A few months ago, we hired Mark Berry to join Gray Digital Group’s video production and content development team. I have known Mark for about two years and finally had the opportunity to leverage his whole skill set by bringing him to Gray. The best way to welcome someone is to ask him a few questions…so here ya go, welcome to Mark Berry!
Telling 25 Years of Stories…that sounds like a lot! It was a bit overwhelming, but a huge opportunity to embrace a powerful narrative right here in Anderson, SC. I was hired to help find, tell, and share 25 stories for 25 years…and what I found were passionate stories told by passionate people!
It is hard to completely wrap our heads around what it means to operationalize a digital content strategy. There are so many barriers to execution, ranging from the operational portion of generating content, finding unique stories that are consumer friendly, training people to share unique narratives, and even just getting the written word on digital paper.
I have always been caught in this dilemma…when it comes to managing a brand’s community or community within a brand, what is best for the community? Who should be really managing the community? One with experience with the Message? Community Management? Social Media Management? Brand Management? The actual brand employee(s)?
Yep…I am talking about this very specific relationship one that has been riddled with miscues and online battles of digital lines in the sand. It was last year our health care digital team launched a Google Hangout embedded inside Facebook, since that successful campaign..it has been a lot harder to pull off technologically speaking.
But I am not really thinking through the lens of how to make these digital properties talk to each other when deploying campaigns, but more of the relationship between these two audience giants when it comes to digital content marketing.
The role of B2B digital communications has challenged me in so many ways, every day as a storyteller. I am attracted to the projects that brings audiences new places to explore, learn, feel, connect, and share. I have struggled to think through the marketing lens, actually…it is quite hard for me.
Over the last year, we have been working with groups ranging from large national clients to smaller business/organizations…and many things are ringing with the same tune. Digital marketing is a lot of damn work because people just do not like digital ads. We have to tell stories and put digital ad dollars being content for more effecting impact.
The time is now! Telling rich stories has become ever more important in the world of organic storytelling. It is providing a much needed balance to digital content marketing efforts inside agencies and inside organizations. With more and more access to digital marketing tools and automation, the temptation is to put more thrust behind reach rather than substance.
We are finding more and more groups and willing to jump the digital ad buys quickly and begin to ignore the far reaching sustainable efforts of organic storytelling they have built.
It was just the other day as a storyteller and I sat through another amazing interview…an interview that not only brought me to tears, but the people around me. Laneika is a more than a domestic violence survivor and her story is one of purest of crystal balls…you have to carefully take care of her story or it will slip through your fragile fingers and crash all upon the floor.
Storytellers have a tremendous burden, one of not only crafting the story…but finding the right characters and helping them find the right words at the right time. It is a special dance and we carefully step around the ballroom. The largest part of that dance, those steps, is finding the path through the interview.
Yes…500 homes! Can you imagine building a home, two homes, or even 500 homes?
500 homes represent 500 families who have been impacted through safe, & energy-efficient, affordable housing in the state of South Carolina– that’s 500 stories of true life change. All this organized, cultivated, and executed by an amazing organization called Homes of Hope in Greenville, SC.
We had a tremendous opportunity to help tell three stories and help share this excitement. First, we created a promotional video showcasing the 500th home celebration.
Yes…stop it. No one wants to hear your rants and dialogue? Just because you have an iPhone and video camera…it just is not working. People want more than you flapping your lips and ranting your thoughts on Facebook and Instagram.
I feel the old newsroom junkie in me coming out in this rant. My old news director used to preach to us…do not let me see your talking head during your live shots. People want you to show and tell, give the audience the opportunity to explore the story visually.
In January we had the opportunity to meet Brittany Speed, a survivor of domestic violence. We sat down to capture her story and we were amazed with her path, how she came to Safe Harbor, and how her story is empowering others.
Our friends at Safe Harbor asked us to capture, tell, and share Brittny’s story as a featured video for their March event called Fashion with a Passion.