GUIDE: creating a good corporate film
Maybe you've had a video made for your business in the past, or you've been thinking about it for a while and are now taking the very first step. Whatever your experience with video, everyone always has that one important question? How do I arrange such a film for my business? Well, don't worry. We describe exactly what is involved in creating a company film and what the do's and dont's are. So you too can soon make a smashing impression!
Touch people's hearts with your corporate film. You want that!
Everyone is into video these days. Just look around you, we all walk around with a phone in our hands capturing the most random moments of our day on camera. Film has become an integral part of everyday life. As a company, you MUST use it. A film reaches your target group quickly and easily. And if you can also touch your target group, make them feel something about your video, then you have them in the pocket. An impressive, tough or personal story, beautifully supported with professional images and compelling music, that sticks!
What makes a great corporate film?
How do you prepare it? And how grand do you want to tackle it? Maybe work with a drone or a time-lapse? Do I need actors, voice overs, locations or a parrot? No question is too crazy. How do you decide what you need for your corporate film if you've never had a film made before? Where do you start? Sure, you can take some footage with your phone of the company floor, or of a project and product. But a corporate film is a bit different from just shooting some footage. Especially if you want to touch your audience.
So what makes a corporate film so unique?
"Successful corporate films give a powerful impression of your company, its people, products and services, without being purely a summary of what you do. It touches, moves, tells a story, makes people experience, and binds people to your company."
OK, that sounds complicated, we admit. But making a good corporate film is not rocket science, promise! As long as you keep the end goal in mind and follow the right steps in the right order. Again, preparation is half the battle. But before we dive into that, here we have an overview of all the advantages of a corporate film. How nice.
The benefits of a corporate film
People are visually inclined. With moving images, we absorb much more in a short time, faster, than any other way. The main added value of a corporate film for you:
Film enthuses, informs and inspires
5 to 15 minutes of time saved during presentations
A complex message clearly communicated in a short time
Website visitors stay longer on your site
Film ensures better visibility in search engines. YouTube is Google's 2nd largest search engine
Film performs much better on social media than photos or text messages
It creates a clear corporate identity
Internally, everyone experiences what you stand for as a company and what the values are.
A clear tool for sales
Uniformity in presentations. Whoever gives a presentation, everyone essentially tells the same story with the film
Good substitute for guided tours. Promotes calm and safety on the shop floor.
Clear insight into your process or product
You will enjoy it for years and the film is relatively easy to update
Film works well as a link under your e-mail signature
Easy to share online and offline.
Where to start?
Well, such a unique, personal, touching, visually appealing, clear and sales-supportive corporate film sounds good right? Time to work on your own film. And you start that film, with your target audience.
Who is your audience?
Who are you making the film for? Of course you want everyone in the world to see your film and feel hugely engaged by it. In practice, however, this turns out to work slightly differently. If you address everyone at once, you actually say very little. Better to specialise on your target audience, the people who can mean the most to you and your company. But who are they? You will probably have an idea about that. A video production company will go deeper with you into that question. A specialist approach for the most effective results! So a good video partner can do this for or with you. What will a video production company do in the preliminary process?
Delve into your business story
Learn about the market
Learn about your target audience and ideal buyers
Three steps to determine your target group
Your ideal client
Find out who your ideal customer is. What are the clients that excite you? Who would you really like to drag in yourself. And which customer and/or assignment brings a smile to your employees' faces internally? Answering these questions will bring you closer to your target group
Give details
You have your ideal client in mind. Now it's time to specify it further What age is your ideal client? In which region does he or she work? By having a clear picture of your ideal client, you can make the corporate film very specific and personal, making it more appealing. You don't have to do this alone; a video partner will help you get this picture concrete.
Your client's problem
To make sure that your ideal client has no choice but to contact you after seeing your corporate film, it is important to get clear what your client's problem is and how your company will solve it. After all, this forms the basis for the storyline of your corporate film. For your ideal clients, your product or service should come across as THE SOLUTION they have been looking for for ages.
TIP: As your company grows, your target audience may also change. So check every few years whether your film still suits your company. A good video strategy grows with your business.
Be guided by a video partner
Once you have determined the core message of your film, what you want to tell and your target audience, it is time for the video production company to really get to work. Very often, of course, they are already involved in the project at this point and have already helped you determine your target audience.
3 signs that you have found the right video partner:
Your video partner takes a lot of thinking out of your hands
Your video partner challenges you and is critical, doesn't just say 'yes' to every idea.
You feel you don't have to explain much. Your video partner understands you and your target audience inside out.
What’s next?
So you have a basic idea about the film and the target audience. But what then? There are a number of steps you need to go through with your video partner to achieve a successful corporate film. And as that process progresses, you will see that you have a lot of fun telling your story!
13-point roadmap for a successful corporate film
A good video production company works project and process-wise and goes through roughly the same steps. So it's good to know what those steps are so that you have a good idea when producing your own corporate film. A good video partner will also take you through the steps and work in advance, so you know what you need to consider. We have already discussed steps 1 and 2 and, if all goes well, you and your video partner have now worked them out.
Determine the target audience - You've already done this, good job!
Tasty coffee - together with your video partner, turn your client's problem into a message and determine the must haves for in the film.
Budget - no production can escape it. Look carefully at your options and weigh up what you want, what is needed and what is nice to have. Your video partner can help you with this from his expertise.
Concept phase - Your video partner gets to work! A script and shot list become clear. You can give feedback on the concept and indicate what you think works and what does not. Several questions come up in this step: "Do you work only with images, which locations and scenes alternate, quotes on screen or a voice over and actors?"
Planning - deadlines, schedules, expectation management and agreements around previews and the like are made with your video partner here. This gives you a clear picture of the process and follow-up steps.
Pre Production - this is where the fun stuff starts. Your video partner gets to work arranging locations, agreeing what will be on screen and what will not and, for example, casting actors. You will be involved every step of the way.
Production - then after weeks of preparation, it's finally time to shoot your corporate film. Light, Camera, Action!
Post-Production - Don't think it's over. Now everything you thought of beforehand comes together in the edit. The right combination of images, sound, music and colour grading turn the film into a powerful whole.
Preview rounds - Here you can let us know what you think of the film. Give your opinion clearly and honestly, constructively and critically. Do collect all comments internally in advance, so nothing gets lost. The more e-mails and phone calls you have to make, the greater the chance of confusion. So keep everything clear.
Adjustment rounds - The discussed feedback is implemented and, if necessary, stock images and temporary music are purchased for deployment.
Possible subtitles and other versions of the project - Does the film need to be subtitled, do you want a short version for social or maybe there are other versions of the film that need to be delivered. This happens at this stage. Often the options have been discussed beforehand, but sometimes you may want to go for more options halfway through the process. Discuss these with your video partner.
Delivery and activation - The film is finished and you know where it should be deployed partly because of the tips from the video production company. Now it's up to you to do the same and see the result. Do you need help with the activation? Discuss this with your video partner so he can help you deploy your video successfully.
Evaluation - and afterwards, of course, it's time for another cup of coffee and a round of evaluation. Did you like the corporate video? Then you can already discuss next assignments.
The steps in more detail
Now you have a good idea of how a production works. To give you a complete picture, some of the steps are described in more detail below. You will also find some tips and tricks.
Planning, preparation and costs
Making a corporate film is an experience. You go through a rollercoaster of emotions. From excitement to joy and everything in between. Yet it is not just a big playground. It also involves an old-fashioned bit of logistics, planning and budgeting. Because dreaming big is nice, but if you don't have room for it in the budget you are doing work for nothing. And that doesn't make anyone happy. Decide with your video partner when you want the film delivered and where you will use it. Is there a trade fair where you can put the film to good use? Is there a recruitment campaign or event coming up? Determine your deadline and communicate it clearly.
So how long does that take, a corporate film?
Creating a concept, pre-production, shooting, post-production... Those sound like a lot of steps. How long exactly does it take to have a corporate film made? That also depends a bit on the type of video. And, of course, on your deadline. A video can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Discuss your requirements with the video production company and they will tell you exactly how long it will take to make a corporate video that is personally tailored to your company and your message.
What's in a script?
In most cases, the video production company will create the script for your production. But you can already help them get started a bit. Write out your story in a few keywords, for instance. That way, you already make a simple script that a professional company can work with. Such a simple document can help a lot. If you want to go the extra mile, you can already think about which locations work well for your company visually and which people might want to appear in front of the camera. So this is more than just writing down your client's problem as you have done before. This is the translation into 'how to visualise your client's problem'. If you are a care home with lonely elderly people and their informal carers as your target audience, what do you want to show and not show of that? And which of your locations are the most fun to show? Or are you an international company with several production sites? Which factories and processes then really need to be featured, or...maybe no corporate images at all but depict the story from your ideal customer's point of view or with a metaphor?
TIP: The stress of wanting to tell everything. Of course you want to show the whole company and all your products and services, but that often works against you at some point. By wanting to show just about everything, the corporate film loses focus. So once you have determined the core of the film and the concept and script are there, stick to it.
The bottles or the couple in love?
Sometimes the best choice is not to show your production process or great office space at all. Try to empathise with the customer: what problem are you solving for them, what kind of future image do you want to paint with your product or service? Think of 'Au de parfum' by Dior. Ever seen the factory with rows of bottles being filled? But rather that amazing radiant couple in love in the most luxurious setting who can't keep their hands off each other.
3 things to remember when providing input for a concept or script
Keep the story personal
Play on feeling and atmosphere
KISS - Keep It Short and Simple.
“A 1 to 2-minute company film with a personal story often works more strongly than a longer film in which every detail is covered”
Your visual business card
Take your time and don't rush anything. Better that it takes a little longer than that you end up with a lesser result. Remember: the corporate film is also your visual business card. It is often the first thing that comes up when people look up your company on the internet, the first thing they come across on your website and where you start your presentation. So you want to make an excellent impression with it. You don't have your showroom or reception area rushed off either. So don't underestimate the importance of a good corporate film. Curious about how we make a corporate film? Then take a look at our corporate film page.
The elephant in the room
How much does it cost to have a corporate film made? This is a question video production companies often hear, and that makes sense. Unfortunately, it is impossible to give an unequivocal answer to this question, because all kinds of factors influence production costs and the type of company also plays a role. However, a good video production company will always take your budget into account and budget and the different option will be discussed thoroughly from the beginning. One corporate is not the other corporate and vice versa with an SME company. Still, the guideline below gives a reasonable idea of what to expect in terms of budget:
One-man company between €800 and €2,500
Small SME between EUR 1,500 and 4,000
Medium-sized SME between 3,000 and 15,000 euro
Corporates and brands between 5,000 and 40,000
In conclusion: Dare to ask questions and be specific!
Dare to ask questions. Videographers have heard everything before, so no question is too crazy. Don't be stingy in sharing knowledge in your field. You should know what the target audience's soft spot is and what appeals or does not appeal to them. Also bear in mind that everyone can watch, including the competition. Do let your video partner advise you in the feedback. They have made certain choices partly based on experience and expertise.
Once the film is shot, it is up to the video production company to bring together all the images, music, voice-overs and possibly the graphics and animations into a beautiful, visual whole. They will ask for your feedback at previews. Of course, it will still be your film, so you will have to think something of it. Collect feedback and compile it into 1 clear document. If necessary, call the video production company to discuss all the feedback. A successful film production process is a combination of short lines of communication, clear agreements about the progress and steps, and, when in doubt, asking and consulting with each other with mutual trust in each other's expertise and commitment.
Ready to start working on your corporate film?
Browse through our lookbook for inspiration. Or contact us without obligation to find out more about making a corporate film. The coffee or videocall is always ready.