#56 Impact Masters Podcast: Unlocking the Power of Video: Video Marketing Trifecta

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:19):
All right, all right, all right.
This is Impact Masters Podcast,in collaboration with Retort
Podcast, recording live fromNairobi and Boston
simultaneously, and today wehave an amazing guest, tim
Bradley, himself, joining ustoday.
Tim Bradley is the co-founderof Penant Video, a B2B-focused

(00:44):
agency that has pioneered thevideo marketing trifecta.
It's a trademark to powermid-funnel marketing strategies.
With nearly two decades ofexperience in video marketing,
tim has partnered with leadingB2B tech brands like Cisco,
italki, philips and countlessstartups, bringing their story
to life with compelling videocampaigns.
Before founding a penitent, timwas the executive producer at a

(01:04):
large communications agency.
In his 12 years there, he built, managed and mentored a
25-person creative team, whilegrowing the business in
competitive sectors such asstaff tech, cybersecurity and
healthcare.
He believes in creating workthat cuts through the noise
methodical yet bespoke, scalableyet unique.

(01:25):
Beyond client projects, timmentors aspiring creatives
through workshops and portfolioreviews, reinforcing his belief
that elevating new talent forcesa more innovative and
story-driven industry.
Tim has built an engagedfollowing on LinkedIn by being
relatable, authentic andauthoritative with equal parts
actionable, authentic andauthoritative with equal parts

(01:46):
actionable, insight andcompelling storytelling and the
occasional dad joke.
I believe today he's going togive a few dad jokes as he
converts.
Also, he believes in stronglyin the power of community and
mentoring, that connections meanmore than just a numbers game
and that young creative deservethe wisdom he has gained over a

(02:07):
long and ongoing creative career.
His philosophy is simple createmeaningful connections through
impactful stories that resonateand enjoy Outside the office.
Tim draws inspiration from hislove of snowboarding, family and
the outdoors, channeling thefocus, adaptability and
persistence on the slopes intonavigating today's competitive
marketing landscape.

(02:28):
When should a company introduceitself using videos?
So today we're going to delveinto a conversation with Tim.
Hi Tim.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
Hi Michael, Thank you for having me and thank you for
that very warm introduction.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Well, no, I mean, this is quite an and we're glad
to host you today as our mainguest, and here we just actually
introduce movers and shakers intech.
We've been doing it for Africamovers and shakers, and now
we're covering some of theglobal movers and shakers.
We're covering some of theglobal movers and shakers, you

(03:03):
know, telling the stories thatreally matter and sharing
technology, information andknowledge that really moves the
needle when it comes todifferent aspects of life, as
well as highlighting keyinnovators in the ecosystem.
But without further ado.
You know this is just what theofficial former UO Team Bradley

(03:25):
is, but I know here we likegoing all the way back UO Team
as a person, how was that teambefore it was formed to figure
out marketing?
Do you mind telling us UO Teamwhere you were born?
How was it growing up?
A bit so that we get somebackground about yourself?

Speaker 2 (03:45):
yeah, I'd be happy to .
Yeah, so I'm, um, the oldest ofof three, three boys, three
brothers, right, and so, uh, myparents, uh, we grew up in
western massachusetts, so thisvery um, pretty remote town.
It was, uh, about 300 people,um, in this sort of foothills of

(04:06):
some like very pretty mountainsin Western Massachusetts, right
, and so the with that it was alot of nature, a lot of, you
know, exploration and thereforea lot of like imagination.
So I found that my brothers andI were often, you know, in our

(04:31):
own little worlds, like you know, creating characters, creating
sort of stories and situations,and I was fortunate enough that
my parents had one of thoseoversized like VHS camcorders,
right, like the big videocameras from the 90s, cameras
from the from the nineties, and,um, we, we got to use that to
create, you know, uh, littlevideos and stories of, of our,
of our Lego sets or of ourTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or

(04:52):
of ourselves, right, so sort ofthat intersection of being able
to explore and be creative andbe sort of adventurous and
storytellers along with, youknow, you having the ability to
do some recordings and things,um, I think, really started me
down a path early right and intovideo storytelling at large.
Um, fast forward.

(05:15):
I went to college forcommunications and so that was a
bit of broad, a bit ofjournalism, like writing.
I worked on the, on the, workedon the school paper, the
newspaper, right.
The bit of radio.
I had a radio program everysemester.
And then video.
There was several video classesyou could take about
documentary filmmaking orbroadcast or just production in

(05:39):
general, and so when I was sortof ending my time at college it
just seemed very, very clearthat video was often the
preferred medium.
You're going to hear me sayingthat a lot.
It was just, you know, themedium that was having the sort
of the best opportunities fromas a professional, but also just

(06:00):
for me.
It just the creativity of videojust really spoke to me, just
for me, it just the creativityof video just really spoke to me
.
So, yeah, with that I moved toLake Tahoe, california, to
pursue this sort of snowboarding, skiing, you know mountain
lifestyle, right, and with thatI did the classic thing of

(06:22):
opening my first credit card and, you know, buying a camera and
buying a computer.
So I could just be really likeimmersed in the doing of
creation, right, and in video,just be very immersed in that.
So, looking back on that it wasyou know, this sort of culture
of of skiing and snowboardingand a lot of it is very, very,

(06:44):
very fluid, very, you know,you're feeling very inspired.
You're just sort of inspired bythe, by the mountains and the
people, and there's no likeright or wrong way to to
necessarily to to do thosesports Right, and so the
combination of that with withvideo, um, just really allowed
me to just like explore andlearn.

(07:04):
Learn you know all parts of thecamera and how to edit, um, uh,
you know a tight story, how toedit to music, like how to edit
and and um conduct interviewsand et cetera.
So I really feel that thosefour years after college were
even more like enriching right,cause I could just there wasn't
anyone telling me, not tellingme, there wasn't anyone

(07:27):
necessarily like advising alongthe way, like in a college or in
a school situation but thatfreedom to explore really helped
me realize this sort of likebounds or limits of storytelling
and producing right.
And then from there, yeah, whenwe moved back to Massachusetts,

(07:48):
I found this job as a videoproduction specialist inside of
a public relations company andthat was really such an awesome
opportunity to be that sort offirst creative hire inside of a
burgeoning agency, right, andthat opportunity to continue

(08:09):
with that autonomy and that sortof entrepreneurial spirit as
I'm realizing later.
That, like intrapreneur, is theway I describe it now.
I was there for 12 years andhelped build a really robust
team of creatives.
We did motion design andanimation, we did podcasting, we
did live events and productionand broadcast and all sorts of

(08:30):
video across all channels, right, like internal communications
and employer branding, to socialmedia, to live events, to
recruiting, you know, so, reallylike, so immersed in in in the
medium.
It was like the best thing forit.
But then I also got tounderstand, um, different,
different industries, fromhealthcare and cybersecurity and

(08:53):
and climate technology andgreen technology and and these
sort of like always cutting edge, innovative industries, and
that really like, spoke to me as, as a, as like the person I am
in this stage of my life, right,maybe it's I had because I had
a couple of kids and I want asafer, more secure, sustainable
future for them, right, but that, um, that's sort of what?

(09:17):
Uh, the combination of allthose things, the skills, the
relationships, the, thenetworking, um, the leadership
that just brought me the overallconfidence to then launch what
is now Pennant Video Company.
And so, as you outlined, we'rea B2B focused, mid funnel focus,
which I'm sure we'll talk aboutvideo marketing agency.

(09:38):
So we use writing and motiondesign and live action
production to produce, um reallyimpactful videos that support
marketing and sales teams andbuilding out a robust buyer's
journey for for their audiences.
Right, like, our goal is tohelp empower decision-making um
for audiences and um, yeah, thatsense of focus and the passion

(10:02):
of all of those decades behindit.
Right, if they've brought mehere today.
So, was that brief enough?
Is that okay?

Speaker 1 (10:09):
No, I mean I asked so many questions but definitely
that was really comprehensive interms of understanding with Tim
Bradley overall, and in fact,today's topic would not really
be out of the wild If 10 yearsago, we did this podcast around

(10:32):
video instead of B2B marketing.
That would sound like you knowwhat are you talking about, the
expenses and all that with thereal shots and all these video
gatherings, attention span ofeveryone.
There's no better time todiscuss how these impact sales

(10:53):
and marketing as well as revenue, and I think we can dive right
in.
So how did you just decide atthe end of the day, this is it,
and what research advisor beforeyou know you said okay, I want
to.
You know, go to Penance andstart a Penance video.
I have a team that actuallyoffers this as a service or as a

(11:14):
product.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
Yeah, I love that question because a lot of it
really centers around like asense of like purpose and focus,
right Again, like so much sortof love and affinity for, for
that agency experience.
But there's that, there is thissaying that, um, one year at an
agency is like three years inhouse, the sort of like dog

(11:35):
years equation, right.
So that was really true and alot of it wasn't necessarily
like burnout, it was more thesense of like, like lack of
focus.
So we were producing so muchwork for all sizes and scales of
companies, from likekickstarter, earliest of
foundation, to like fortune five, right, and then every channel,

(11:56):
every sort of style and lengthof video, and it just got to
this point where I was sort oflosing the forest for the trees,
right, or it's just like I'mnot sure the impact of this work
that we're producing anymorelike in its broadest sense,
right.
So for me, the intention ofPennant to be really mid funnel

(12:17):
focused, with a framework, thatvideo marketing trifecta that
supports sales and marketingteams to build out that buyer's
journey, was really the thingthat you know helps, continues
to help me get out of bed everyday.
That like the work that we'reproducing is helping
decision-making, it's helpingthese brands that have really
important missions of, you know,safety, security or

(12:40):
sustainability, and so those setof values align with the focus
of, of the craft and the messageand the audience is really
what's helped like synthesizeour business, right, um, but I
love you what you said about the10 years ago, because it's,
it's totally true, like when Iwas inside that agency, um, as

(13:00):
that, that video productionspecialist video youtube was
only like a couple years old,right, I mean, it speaks to how
old I am now, but like that thatyou know it was known as a
place of cat videos.
Right, it wasn't.
It wasn't like a place forbusiness, it wasn't a place for,
you know, it wasn't attached togoogle, you know, as like the
second most powerful searchsearch engine in the world,

(13:23):
right, so there's just been suchan evolution and and, in my
mind, like overall adoption ofthe medium and certainly in
marketing, right, like marketershave not just come to learn but
just really like appreciatethat, while video is sort of
challenging to conceive andproduce and and iterate on, like
it just has such a importantripple effect across their brand

(13:47):
ecosystem that, like how theyproduce their creative, it's
impactful to the, the recipient,the audience, right, because
they can just digest or take inso much more information because
of the visuals and the audioright, it's the most primed for
storytelling.
So I'm not trying to convinceyou, it's just more that like,
yeah, it's just funny how in inthe 10 years, just video is so

(14:11):
prolific, right, um, on all, onall channels.
And here we are today on a, ona live podcast that's with with
video.
Right, because there's thatexpectation yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
They say.
If uh's not seen, it didn'thappen.
Yeah, exactly, yeah.
But interestingly, until today,2005, different companies still
believe in B2B, basicallybecause of culture, trust and

(14:42):
how people have been used toclosing deals.
You know, for you to get intothis, you know video of a B2B.
Does that mean you replace?
You know B2B or in-person, oryou know emails and all these
other channels of sales?
And do I wait?
Or does video complement thealready existing mechanisms?

Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah, I would say it complements and amplifies, right
?
So if we're working with amarketing team or a sales team,
it's like they have some sort ofa message that they're trying
to communicate repeatedly, right?
So it's one thing to have oneperson do it on a one-on-one
engagement, like ultimately youwant that human to human, but

(15:28):
you also need to sort of scaleit, right, and so video in its
sort of like truest form, is asclose to a conversation as you
can get, compared to any of theother marketing channels or
mediums, right?
So because of that, it's likewe're always encouraging.
Well, if you're trying toexpress your brands, why, like,

(15:49):
why you exist, why your audienceshould care, why you're
different, that is a greatopportunity for a video, right?
If you're trying to explain how, how, how your product or
surface, uh, service works, like, like how it works and what it,
what it does and how it works.
That's a great opportunity for avideo.
Then if you have customers andyou want them to like, uh,

(16:12):
validate what, what you, whatyou do for them, right, like
that, who this is for and whereset of story is really important
, right, and so for us, likewith the video marketing
trifecta, that's effectively thepoint of this framework is to
express your brand's why anddifferentiate you from the
competition, explain what you do, that demonstration of your

(16:34):
value set, and then thatendorsement, that customer story
, that validation is the thirdprong of the trifecta, of the
trifecta.
So for B2B like that, thatclarity that you're, you know,
in in the most engaged medium, avideo is really impactful and
it helps you build that buyer'sjourney, to build trust from you

(16:55):
know why you exist, what you do, who this is for, right, like,
all of those touch points arereally important to build trust,
especially when most B2Bselling cycles are like nine to
12 months, you know.
So to have all these likereally impactful touch points is
a great way to differentiatefrom your competition.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yeah, and interestingly is that, you know,
given the trends and even theway different businesses look
like besides the Fortune 500, wehave seen artists actually
produce even TikTok music, whichactually start with challenges
and all that and there aredifferent strategies, of course,

(17:37):
for business.
And, as an expert, how wouldyou say to get the maximum
return on investment?
Is it driven by creatingoriginal content that addresses
the business, or is it good togo with the trends, or is it
just to break the mold andcreate something that is kind of

(17:58):
outside the box?
How do you go about this to getthe maximum return of
investment?

Speaker 2 (18:04):
Yeah, man, I love that question Because the
shortest answer is just sort oflike all of it, but that's not a
great answer.
Right.
At the end of the day, reallylooking at the brands, the
businesses' mission and purposeand making sure that you're
being intentional behind, thatis usually the first like that's

(18:27):
your North star, right, andlike from there you get a real
sense of like well, of course,this is who we're serving.
Like this is these, are these,are our buyers?
Right, these are where ourbuyers exist.
Like they're on theserespective channels and these
places, they're in these rooms,they're having these
conversations, right.
Like having all of thatinformation is such a great

(19:00):
bedrock for strategy.
To then, how do you, how do you, produce the materials to show
up consistently, to be visible,to provide value, to like the
channels from there, like all ofthe channels have their sort of
best practices, right?
So you're saying YouTube shorts.

Speaker 1 (19:07):
It's like well, it's in the name make it short.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
So that is is like it's much more approachable to
have a single person show upwith value every day to produce
a series of content Like it's.
It's sort of it's almost asclose to like consumer as to
consumer as possible, but at theend of the day it's like you're
showing up beating a drum,being visible, providing value.

(19:31):
That is the best sort ofbedrock or intention or
scaffolding of that approach Forus.
We find that our best sort ofpartnerships with brands are the
ones that are doing thatinternally.
They have an internal resourcethat's taking care of the or it
not, and by care I mean likethey're paying attention to

(19:53):
those respective needs andchannels of like, of nurture
specifically that sort of bottomof the funnel, right, like
having, um, that employerbranding content, that
recruiting content, that thoughtleadership content, the
internal and externalcommunications like the social
media, right, like that is like,in my mind, a lot of a social

(20:14):
media strategy and video is apart of that.
But having a small team orresources or even just dedicated
persons to that activity issuch a great way to show up
repeatedly in in that space.
Right, then you have your top ofthe funnel, like your
advertising.
Those are like your bigsplashes, your awareness, like

(20:35):
someone's never heard of you.
How do you make that firstimpression like really count,
you know, yeah.
And then there's the middle,the sort of messy middle right,
and like that's, that's where aspennant, where you like love to
be, and because it has thatmost opportunity for impact in
closing that gap right, likethat conversion.
How do you make that shorter?
How do you make those timelinesmore concise, right, or at

(20:57):
least predictable?
How do you build that journeyfor audiences?
And so, with that, productionvalue tends to matter a bit more
like your, your clarity andwhat your, you know those, those
key cornerstone questionsyou're trying to ask like why,
what, who, where, when, right,those should be like really
clear, really concise andengaging, like whether in sort

(21:21):
of like a humorous sort of wayor a way that at least is
aligned with your brand's toneof voice and mission and value
set right.
So you know I just describedthe entire journey, but there's
like a lot of complexity withinthat.
So being really thoughtfulstrategically for each of those
moments across the buyer'sjourney is really important and

(21:43):
it doesn't mean you have to doall of them all of the time but,
to really help build the layersof that funnel is really
important.

Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yeah, and in this aspect you'll find that most
companies actually will alwaystry and do everything and
anything.
Is there a sort of framework?
And if there's a framework,because at the end of the day,
giving some sort of frameworkgives some clarity, regardless

(22:13):
of whichever business that wantsto do video so where do you see
the biggest gaps in a company'svideo marketing approach and
how can Anthem explain us andthe endorsement, and you can
actually delve further in thesethree Anthems.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (22:29):
To tell us how do these fill out the gaps and how
do you go about it.
You know if there's a frameworkout there that really has
worked, or how even Penant comesinto play.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
Yeah, absolutely yeah .
The the way I like to describeit is like you've, as an
audience member, you've beensold a click meaning.
Meaning, like you, you'vebecome aware of some, uh, some
business that seemingly can helpsolve a problem or a challenge.
You're having, um, especiallyin B2B, right, like there's,

(23:02):
there's many of them, but it'slike you're you're looking for a
solution ultimately.
And so with that sorry, I wentblank for a second With that,
once that click happens, it'sdirecting you realistically to a
website in most commonexperiences, right.
How do you keep them there?
How do you provide clarity?

(23:24):
How do you build on that trust,right?
And so having video front andcenter is a great way to do that
.
There's data bound.
That, like having video abovethe fold on the homepage, keeps
people on site.
The more time they're with you,the more engaged they are, the
more interested and intriguedthey are in your solution, right
?
So that's where the beginningof the video marketing trifecta

(23:47):
starts.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
Right.

Speaker 2 (23:48):
If it's sold, a click they've arrived on your site,
the.
So to expand a bit more on thatdifferentiation demonstration,
validation of those types ofvideos is is is really the other
way I like to describe.
It is speaking to the heart,speaking to the mind, and then

(24:10):
that's sort of then, that gutcheck of trust before making a
commitment.
Practically, anthem videos,anthem videos, are that mission,
those values, that, why that?
Why you exist, why youraudiences should care, your
differentiation, right, thatfirst prong of the trifecta.
The second prong are thoseexplainer videos.
Right, they demonstrate whatyou do and how you do it

(24:34):
Succinctly, clearly.
They often speak to pain point,solution sets or like leaning
into certain industry segments.
Right, like what you do and howyou do it in a certain industry
or category.
Right, like how, like, um, whatyou do and how you do it in a
certain industry or category.
Right, yeah, the third prong ofthe trifecta is those
endorsement videos.
They express um, who, whoyou're for and where, and that's

(24:55):
often that customer testimonial, that case study, that customer
hero video.
Right that showcases orinvalidates your, your, your, um
, your solution through the, thevoice and perspective of a
customer.
Right that showcases orinvalidates your solution
through the voice andperspective of a customer right.
So these three prongs reallybuild a strong foundation and
they build that buyer's journeyand that's that framework that
we've found is really successful.

(25:16):
And from there, any of thoseprongs can have a ripple effect
on the rest of your category orthe rest of your brand.
Right, like taking any B rollor testimonial soundbites and
like transforming those intoother digital assets.
Right, using them as socialfodder.
We've had a lot of our art from, like an explainer video, being

(25:38):
repurposed into a trade showbooth.
Right, because that art isreally impactful.
So it's like the investment inthose key assets is really
critical from a marketing andsales standpoint.
But then you've also builtyou're starting to build and
compound on a robust librarythat can be used and repurposed

(25:58):
throughout the sort of buyer'sjourney.
Right, but certainly at thebottom, to just show up
consistently and repeatedly onthose channels that you can be
most visible on.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
Interesting and of late we have seen different
companies, including, you know,isecurity, which has always, for
the longest, been a bit, youknow, secretive, not because
they don't want to share butbecause of the security
involvement.
We've seen safety.
We've seen even militaryactually record some of the
proceeding as well as some ofthe acquisitions in terms of

(26:32):
capability, and all these areshared through videos.
But also you have seencompanies and organizations in
sustainability drive face-invideo marketing which actually
shares more capability.
Is there, you know, a way ofdoing this video in a certain
way that really resonates withthe audience addressed?

(26:54):
Or how do they do specializedstorytelling that really compels
the intended audience orcustomers to really relate to it
?
And how do they stand out?
Because, at the end of the day,if it's fundraising, everyone
is fundraising.
If it's security, of course ithas its own issues.
If it's safety, differentcompanies offer different safety

(27:18):
value or such in the business.
So how do they really stand outand what should they focus on?

Speaker 2 (27:25):
Yeah, I always encourage a couple of things
Like.
One is someone should be payingattention to what the audience
is looking for and desiringright, and some of that can be
in the analytics of yourdifferent social platforms or at
your key events or talking tosales right Anyone that's on the
front lines of conversationswith customers.
They are primed to help supportyour storytelling and video

(27:49):
marketing initiatives right.
But on the whole, you got tolook internally too.
If there's a message thatyou're either struggling to
synthesize or there's a momentof inflection, so like a company
rebrand or a company launch ofa product or service, or a sales

(28:11):
kickoff or a customerexperience event Like these are
really important moments in time.
There's a lot of attention,there's a lot of consorted
effort internally working inlockstep to support this moment
in time.
That is such a great time toproduce video that is like of
high impact, high value, right,because it's that we call it

(28:34):
that flagship asset.
Right, like that blue chipmaterial.
That is such a great way toalign the communication, align
brand mechanics, and then it canbe that ripple effect at the
same time to like get yourmessage out across your channels
and across your audiencesegmentations.
So it's sort of the crosssection of those.

(28:56):
Right, like someone is payingattention to the needs of
customers and their desires andwhat they need.
That's inevitably happening inthe business, right.
But it's like someone's ear tothe ground, to the storytelling
moments, and those are usuallythrough the eyes and ears of
customers, right.
And then the calendar.
What are those key moments thatare happening in a calendar
year and how can we make themost impact in those moments?

(29:18):
Video is that path, right.
So I'm often encouraging avideo first mentality, meaning
if you're like, okay, we'regoing through a company rebrand,
how do we lead with video?
Because, because video is, isthe most like, complex medium.
You know there's, there's the,the message is the tone of voice
there's.

(29:38):
There's the brand, there's thewords, there's the, the, the
sentiment of like.
You know what is the music,what is the, the, the feeling,
the vibe, the words.
There's the, the, the sentimentof like.
You know what is the music,what is the, the, the, the
feeling, the vibe we want fromthis thing?
What are the pictures or theimages?
You know, like, it is perfectlycomplex, but if you put in the
effort to produce that piece,you've, you've, you've sort of
invariably supported so manyother aspects of decision-making

(30:02):
, like how do we say our messagein 60 seconds or less, right,
great, that's going to have agreat impact across all of your,
your marketing and sales.
How are we showing up visually?
Great, that's going to really,you know, have an impact across
your brand identity.
And how you produce your visualsfor all your social channels,
right, like what's the, what'sthe tone, like what, what's the

(30:22):
mood we want to evoke here thatreally aligns everybody.
And how they communicate thismessage, like in person or at
events, or on socials or inemails, and all of it, right.
And then there's that librarywhere it's like you've, you've
produced this really impactfulmoment to this video.
You can carve that up intostatic graphics, you can carve

(30:42):
that up into animated g, you cancarve that up into animated
GIFs.
You can make shorter formversions.
You can make vertical versionsfor social channels, right.
So now you have a relative likecampaign of assets that can be
put into email, onto social,into trade shows, into the hands
of your sales force on theirdesktop, you know, um, for
in-person or or or virtualmeetings, right?

(31:05):
So, yeah, again, impact is aword that I use time and time
again, cause it's the most sortof close to the, to the moment,
to what video can really do fora business.

Speaker 1 (31:15):
Absolutely.
And that's actually, uh, bringsme to the you know, the next
question, which is around um,you know, at the end of the day,
people now are shooting videosusing their phone, you know,
using the minimum viable, uh,you know gadget that is
available and, uh, you know, attrifecta you guys offer it

(31:36):
professionally.
At what point do someoneactually outsource this work to
you?
Um, and why is it important forB2B to really, you know, like
you know, outsource this work toyou?
And in this case, why does itmake it a critical difference in
driving conversations andfocusing on that mid funnel?

(32:01):
Because, at the end of the day,there's always the awareness
that is created and someactivation that really goes
thousands and thousands, butthen you close maybe 10 or 20
businesses.
So why is it important toeither do it internally or, at
what point, even if you're doingit internally, to outsource it
to Penant and do this work foryou?

Speaker 2 (32:22):
Yeah, absolutely.
I love that question.
The challenge I always pose islike or the thing that I always
bring up is like firstimpressions count, right so if
you're trying to make a reallygood impression on a buyer,
right, or a customer or a clientis, you don't get many of those

(32:42):
chances right.
And so when you're top, midfunnel, mid funnel especially,
right, like you want to show upwith the right amount of care
and the right amount of likerespect for the audience's time,
right, it's like especiallywhen it's fleeting and you're
trying to build trust at each ofthose sort of rungs.
So, so, while the it's like thefunnel sort of inversed, it's

(33:05):
like you can do a lot of contentat the bottom, but that's
because you've already built,you've already built trust Right
, and people now just want toshow that you show up, to see
that they're supported, to learnmore about the you know your
product rollouts and like theinnovations that you're always
working on to see your people inaction, and so that is is

(33:27):
totally um, fine, for like alower production value.
It's more like getting yourpeople to show up and build
trust on that human to humanlevel.
But when you're further up,it's like less, less content but
more production value, right,like you want to show that the
care and the respect you havefor for your audience's time
when they're just trying to, toto make a quick decision or at

(33:50):
least a thought, a likeconcerted decision on what and
what is the best solution fortheir pain, for their problems,
their challenges that they'rehaving, right.
So, if you can, if you, ifyou're one of a couple
competitors, right, and you'reshowing up audience first, video
first, with production value,to show that you care about this

(34:12):
decision making in this momentand you're trying to give them
the clarity and build on trustto go in your direction, then
why wouldn't you invest in thatway, right, especially when it
has that ripple effect acrossbrand and channel and content
marketing at large, right?
So, yeah, that's how I usually,you know, put it back.

(34:34):
It is sort of my clientsituation is have them
considerable.
If they're the audience, how dothey want to be perceived, you
know?
And so that care and intentionand clarity, those always come
together.

Speaker 1 (34:48):
Yeah, I mean.
That actually brings me anotherquestion that is very important
.
As you're speaking, I wasthinking about it.
You know, shooting the videocontent is the easy part.
There's always the strategy,the planning and what do you
want to see.
But that video is as good as itgoes out and as it's promoted.

(35:08):
How do you advise your clientsto really go about it?
Do they even set a budget forpromotion?
Do you actually include this inwhen you are quoting and do you
help do it?
Or do you just say here areyour videos and these are shared
.
These are strategies, theroadmap on how you share it, or
how does it go?
Because, yeah, I might have thebest of the videos, but if no

(35:36):
one sees them, they're justvideos, right.
So how do you go about thatwith your client, especially B2B
?
Because we know most B2Bcompanies have a marketing team,
they have social mediastrategists, they have different
arms of company.
Now we see CEOs actuallytweeting or sharing some of the
captures.
So how do you go about that tomake sure that you're successful

(35:57):
?

Speaker 2 (35:58):
Yeah, I mean it's the two prominent distinctions,
right, organic and paid.
While we don't do paid in-houseat pennant, we have our
partners to support that right,and so that is like its own
strategy, right, but when itcomes to organic, it's it's
assuring that what we'redelivering is um is the most

(36:21):
resonant on the channels thatthey're being distributed on.
Right, so it's like socialmedia.
Great, making sure it's shorterform versions.
It's it's it's a variety ofversions so they can AB test.
It's showing up with the copythat supports the video.
Right, cause it's there's oftensome copy and a call to action
related to it.
Right, like, how do you makesure that that not just like

(36:46):
fills a content calendar, butit's like supporting the, the
conversion world we're living infrom, from the mid-funnel
strategy.
Right, it's also assuring thatthey have a playbook to be like
great, this is where they shouldlive on your, throughout your
website.
There's probably at least one,if not a couple, places that
this specific video can andshould live throughout the
architecture of your website.
Right, it's assuring that it'sit's in a, in a format and a

(37:08):
file size that can be downloadedby people internally so they
can use, you know, in zoommeetings, they can use on their
iPad at a trade show or etcetera, right, it's making sure
that there's a version that atleast has the closed cat, a
branded closed captioning, ifnot like a text on screen
animated version so that thosecan play at trade shows, right?

(37:28):
So it's really just making surethat you know.
And then it's having theanimated gifts that go into
email to be distributed.
That point to the landing pageor wherever the video is, right,
so that, just that organicdistribution strategy.
While not like, not supercomplex by any means, it's just
like we can come in and be like,hey, like, we would advise you

(37:49):
use it in this, this ways, inthese places, and also like
share it more than once.
You know what I mean.
Like people, it's not oftenthat everybody's on that channel
in that moment.
So, like, build it into yourlike, into your program, um,
your content calendar, so thatit can be repurposed
consistently, you know.
So, yes, that combination oforganic and paid, and again, it

(38:11):
kind of just depends on themoment.
Paid because it's like you'retrying to capture new audiences
while, or new, new potentialclients, right, while also like
informing your current clientsof like what this means in this
moment to them as as as acustomer, you know.

(38:32):
Um, so it sort of just depends,I suppose, on like the purpose
of the trifecta and like the,the content that you're creating
in that, in that moment rightand then just the moment of the
business and what you're tryingto do and activate based on the,
the work yeah, and now we haveseen, uh, emergence of ai, uh,
you know, um, and, and this hasimpacted differently how the

(38:56):
story is told.

Speaker 1 (38:57):
We're told to when, how, in which language?
Are this really impacted yourstrategy in how you build better
for your customer?

Speaker 2 (39:08):
Yeah, I mean AI.
I have a lot of thoughts.
All right, like, even for us.
It's a really attractiveshortcut, right, it's like we
can produce transcripts out ofinterviews Within our editing

(39:28):
software.
It can help us shortcut a fewthings.
But the concern I have is whenwe have conversations with
clients or customers, they'relike, well, let's just produce
the whole thing in AI or let'suse one of these AI video
generators to do it.
It's, it's.
It's not that it's like wrong,it's just is that shortcut going

(39:49):
to build trust with youraudience?
It always, just always, justgoes back to trust.
Like, in what you're producing,does that empower the decision,
empower decision-making by youraudience as it does it build
trust during that moment, right,so yeah, it's.
I mean it's trust during thatmoment, right, so yeah, it's.
I mean it's all reallyattractive and, honestly, as a
creative, it's like, wow, thisis, this is really really

(40:10):
powerful.
But I think it's just likemaking sure that the intentions
and the reasons for, forleveraging the, the image
generation, right, um, is isjust really clear and it's and
it's gonna.
It doesn't.
I mean the adverse is that you,you produce something because
it's a, it's a perceived sort ofcheap shortcut or something

(40:32):
right Is like if that erodes thetrust that you've worked really
hard to to build on today, likethat's terrible, roi, right, so
yeah, and um, um, I also sortof equate it to like to stock
video, um, which is like it hasits purpose, right.
Like sometimes it's like youjust don't have a way to to to

(40:53):
showcase how something isworking in the real world
without you know.
Just take like military anddefense, for example right, it's
like you can't really showcasethat in a lot of ways for so
many red tape reasons, andthat's fine.
So your roots are like go stockor produce something that's
that's new and novel and motiondesign or animated in a way,

(41:15):
right.
Or or like the gives a sort ofimpression of the thing you're
talking about and you're doingit with with live action
production.
The shortcut with with stock isthat, well, you get it done and
you can go to market and use it, but invariably a lot of your
competition is probably usingthe same stock.
Other one like this doesn'thelp with my decision making and

(41:45):
doesn't build on the trust thatthat I want to have with this
customer or with this, with thisum, with this business.
So yeah, so it's often just likecaution combined with care,
right, just like making sureyou're careful and providing
showing up with care for youraudiences.
So yeah, and I get it.
It's like you, like you'rehungry to use this tool.

(42:06):
You know you're eager to get itout there, to have it start
working on your behalf tocompound your efforts.
But yeah, it's not like onemisstep or anything can ruin
that, but it's just those smalldecisions in the creative
certainly do have a long-termimpact.

Speaker 1 (42:25):
Yeah, and actually with trust comes authenticity
right, and in this case you haveto really tell your own story
and be out there sometime,vulnerable sometime, sharing
what has always been a secret orperceive that if it's shared
out there, there'll becompromise, and especially in

(42:47):
the military defense and anyother industry which actually
considers data privacy as anissue for either security or
otherwise.
So why is it essential formarketers to prioritize
authenticity in their videos andwhat steps should they take to
ensure they truly resonate withpotential buyers or potential

(43:09):
customers?

Speaker 2 (43:11):
Yeah, I'm going to answer this a few different ways
.
The one is, like the peopleinside your, your business, your
subject matter experts, right,like they are so valuable to to
to help, like um, showcase yourmessage through through, through
a human lens or a point of view.
You know, and it's like these,these your employees are living,

(43:35):
uh, unique experiences day today right and in like the, the,
the challenges that theircustomers are up against, the
challenges that the industryfaces, and so having the
capacity and, honestly, a bit ofcourage to just like show up
and present these thoughtfulsense of purposes right as the

(43:57):
person on camera, often just inthis type of way right Is, is
really really helpful from abrand because, like, it
humanizes that brand.
It shows that you, you aretrustworthy people behind the,
the, the brands sort of likeallure of of logo and color
palette, you know, and so thatum, that that posture and

(44:18):
ability to show up on camera isa really important skill set um
for for any professional right.
So, and it's really valuable toa brand to have someone being
able to do that um, either inthis way or, of course, like on
a stage or something like that.
So it's always like from aprofessional pov really
important way to to do thatright.

(44:39):
Um, but when it comes to like,uh, the production and and and
writing and and craft of of likethe sort of higher production
value, right, there's a lot oflike control within that.
That creative, it's like, yeah,the creative development and
expression is a bit not likefreewheeling, but it's meant to
be like a bit ambiguous becauseyou're exploring, you're trying
to be like what is ambiguousbecause you're exploring, you're

(45:01):
trying to be like what is theright sort of avenue or path to
take here creatively or visuallyor tonally, right.
But once you arrive at that sortof milestone, there's a lot of
control within the words andlike how you're portraying an
idea, how you're conveying anemotion or a sentiment, right,
and so there's a lot ofopportunity in there to you're

(45:23):
not trying to like skirt aroundanything that, but like you can
sort of be matter of fact, likeif there's, you know, if you
work in a business or in anindustry that has tremendous NDA
considerations, it's likethat's okay, lean into that and
describe it as it is, and likepeople will trust you for that,
and like, oh, that makes sense,you know, and so I think it's

(45:43):
that combination right Of likeputting your people, giving them
the like, empowering them andsupporting them to put their
ideas and intentions out therethat align with you, because you
know they're working on your,you know you're working with
them and they're working withyou right From an employer
standpoint.
Yeah, and just being careful inhow you show up for your

(46:05):
audiences with the higherproduction value, mid-funnel
types of content.

Speaker 1 (46:10):
Interesting.
Now this actually gives me someperspective.
You're giving experience in theindustry.
Assuming I'm a beginner of youknow I want to venture into this
.
You know video storytelling.
Is there any tips to start with, or do I need also to work for
someone to understand how itworks?

(46:30):
Develop my acumen?
You know, understand all theloops?
Or should I just take my iPhone, go to the biggest company in
the valley or Boston or you knowNairobi, and say you know what?
I can tell your story better?
Because today we have so manyinfluencers with over a million
followers across differentchannels who actually have been

(46:53):
building this just using theirphone.
We've seen also big names inthe industry struggle to even
use these influencers to gettheir brand out there.
How should that look like?
Should I land the ropes, maybeusing Penant as an intern or an
employee, and then start my owncompany?
Or should I go with what I haveand start?

Speaker 2 (47:15):
Yeah, wow, that's a great question.
It's almost like what would Isay to my past self today, right
, I mean, as we spoke to my like, as I was describing my
experience like a lot of it wasjust leaning in and doing it
myself.
Like just like understandingthe mechanics, right, Like, okay
, like what does it mean from?

(47:36):
Like lighting?
Right, like there's so much youcan do with lighting.
It almost always start there,it almost always starts there
and then it's like all right,what about the, the, the
movement of a camera, like theperspective of the lens?
Right, like the perspectivethat I want the audience to have
, like the feeling that thatevokes through that.
Then, of course, audio.
It's like, yeah, of course,there's like the, the, the

(48:00):
spoken message, but then there'slike the undercurrent of a
music, better, or the tone there, the sound design, to like help
bring the audience in right.
So it's, it is tremendouslycomplex, but like you kind of
don't know that until you, untilyou do it yourself, right.
So it's like get, just divingin, is, is it kind of the best
first thing, I would say, um,but have the, I don't know, have

(48:22):
the, the right system in placefor yourself to make sure that
you're, you're learning alongthe way.
You can't just like produce andwalk away.
It's like, well, you need toget feedback from people.
You need to seek out those likeanything.
You need to seek out thosementors that can help advise,
like how this could be improved.
Go to I YouTube has atremendous amount of resources
on, on, on video and productionand the sort of value behind

(48:46):
that Right.
And then storytelling too.
That's its only, that's its ownbeast in another way, right.
So I think it's like thatcombination of your passion for,
for, for the, the, the industryor or the mission that you're
aligned with, right.
And then the courage to sort ofshow up and produce and iterate
and learn and improve andhonestly, just watching yourself

(49:09):
, you learn a lot about.
You know just sort of like justyour own posture and how you
speak and present yourself right, and so all of those things in
repetition and consistency willget you where you need to go.

Speaker 1 (49:22):
Interesting.
So in fact, there's one thingeven me I've been like asking
myself, because on the side I'ma pro DJ and I know the power of
music.
Then I've been following youknow big production houses and
how they use the background,sound effects and whatnot.
Does it mean, if you're reallya big production house, this

(49:44):
aspect of sound engineering,people who are thinking like
what goes well with this kind ofstory and so on and so forth,
and does that mean now you know,even set the bar higher?
Once you know you, you know youestablish your acumen, then you
need to also think about soundengineers.
You know even artists to someextent yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2 (50:05):
I mean, I think when I started out early it was like
I want to, I want to film on myown stuff, yeah, but then I need
to edit it.
So I was like, great, I learnedsort of those two like key
elements.
But then it's like thepre-production of planning and
like having a sound logisticsplan and like lighting plan and
just all of those strategybehind it, all Right, it's like

(50:27):
you start to become awell-rounded, like jack of all
trades.
Right, but eventually and thisis where I'm at my career it's
like working with experts ineach of those parts of the
system.
So, like the director ofphotography, someone that's like
really paying attention to thelighting and the mood and the
capture of what we're trying toproduce here right.

(50:48):
Working with that sound engineer, the person that can, like
really get the best tones out ofwhatever you know.
It's the voice, the voiceover,if it's the room that we're in
right.
Like the sound design to helplike lift up the things that
we're in.
Right.
Like the sound design to helplike lift up the things that
were that were showing.
Right.
Working with writers, likesomeone that are really, really
excellent at their craft andchoosing the right amount of

(51:09):
words that can be compressedinto a 60 second video as an
incredible, incredible skill,right.
And then editors, right, likesomeone that can take a mountain
of footage and condense it downinto a uh, you know, a paste
and and and compelling andengaging visual story, right Is
is a really true art form.
So, yeah, it's, it's one ofthose things where, like, if you

(51:31):
, if you do it all of your, allyourself, you learn and have a
tremendous respect for all thedifferent components of like how
video is produced, and that's ahuge leg up, right, but then
eventually you'll you'llrecognize in yourself, like,
what are the things that sort ofbring you the most energy, or
the things that you're most sortof like passionate about that,
the parts of the craft that you,you really are just excited

(51:54):
about, frankly, right, and theothers?
You'll find those, those keyplayers that are also really
passionate about the thingswhile you're not passionate
about them.
They, they, they synergize andthey connect together in a
puzzle, you know, um, so yeah.

Speaker 1 (52:07):
Interesting Uh and and these actually gives us a
chance for you to give uh, where, where, if someone wanted to
engage you, where do they findyou and what?

Speaker 2 (52:17):
does that mean, do you?

Speaker 1 (52:19):
serve US businesses find you, and what does that
mean?
Do you have us businesses?
Do you serve global businesses?
If it's global businesses, howdoes that work?
Do you come on the ground?
How does it work?

Speaker 2 (52:28):
yeah, no, I appreciate that.
Yeah, so from, uh, like abusiness standpoint.
So pennant, pennant video yep,uh, we're at pennant dot video
or pennant video dot.
Um, I should actually mentionthat while, while while you're
there, we have a ungated um.
We call it a playbook, but it'sit's a, it's an ebook that

(52:49):
supports a lot of what we talkedabout today.
That's sort of funnel focusedum playbook to help marketers
better understand, like what isthe right type of video, where,
when building out a buyer'sjourney right, and where to sort
of put the most concertedefforts.
So, yeah, I encourage anyone toto go to the website and um can
can grab that, that um, thatebook.

(53:11):
It's just a PDF download.
Uh, there's also a little quizin there which is fun.
It sort of like helps youunderstand, like where you're at
in your own sort of videomarketing development journey.
So that's I've.
I've heard that's reallyhelpful for folks.
But, yeah, so we're.
We are really focused on sectorsthat embody safety, security

(53:31):
and sustainability as their coremissions.
So what that really means, orwhat that means, is, like med
tech, healthcare, life sciences,cybersecurity, data.
Oh nice, perfect, yeah, sothere's that pop-up that just
came up.
Where was I?
Oh, green tech.

(53:53):
I'm a tech, right, so all ofthat is where we really aspire
to be and that we know we canreally support these really
innovative and competitiveindustries right, with the power
of video.
These are usually like highgrowth types of businesses or
like really mature enterprise,right, like ones that need a lot

(54:16):
of good video or ones that needlike very selective good video
to help amplify their message,right, um, so that's where we,
where we exist, um, but then forme personally, right, like I'm
always, um, I'm very active onlinkedin, like you said.
So, um, you can find me at timbradley pennant.
Um, our, our, you know, ourbusiness has a linkedin too, but

(54:38):
that's the primary channel forus, yep, so there's a few
examples of our work there.
There's a lot more that camefrom we're actually, I'm like
sort of chuckling because we'reredoing our website right now,
so in about a month's time,there'll be quite a bit more
examples on there.
But, yeah, I'm excited forpeople to check out the work and
if they want to learn moreabout just video marketing

(55:00):
strategy at large, I'm I'm on.

Speaker 1 (55:01):
I'm on linkedin oh, nice, and this is good.
Uh, definitely looks like youhave done some really, really
good work.
Uh, maybe, as we, you know, wecheck out your work.
Uh, you know, as you conclude,we normally do a proverbs, right
, your favorite proverbs?
Then, because you have gooddaddy jokes, you can give us one

(55:25):
of those.
And if you are an avid reader,which is the best book that you
could read the rest of your lifeif you had to read just one
book?

Speaker 2 (55:35):
Oh wow, those are tough questions.
I'm looking on my bookshelfabove me right now to see what.
What I might say um a proverb.
Yeah, I'm not sure about aproverb specifically, but this,
this uh the microwave.
As you know, it is history well,uh, a mentor of mine gave me

(55:56):
this phrase um, you can doanything for 90 days, and that I
, I found, has been reallyhelpful.
When I'm, you know, as thatsort of business entrepreneur,
right, it's like this feelsreally challenging to like
onboard this, this new system,or onboard this new or produce
this, this new part of oursystem, right, and, and the

(56:19):
mechanics of that is just like.
Getting started is alwayschallenging, right, but like the
mentality of you can doanything for 90 days is just
like been really helpful for meas like a bit of a mantra, and
it's like you're right, likesuddenly you're, you're like an
expert at there, at least on thepath to being an expert after
that 90 days, right.
So a lot of that just helpswith the, you know, helps you

(56:40):
build a framework forconsistency and and just making
sure it's sustainable andpredictable, right, um, so I
think that would be.
Yeah, any daddy jokes?
No, it's usually like.
The beauty of a dad joke isthat it's often like in the

(57:02):
moment of life, you know, yousee something and you riff on it
and it's so silly.
So I have a nine-year-olddaughter and a six-year-old son.
And so it's really living thatdad life right now.
It's fun yeah.

Speaker 1 (57:19):
So I mean that's really awesome, and thank you so
much, Tim, for making time forthis.
It's just the beginning of thestory.
I'm sure we can loop in infuture and talk about more.

Speaker 2 (57:30):
I'd be happy to it's doing.

Speaker 1 (57:34):
I like some of those innovations.
Possibly you come or we meet inSan Francisco and Nairobi.

Speaker 2 (57:40):
We can actually meet in person.

Speaker 1 (57:40):
Likewise, if you come or we meet in San Francisco or
Nairobi, we can actually meet inperson.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
Likewise if you come to the East Coast, if you come
to Boston or New York, let meknow.

Speaker 1 (57:46):
Definitely.
I normally come there.
In fact, I was there last yearit's just that we're not
connected.
But without further ado, thisis Impact Masters.
We also offer software as aservice, design as a service,
developer relations anddeveloper community and
developer experience as aservice.
We are a community that isthriving, trying to connect the

(58:08):
Silicon Valley and Nairobi,which is Silicon Savannah, with
the intention of bringing allthe innovators together, and
we've started with the storieswhich we are telling for all the
innovators around the world,which we are telling for all the
innovators around the world,with the intention of also
building a hacker space thatpeople can join creatives,
engineers, creatives to be ableto fuse the energy as well as

(58:31):
tell their story.
So I work for Africa Stalking,which is a communication
platform service offering 2Gsolutions, that is, SMS, SSD,
voice, and now CAI, which ismore or less a voice with AI, in
collaboration with our partnerslike Google and Mozilla.

(58:54):
So you can check us out atafricastockingcom and
impactmastersio.
My name is Michael Kimathi,until next time enjoy.

Speaker 2 (59:13):
Goodbye everyone, thank you.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#56 Impact Masters Podcast: Unlocking the Power of Video: Video Marketing Trifecta

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.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}On Purpose with Jay Shetty

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All Episodes

#56 Impact Masters Podcast: Unlocking the Power of Video: Video Marketing Trifecta

On Purpose with Jay Shetty