360 Storytelling Is Off and Running
It may be a shock to hear this next line, but The New York Times mailed a Google Cardboard headset to more than 1 million print subscribers of their Sunday paper. More than 600,000 downloaded the company’s own virtual reality app. They will be mailing another 300,000 headsets to advertise a film that allows people to explore Pluto (utilizing video from NASA New Horizons space shuttle).
Some have called this move to virtual reality or 360 video an “interesting conversation.” But the potential is amazing. Imagine taking a tour of a college campus or a birth center without ever having to go into the facility. The future is immersion.
Second Screen Change
There is another change happening in the video world format–vertical video. For all time, video has been horizontal. Now, with the success of Snapchat, vertical video may be gaining support. The reason for the movement to a tall format is the mobile phone. It is easier to hold your phone vertically rather than horizontally. Snapchat’s popularity is causing many video quadrants to begin experimenting with the approach.
It may require longer shoots to capture all the video, just as different outlets have led to shooting multiple takes to fit all outlets’ optimized lengths, and you may be forced to shoot for both formats. The lighting and set-up would need to change for each scene, but the payoff could be very positive in the digital space.
Just count this as more disruption in the media world, but remember, none of these disruptions subtract from the marketing equation. They are all additive.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
