We’ve seen a sweeping change in the use of video in internal communications over the past several years. So much of the work we do for our clients is now digital multi-media — with video leading the way, followed closely by podcasts and animated infographics and anything else we can think of to engage employees in the ways they prefer to consume media.
One of the interesting parts of working in internal communications since the early 2000s is seeing the evolution of the channels available to us and clients’ willingness to explore solutions provided by new technology and consumer trends.
For instance, when Tribe started working with Porsche NorthAmerica in 2002, using video in internal communications was the furthest thing from their minds. They asked us to develop a printed newsletter in black and white — even though we were printing on a color press. Their thinking was that a color newsletter would look like they were spending too much money.
At Tribe, we’re hyper-aware that employees don’t have to pay the slightest attention to internal communications. Just because we put it out there doesn’t mean they’ll read it.
It’s up to us to create internal communications that get their attention. Sometimes that means mirroring the ways they consume media in their personal lives. If they’re scrolling through Instagram stories and clicking on TikTok videos, they’re not likely to jump at the chance to read a lengthy article from their internal communications team. Our odds are probably better if we include video in the internal communications mix.
We used to shoot a lot of on-site videos for clients, usually interviewing their leadership and employees on cultural issues from the corporate values to being a great place to work. These shoots involved talented video production crews, and the processes Tribe developed for using a one- or two-day shoot to capture six months or a year’s worth of video interviews and candid office footage that we would later edit into monthly videos for internal communications.
Now that so many of our clients have employees working from home, we’ve developed processes for shooting video remotely. We break up the interview footage with B-roll, sometimes from existing client video, sometimes even with video shot on employees’ smart phones. We’ve found this format also works well with manufacturing employees in facilities all over the globe, allowing us to provide visibility across silos and geography.
In my ad agency commercial production days, I would have balked at using so much talking-head footage. But social media has moved the bar for production values, and flashy commercial production can feel sort of tone-deaf sometimes.
Showing one person talking for major portions of a video is not very engaging. But for video in internal communications, we’re usually not hanging on one person talking for long stretches. More often we’re featuring a handful of employees in different environments, each making a comment before we cut to one of their colleagues. We’ll come back to each employee a few times during the video to create a narrative rhythm. If the interviews are handled well and the editing is skillful, each comment builds on the one before for an impactful storyline.
The advantage of using talking heads in video for internal communications is that you’re showing the faces of people throughout the company. It can help people feel human connections with others across silos or geography, and it shows the diversity of the company in an authentic way.
Perhaps the most powerful element of these sorts of employee interview videos is that rather than corporate leadership telling employees about the culture or the business, employees are talking to each other. Maybe it’s like consumers trusting product reviews more than a company’s brand advertising. Employees seem to value hearing from each other.
If you’d like to try new ways of using video in internal communications, Tribe can help.
