t done growing, and neither am I or my business. Lucas will go through bottle feeding, and weaning, and eventually finding mom and dad lame for not letting him get a face tattoo at the age of 12. As business gets better, who knows what other challenges and crazy situations will present themselves? The important thing to remember is go toward the adversity, not run away from it. And see just how fast you grow.

What growth spurt situations do you find yourself in? Weigh in on the comments segment below!

In collaboration with Steve Salta (business development consultant and erstwhile drummer for the reggae/hiphop/rock band My Peoples),  thecommich is growing a baby inside of her – one that is due to make its grand entrance sometime in the end of February. Early analysis by Kaiser Permanente says it is a boy. Since the baby room paint and all accoutrements have already been selected in a calming shade of blue, we hope they are correct in their assessment.

How is this going to affect Ampliphi Media and future projects? Thecommich is decidedly upbeat. For one thing, working mommies are not exactly rare these days - and most of them reportedly are very happy doing what they do. We expect to resume the normal hustle and flow by mid-year at latest, and already have some great projects lined up – including an exciting collaboration with a pair of incredibly experienced business and marketing professionals. For any clients who are looking for business development, management consulting, and marketing assistance on top of their video needs – you should definitely check us out!

To get a little more personal – I could not be more excited about this turn of events, both for my personal life and for my professional one. I honestly believe creativity begets itself. And after going through what is possibly the fullest and best expression of creativity that life has to offer, my hope is to channel it into fearlessly pursuing projects that make an impact, and which fulfill me not just economically but spiritually.

Knowing I am about to bring a human into the world has compelled me to look at my creative work not just in the context of a career, but as a statement of who I am as a person. What kind of projects do I take on that will enable me to tell me kid – look what mommy did? – and have him be proud of me? How can I, through my work, pass on the kind of values I want him to live by – an appreciation for beauty, hard work, kindness, intelligence, strength, a sense of humor, and faith in the goodness of life?

It may just be the creative thread that twines all Ampliphi Media projects in the future. And that’s pretty effing rad.

So I hope you all stay tuned for the continuing adventure that is Michi Having a Baby – and Ampliphi Media having a mascot. We’ll be back soon, promise!

In the meantime I leave you with this gem from 2011:

Online video grows your business. That’s been a fact, at least since Google bought YouTube in 2006, ushering in the current trend of using engaging videos to convert customers and increase SEO.

This year has seen even more dizzy-making statistics to prove the theory – and hopefully get more business owners off to a better start in managing their online marketing strategies.

Is a professionally made online video good for every business? From thecommich’s experience, it depends on the size of the business, the length of establishment, and the commitment of the business owner. In prain Engrish – it’s not for the faint of heart. Small businesses that are just starting out, or are kind of a side project for a full time employee, or are headed up by someone who doesn’t have a rock solid belief in their business and how to grow it, will tend to find the medium expensive and maybe a little daunting. Ditto with business owners who don’t trust or want to invest in a comprehensive online marketing strategy.

For the rest of the world that is ready to grow their business online, here are some stats to consider:

• 94 of AdAge’s top 100 advertisers have run campaigns on YouTube.
• 52% of consumers who watch product videos say those videos make them more confident about purchases
• Professionally produced video optimized for eCommerce outperforms user-generated video (UGC video) by 30%
• Rich video on your small business website increases sales

Now that the smart phone you use to take video, is just as good at playing video on the go, video based marketing is sure to only get bigger. Time to get in the game, and make sure you come correct!

Our fave glamour girl on a mission is premiering her film, The Glamourbaby Diaries, today.

The Glamourbaby Diaries features the voices of young women encouraged to redefine glamour through strength, passion and purpose. With a focus on women’s empowerment and Asian American women’s history, watch as young women across ethnic backgrounds discuss beauty, culture, and their conviction to create an impact. 

As the owner of a video production company, thecommich may be assumed to be entirely of the opinion that EVERYONE with a business needs a video. And that is true… kind of. I think everyone who is ready for a video should have one. The question is, are you really, really ready?

Just like you can’t build a house on sand, you can’t build your company using  video, without first having a solid foundation of branding and business strategy in place. What keeps me up at night is the thought that someone will ask a former client about me, and they will say “well, we got this great video, but nothing really happened because of it.”

In short – a video does not grow a business simply because it exists. It takes smart marketing to fully harness the power of video to make people want to pick up the phone/fill out the form on your website/refer you to others.

Here are some questions to ask yourself (and that I ask my clients) before embarking on a video project.

1. WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS OBJECTIVE?  Why do you think it’s time for a video? What do you envision people doing once they see your video – sign on to your newsletter, call you for a consultation, join your contest? Watching should translate to action, and that action determines what kind of video content you should have.
2. HOW WILL YOU MEASURE SUCCESS? This is a direct follow up to question 1. How will you be sure your video is worth the money? What tangible metrics do you want to see? Google Analytics and YouTube have great tools for measurement but you will first need to
3. DO YOU HAVE A BRAND IDENTITY? Before we can tell your story, we need to know who you are and what you stand for. Have you stopped to think of what your brand promise is? What makes you different from the competition? Noodle on this first, and your other marketing endeavors will flow quicker and easier down the line.
4. WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY SPENDING ON MARKETING? HOW EFFECTIVE IS IT?  Whether you do it yourself or have someone else do it – whether you do nothing or try every new fad that comes online, you are spending SOMETHING on marketing. Your time spent researching is money. Your inaction costs you money. So think about this one long and hard – you might realize the cost of hiring professionals to do specialized jobs for you is cheaper in the long run than the opportunity cost and lost revenue you are “spending” by trying to DIY.
5. IS YOUR WEBSITE OPTIMIZED FOR VIDEO? Pretty self explanatory, but you’d be surprised how many people I talk to who have no idea what their website is capable of. Check with your web designer or look at the template you are using to see if videos can be easily embedded, preferably on the home page.

Want a more in depth look? Subscribe to the Ampliphi Media Newsletter for the full article!

The Filipino Channel (where Adobo Nation airs) was the only ethnic-based news network to garner two nominations – and one victory – in the 39th annual Northern California Emmy Awards. Up against big players like PBS, Producer Troy Espera took home the Emmy in the Current/Public/Community Affairs Feature for his segment on the inner city, non-profit group United Playaz. 

Thecommich just had to know – how do you craft a 5 minute news segment to Emmy-winning perfection? How do you tell the story of a group that has already been covered by other news organizations, in a new and compelling way? And, what comes next for someone who’s won the highest award TV has to offer?

Herewith, Troy gives his Emmy winning 2 cents:

Thecommich: The United Playaz had already been previously featured in another show on The Filipino Channel (Balitang America, produced by Henni Espinosa). How did you approach the story from a fresh angle?

News is great for providing the who, what, when and where. But a magazine show lets you bring out more color. Since Adobo Nation is a magazine show, I was able to spend a little more time to build a script with more of a story arc. UP is made of all sorts of lively characters I wanted to represent all of their voices.

Thecommich: What was your purpose for telling the story?

I’ve done lots of volunteer work and frequently worked or marched side by side with UP in the SoMA (South of Market area of San Francisco).  Rudy and and the United Playaz have such a strong presence in that neighborhood.

I’ve heard people criticizing UP for being “too real” with the youth. They said that ex-cons and former gang members could only be bad influences on kids. But I, and many other people, see that their approach to keeping kids out of trouble really works. So I wanted my story to show that however unorthodox UP is as a youth program, it really is valuable to the SoMA community and the families that live there.

Thecommich: Did you have specific instructions for the crew in terms of how you wanted to shoot the piece?

My cameramen (Jeremiah Ysip and Joe Perry) agreed that we needed to capture the gritty reality of life in SoMA. Our subjects talked about how tough their neighborhood is. By turning our cameras toward the streets right outside their doors, we found exactly what we needed to visually support that—beat cops, homeless folks sitting against walls, guys walking around wearing red bandanas over their faces, adult video stores, rundown apartments. We used  also incorporated lots of the graffiti, barred up windows, and trash that’s just there—part of the everyday landscape of the SOMA. But we also wanted to show that UP is a tightly knit, happy family that takes pride in being part of the community.

Thecommich: In the editing suite, how did you make decisions on which parts of footage were important to include?

Mitos Briones worked her editing magic on it, giving it a style and pace that synched perfectly with UP’s urban vibe. She worked with me to reshuffle a couple of parts, and to spruce up the ending. As for music, hip hop seemed to be the soundtrack for their lives. We knew of a local Fil Am MC/activist who had a song that fit perfectly at the end of the video, so we got his permission to use it.  Mitos brought the video and scoring together by matching her cuts with the beat, speeding up and syncing the gestures of the kids with the music. Parts of this piece were very music video-ish, which I loved. Honestly, I was blown away by how she brought everything together.

Thecommich: What does winning the Emmy mean to you and to United Playaz?

I spoke with Rudy Corpuz shortly after we got the Emmy. In true Rudy style he said “Yeah man, I heard from some people that you won an Emmy but I wanted to hear it from you first before I believed it.” LOL! He was so excited at UP’s story being shared by more people than he ever expected. Also, the piece was a tribute to one off Rudy’s staff that  passed away during the time of our filming. So I think the award had additional meaning for him as well.

I’m so grateful that my team received this level of recognition for the work we did on this piece. If anything, winning this Emmy motivates me to work even harder, to prove that this level of work isn’t just a one time thing from me.

My coworkers and I are so passionate about the stories we get to tell about Filipinos. I hope that this opens more doors to be able to share these stories with audiences beyond our community the way this one was shared.

Thecommich: Lastly, what story would you like to do next?

There’s no shortage of awesome stories out there. I am looking for different ways to tell my next ones. I’ve been watching lots of videos from all over the world, taking notes on different ways producers can make stories engaging and visually beautiful. Im all about trying new things. And I’m very grateful that I have an executive producer, Eric Pugeda, that supports and encourages my curiosity.

That’s right, folks – for only $1000 (less than half what we would normally charge), 10 small businesses in the Bay Area can get a professionally shot and edited 2-minute intro video to grow online and beyond.

Now’s your chance to share your unique story, show off your amazing expertise, set the record straight on common concerns and misconceptions, ask happy customers to show the love, and put yourself head and shoulders above the competition!

Here’s what you’ll get:

Interview and production prep. We’ll talk about your business objectives and how video can help you get there. We’ll go over what to talk about, where to shoot, what to wear, and what you can bring to the party (client testimonials, photos, videos and screenshots, etc). This will take about 1-2 hours.

On-location shooting. We’ll show up at your business ready and prepped to shoot and interview. This should take no more than 4 hours.

Editing and uploading. We’ll edit your piece and add in royalty-free music. You’ll have 2 chances to make corrections and edits; after these are done, we’ll upload your video to YouTube to share with the world. Voila! Your very own online intro video, ready to embed anywhere you wish

Now, the fine print:

- This promo is on a FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED basis. We are only accepting 10 small businesses (sorry, Microsoft, we’ll do your video next time).

- To qualify as one of the lucky 10, you must reserve your spot by sending a deposit of $250 no later than June 30, 2012. Please make your checks to Ampliphi Media, 65 Manzanita Ave. San Francisco. If 10 spots are filled before the end of June, Ampliphi Media will alert you through our newsletter, Facebook Page, and blog post.

- Once your spot is reserved, we will email you a standard contract to sign and return. We will then be in touch to discuss prep and shoot dates.

- This promo is meant for basic intro videos with no animation, no motion graphics, and no additional days of shooting. The addition of any of these will be subject to negotiation using Ampliphi Media’s usual rates and vendors.

- This promo is only valid for use in the Bay Area, or within 1.5 hours drive from San Francisco.

- Due to the volume of footage and editing time needed, we may experience some delay in getting corrected/edited pieces back to you. Please allow up to 21 days to receive your final video.

Any questions? Contact us!

Luckily I got some sales training early in my career, and have managed to parlay some of those skills into video production techniques. One of the things I’ve found most useful in communicating via video is objection handling –  aka the ability to address Common Annoying Misperceptions about your brand, your line of work, etc. I wonder how many times the nutritionist in my BNI Group has to say “No, I’m not going to force you to be a vegan,” or how often my hypnotherapist friend has to demur “demonstrating” her skills at a cocktail party.

One fine lady I know with similar issues is Miranda Tang, founder of Omni Health and Acupuncture in San Francisco. As Miranda points out (no pun), acupuncture is still a relatively new modality in the West, although it’s been practiced in Asia for over 3,000 years. As with any wellness protocol (although surprisingly not as much with the pharmaceutical industry, but that’s another blog post), acupuncture is met with a healthy degree of skepticism and sometimes fear. Is it painful? Does it really work? It it even safe? These common objections are magnified considering that Miranda deals with family members of all ages – her youngest patient is 4 months old, and her oldest is turning 102 tomorrow!

Sales training 101 says that the key to objections is education. Show the goods, and use facts to prove that your point of view is good, and ultimately, correct. In the case of health related industries, the best “education” is testimonials, since obviously a skeptic won’t be willing to be treated until someone else has gone through the procedure and verified it works.

Behold: Miranda Tang and Omni Health and Acupuncture, in video form, with testimonials from a mom and an 83-year-old patient whose experience with Miranda has been nothing short of miraculous.

Even after shooting the video, I was in awe of Miranda calmly using needles on her months-old patient. It’s obvious from the footage that he is in no pain -in fact, he seems to be having a great time. Ditto Anita, calm as a cucumber on her treatment bed and delivering a glowing testimonial that most doctors would give their left arms to have. Even though I knew the patients Miranda recruited to do testimonials would be favorable of her, I had no idea what kind of results they would claim.

What kind of objections and misperceptions do you get in your business, and how could a video help you address them?