Feb
2012
Smart PRs get visual
The future language of the Internet isn’t Mandarin, it’s video.
Video is the new currency of the web. We create it, watch it and share it. The internet is transforming from textual to visual. Of the 1.8 billion internet users, almost half post graphical content, photo or video.
In a blog post last month, YouTube revealed some of its own astonishing figures:
- Every second, one hour of video is uploaded to YouTube
- A decade’s worth of video is uploaded every day
- Every 10 days, a century of video is uploaded
- There are four billion views a day on YouTube
Meeting the demand, savvy media outlets are riding the trend and adapting distribution channels to feed this online video appetite. In the UK, The Daily Telegraph already has an established video channel, while in the US The New York Times recently started its own daily businesscast. Other US titles such as The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and Huffington Post are following suit and announcing plans to join the visual revolution.
As The New York Times explained “The Internet and a fleet of devices like the iPad have made it possible for, say, The Wall Street Journal to compete with CNBC and CNN for viewers’ time”.
So what does this mean for us PRs? Well for the smart ones, it’s pretty significant. When working with our clients, we should champion visual content and consider how a story could transform into moving pictures. The days of independent broadcast pitches are over, a true pitch should translate to every medium – print, online and video.
Understanding how media is consumed is key to the success of any brand. If we continue to churn out text releases, are we best serving our clients’ needs? Is this really the most effective way of sharing our message?
The next time you pick up the phone to a journalist to sell your story, stop and ask yourself – is there a more imaginative way?
