Storytelling Reinvented Through Video Marketing: Mad Bear Productions
Mad Bear is a video marketing and branding company that uses a mix of video and storytelling to artfully communicate a company’s message and create an emotional connection between a brand and its customers.
Storytelling for the Brand
Storytelling is the art of pulling others into a new world. A skilled storyteller will captivate hearts, fascinate minds, and leave a lasting imprint on each member of an audience. As a marketing tool, well-told stories will powerfully communicate a company’s message, humanize its brand, and create an emotional connection with customers. Video marketing is arguably the most useful way to integrate superior storytelling into any marketing strategy.
Upcoming Video Marketing Workshop
During AMA Tampa Bay’s upcoming video marketing workshop, a few of Tampa Bay’s leading experts in video marketing will teach you the art of storytelling and explain how to apply it to your marketing campaigns. One of the video marketing experts who will lead the workshop is Glenn Zimmerman, Founder, President, and CEO of Mad Bear Productions and President-Elect of AMA Tampa Bay’s Board of Directors.
Zimmerman Giving a Ted Talk
How Mad Bear was Born
Glenn, a 15-year veteran of the news industry, has a deep understanding of storytelling. As an industry insider, he had noticed a change in the way video was being delivered, due to the pervasiveness of the Internet. Companies no longer needed to spend large sums of money on advertising to communicate with their audiences via video. All companies could have access to high quality professional video as a marketing tool at a reasonable price; someone just needed to make it available to them. Glenn wanted to do just that. This is how Mad Bear Productions was born in 2008.
What’s Best About Video Marketing?
When I asked Glenn what he likes most about running a video-focused marketing agency, he answered, “Marketing is evolving so rapidly in terms of available tools and potential reach. The change is exciting. I love working with video because video is the most impactful of all of the marketing media available.” Glenn also commented, “It’s great to work with businesses to help their brands achieve a high level of impact and reach that really wouldn’t have been possible for them years ago.”
Just How Does a Brand Achieve a High Level of Success?
According to Glenn, there are a few cardinal rules by which brands should live in order to maximize their impact and be successful.
- Be Authentic – Create videos designed to attract customers by telling 100% true stories focused on what is special and unique about your brand. The goal is to make customers feel empowered to make a decision about a brand, not to misrepresent the truth or scare them into making a decision. There are a number of unfortunate trends that exist in media today, which Glenn outlined in a recent Ted Talk. Among these are spear tactics or fear, designed to attract customers to products or services and also echo chambers (biased environments) imposed on audiences as a means to influence them. Authenticity is always the best approach.
- Results Above Short-Term Profit – Many media companies focus primarily on short-term profit and secondarily on achieving results. Glenn asserts that a common practice in media is to take shortcuts on projects in an attempt to decrease cost to the media company and increase profits. Shortcuts lead to lower quality story coverage and mediocre results for clients. Try to partner with a provider who will not sacrifice quality in favor of short-term financial gains. The focus should be on results above all else and being able to accomplish the most and best possible work within budget constraints. This approach will yield better long-term financial gains for both the company and its clients.
All about the Philosophy and the People
According to Glenn, it’s the philosophical approach outlined above that has garnered Mad Bear the success it enjoys today. Mad Bear achieves an average video completion rate of 30%. For those of us who aren’t “video savvy,” the completion rate is an important metric used to gauge the success of a video marketing campaign. It essentially counts the number of viewers who intentionally play a video (auto-play videos are excluded) and watch it until the very end. In the video marketing industry, a 15% to 20% completion rate is considered very good.
The philosophy outlined above is what drives Mad Bear and is partially responsible for the company’s success. However, philosophy is not the whole story. Glenn attributes the company’s success to the team of professionals with whom he works on a daily basis and to the company culture, which this team upholds so well. The Mad Bear team is full of individuals who are extremely talented, passionate about storytelling, and intrinsically motivated to do their jobs well. They are the fuel of Mad Bear’s engine. The company culture is unique in that everyone at the company works as a team, yet they live all over the country and do not have set work hours. The team functions well this way. There is no need for the company to impose structure on its employees, as they are highly skilled and self-motivated. This flexibility allows those who work for Mad Bear to achieve work-life balance and Glenn is sure that all members of the group, including him, are happier because of it. At Mad Bear, there is a heavy focus on team building to ensure the group remains connected, despite the discrepancy in schedules and locations. All team members communicate constantly, attend regular virtual team meetings, and attend fun team-building events. Glenn declared, “We’re truly cohesive and I see it every day.”
Video Marketing & AMA Tampa Bay
What drives Glenn and Mad Bear to remain involved with AMA Tampa Bay? According to Glenn, “The power of video is so strong. There are so many ways that video can help our chapter reach its full potential and I’m excited to help. I also enjoy sharing insight with AMA members on how to integrate video into their own marketing campaigns.” At our upcoming video workshop on August 20, this is just what Glenn and other panelists will do. They’ll ensure that we leave with knowledge of how to use video to benefit our own companies. Many of us will be more well-rounded marketers when we leave. Bring your business cards, bring your enthusiasm, and come prepared to think out-of-the-box!
About the Author
Chiara Tedone
Chiara is Digital Content Creator and Blog Manager for AMA Tampa Bay. She is Co-founder and Director of Winning the Fight, a non-profit organization specializing in neurodegenerative disease research. Chiara is also a freelance digital marketer for small businesses and is finishing up her MBA with a specialty in marketing from the University of South Florida. Prior to moving to Florida, Chiara lived in Washington, DC. She earned her BA in International Studies from American University’s School of International Services in 2007 and worked for Booz Allen Hamilton and the Department of Defense thereafter. Her hobbies include obstacle racing, running, swimming, kayaking, SCUBA diving, and opera/classical singing. She also loves country music and chocolate!
Contact Chiara
Email: Chiara at [email protected]
Social Media: LinkedIn