Say NO to boring demo videos!

The following is a guest post by Dan Nelken. Dan is a creative director and writer at Grumo Media with over 10 years of experience working for some of the largest advertising agencies in Canada. You can follow him on Twitter at @dannelken.

At Grumo we live and love to create fun and entertaining demo videos, yipeee!

And so it makes sense that most of the people who contact us want a fun-filled video.
However, some of these clients end up getting cold feet at some point during this process.

They see the first draft of our script and say things like:
“We think it’s funny but our target demo is more corporate and professional.”
“Yeah, We get it but THEY may not.”
“We think that might be pushing it too far. We’re talking to IT people.”

The reality is if you think your customers are serious and boring, your video will be serious and boring and your customers will think your company is serious and boring.

Sure some brands and products definitely lend themselves to more entertainment but every brand has room for a smile or two. Most of our clients realize this and most of them get that smile or two, or five.

However, there are a small percentage of clients who say they want a fun video but then proceed to second-guess themselves and end up making their video a no-fun zone.

And I have a theory for why this is. If this is you or you find yourself saying no to fun… you may want to sit down for this.

My theory is – you are uncomfortable and scared.

If you’re in charge of the video-making process and you are playing a role in approving what is cute or funny or entertaining, then you are opening yourself up for judgment. Your boss, co-workers, family and friends may say they don’t like it.

Your customers may not like it. And taking that risk feels uncomfortable, so we get afraid and then rather than looking at our own fears (because we’re crazy clever humans), we blame someone else, like a customer for being “too corporate and professional.” We then kill the smile so we can feel safe and free from judgment.

But you know where safe gets you? Exactly. Nowhere. Your video ends up safe, “too corporate and professional.” And isn’t that what you’re trying to avoid in the first place? (Please say yes).

This behavior is the same thing keeping so many of us from our dreams. We feel fear of judgment, the unknown, failure, and so we find an excuse as to why this isn’t the best time to pursue our dreams. We choose safety and comfort instead of building a more awesome life (or video).

So if you’re going to make a video with us, or with some other guys, know that if you’re feeling a little uncomfortable, it’s okay, it’s normal, take a chance and go for a smile or two.
Those people we think are too serious and boring will love us for it because we’re not talking to them the way everyone else does.

I leave you with these words of wisdom by Andy Dunn:

The risk is not in doing something that feels risky.
The risk is in not doing something that feels risky.

And here is a free sample lecture from >our animation course where Miguel talks about how to stay away from writing boring demo videos:

Have you ever struggled with a client to save your script from corporate oblivion?
How did you manage to get your way and still have a happy client in the end?
Let us know how you succeeded or terribly failed in the comments. Gracias!