That all-too familiar shaky cell phone video has changed forever how information and ideas are shared. Once the bastion of the MTV generation, YouTube has now enabled (or forced) the evolution of corporate communications.
Ask any recent MBA grad and they’ll extol the virtues of timely, relevant communication in motivating a company’s workforce. During the 1990’s, only the largest corporations could afford the luxury of widespread video communication to keep employees and investors informed about the latest products and strategic initiatives. This was a time when corporate communication managers were the gatekeepers of information flowing from the mountaintop. Whether in the form of a live broadcast or a professionally produced video, information was vetted and polished to a high corporate gleam.
Then, in 2005, three friends launched YouTube.com and changed everything. By the summer of 2006, YouTube was the fifth most popular site on the internet. Every minute, 20 hours of video is uploaded to the site. That’s 1,728,000 minutes of content per day … every day. It’s hard to imagine anything that can’t be found on YouTube. There’s everything from changing a tire, to heart bypass surgery, to the latest Beyonce’ video, to Tim Cook’s first message to Apple employees as their CEO.
But why is an Apple internal corporate video even on YouTube? Perhaps the more interesting question is “how many people put it there?” Corporate Communication Managers are no longer gatekeepers of information. The cell phone camera and YouTube have effectively RIF’d that job title. Today’s Corporate Media Coordinators have necessarily evolved into wranglers of information, guardians in the battle against misinformation. New media have created new ways of relating ideas and facts, and the sheer speed of information flow makes it all too easy to confuse ideas as facts.
Whether it’s a revolution in Libya or a layoff in Finance, people (employees) are turning to social media for insight and answers. And just because your company is small doesn’t mean a video of last week’s fist fight on your loading dock isn’t about to go viral. Now, more than ever, in corporate communication … speed can kill. A slow response to a negative video can kill reputation, brand equity, and employee morale.
So, how are enlightened companies rising to this new media challenge and even benefiting from the YouTube effect?
Video Crew Finder
Crew Connection makes it radically easier to connect with top-notch video crews and production professionals, from Secaucus to Singapore. Connect with us today to find a video crew for your production.
