Communication Video with a Twist of Humour
Nutrien Tower Tour Video
By Michael Ruten, Aspen Films
Nutrien was in the middle of an exciting new project; the building of their new, state-of-the-art, downtown Saskatoon head office at Nutrien Tower. They wanted to let the whole team know about the progress of the project and get people excited about moving in in the coming months. A specific purpose video was the natural way to achieve this goal.
Nutrien had two great employees act as tour guides to allow the staff, who were not yet able to physically tour the property, have a sneak peak at the project. The video had a real purpose of communicating the progress as well as some specific details of the project to the staff, but was also designed to be entertaining and even funny.
Whether it is governments to their citizens, businesses to their customers, or large companies to their staff, effective communication is an ongoing challenge. There are many mediums of communication available, but few can be as effective as video. Video tends to be more engaging than photos, and even more so than straight text, and it allows room for using many different approaches to make a connection with the audience.
The Nutrien Tower Tour Video is a great example of how video can be used for communication effectively. First of all, the video captures effectively, from many different angles and perspectives, the progress of the tower and gives the audience a visual taste of what to look forward to.
Secondly, it utilizes upbeat, energetic music to engage the audience at a different level. The music used in the video communicates excitement and anticipation.
Thirdly, the video has a human touch. A tour video could simply just be a roaming camera showing rooms and views. This would have some effect, but by putting people in the video, especially people who are engaging, such as those in this video, the audience is brought into the building to experience it, almost as if they were really there.
Lastly, the video uses humour to keep the audience engaged and looking for more. Notice how the humour is fairly basic (you don’t need a professional comedian) and is supplemented by effective post-production quick edits and transitions to increase the effect. All that, put together with the music, makes for a very enjoyable video that still serves the purpose of communication for which it was intended.
Effective communication is an ongoing need of any organization and considering the countless hours most people spending watching video content, video should be a component of any effective communications strategy.
