360 Video Is. All. Around. You.
A recent study by YuMe, called “Immersive Technologies: The New Emerging Platforms & Opportunities for Brands,” stated that more than 50% of respondents said 360-degree video can “help create engaging experiences.”
The respondents also said that 360-degree videos are seen as innovative and people pay more attention to the video format. What is 360-degree video? It is a way to manipulate the image and look all around the scene—behind the camera, above the camera and beside the camera. It allows you to look all around, see more of the details and be immersed in the experience.
Take a look at this 360 video of Saturday Night Live’s 40th anniversary special. I’m using Google Chrome browser and it is working, but I know some browsers are not supporting the format yet. (Try using your phone if your browser doesn’t support 360 video.)
You can see the cue-card man, look at the crowd, check out all the camera operators and review the lighting grid while listening to Jerry Seinfeld’s jokes. You can spot some NFL quarterbacks in the crowd, and you can tell that the laughter is a bit enhanced as well. It looks like about 300,000 other people like me watched 360 Jerry.
The 360 is truly immersive and engaging. But if there is not much going on around the corner or behind it can also be a bit of an anticippointment (anticipating disappointment). But with the coming of virtual reality headsets, the 360 is coming fast.
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.