It was the late ‘90s at a conference in Boston’s Copley Square. A PR industry veteran pulled his chair close to mine, cocked his head, and leaned in. I was a fresh-faced 26-year-old whose blog-focused influencer campaign had been the talk of the meeting. This new approach from a Gen X kid was foreign and fascinating, if not a bit frightening, to a crowd that lived and died by traditional media relationships.

“You know, some people try their whole career to get a Silver Anvil,” he sneered, referring to the Oscars of the profession, which the campaign had just earned. “You’ve got nothing more to prove. So what will you do now?”

I blurted out the only thing that came to mind, “More of the same, I guess.”
 
Two decades and a few award-winning initiatives later, colleagues are still asking what “the same” is, imaging it to be a secret sauce of some kind. The truth is there’s little secret to capturing people’s imagination, influencing new attitudes, and guiding new behaviors. It comes down to four ingredients that apply to most every scenario, regardless of budget, geography, industry or other variables.

• Eyes on the End Game. Success is dependent on truly understanding and doggedly pursuing the underlying organizational need. What are we ultimately trying to accomplish? Only then can communications figure out its role in making that happen, working as part of a broader mix.
  When Honeywell and Weber Shandwick needed to draw attention to the company’s safety and productivity solutions market presence, it did more than simply raise awareness. Its live broadcast approach created nearly 2,200 leads, $12 million in same-year revenue, and a pipeline of nearly $50 million in potential business.
  
  
• Bravery. It takes conviction to attempt something that’s never been done before. Words such as ‘unprecedented’, ‘impossible’ and ‘never’, thrown down by naysayers, are instead galvanizing. They’re what an award-winning team loves to hear, taking them as a challenge to break new ground.
  Take Adam Ritchie Brand Direction, which launched The Lights Out’s new album on the side of an Aeronaut Brewing Co. craft beer can, making an end run around the “safe” (and often ineffective) way to introduce new music.
  
  
• The Right People. The people matter. It takes a team willing to take on a task with humor, resolve and trust in one another, to be confident enough to risk (and learn from) failure. The best are not dominated by agency or client, creative or account, or any other label. They feed off the contributions of everyone.
  CORE Director Lyndon Jones’ first reaction to the brand launch concept proposed by McDougall Communication was stark: “That’s completely and utterly nuts.” Yet his trust in the team and understanding that a conservative introduction would lead to modest outcomes compelled him to give the green light. The result became the talk of the eye care profession.
  
  
• Inspired Storytelling. No matter how creative a program, no matter how phenomenal the results, the efforts and outcomes will go unrecognized if we can’t bring them to life using all the tools at our disposal. Judge a global awards competition, and you’ll find that only a fraction of nominees – being considered for their communications prowess – are able to weave a compelling tale of their own campaigns.
  When Strongbow Hard Apple Ciders teamed with Swale to bring nature to New York City, it captured the effort with a short-form video that puts you in the middle of the Hudson River.

 
So when I was in Manhattan a few weeks ago for the 2018 Silver Anvils, I could only smile as an industry peer walked over to my dinner table and pointed to the gleaming statuette in front of me.

“Congratulations! People work for a long time to earn one of those. Is it your first?”
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Giving her my thanks, I quietly admitted it was not, remaining out of earshot from others nearby when answering how many I’d won. Her jaw dropped, and she mouthed one word: “how?”

With a wink, I gave the only answer I knew. “Let’s chalk it up to more of the same.”

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Mike has contributed to some of the communications industry’s most celebrated teams and programs, which have earned recognition from PRSA, PRWeek, The Holmes Report, PR News and others for innovation and results. The 2018 Silver Anvil in conjunction with CORE marks the 12th of his career.

In the race for social media engagement, compelling video and still images are quickly leaving other communication vehicles in the dust.

Don’t just take our word for it. According to Cisco Visual Networking Index, global consumer Internet video traffic will account for 80 percent of all consumer Internet traffic by 2019. Taking the analysis a step further—think about this for a moment—Cisco finds for every second, a million minutes (17,000 hours) of video content will cross global IP networks by 2021.

If that isn’t astounding enough, let’s look solely at Facebook. When you see someone glued to their smartphone, chances are they’re watching a Facebook video. Over 500 million (or half a billion) people are watching Facebook videos every day. And Charlie Chaplin would love this: only 7 percent of Facebook video views are clicked to play sound. More than 93 percent are viewed on auto-play while scrolling through the news feed. Most views last under 10 seconds, so the first three seconds are crucial. But there are steps you can take to optimize viewing: great images peak viewer interest, and captions—another great attention grabber—can be automatically added on Facebook.

The question: How to create short, sharable videos to post on social media quickly and easily to generate maximum awareness and engagement? Here is a list of free, user-friendly video editing apps for your smartphone:

• Splice—From the makers of GoPro, this video editing app is for iPhone and iPad users. You can import video directly from your device, GoPro or otherwise, allowing you to create compelling videos quickly and easily.

 

• Quik—Also from GoPro, this app is for Android users. You simply select your favorite photos or video, and in seconds, Quik creates a beautiful video complete with transitions and effects, all synced to music. You can add text overlays and slides, as well.

 

• iMovie—Apple’s own video editing app comes free with new devices and has been enhanced with added features. The app allows you to edit video easily with added filters, movie-style effects, music, voiceovers, graphics and more.

 

• FilmoraGo—A video editing app for Android users to turn photos and mobile video clips into something people want to watch. Has all the features you’d expect to help take your videos to the next level by adding still and motion graphics, animation, you can even create reverse video. Now that’s an eye-opener!

 

• Adobe Premiere Clip—A great free video editing app for both iOS and Android users, it allows you to drag and drop video or images on a timeline to create basic videos in a matter of seconds. And it’s easy to share them on social media or sync them on the Adobe Creative Cloud to access the more advanced Premiere Pro CC.

 
Overall, it’s never been easier to create short, compelling videos that will attract an audience, take your content marketing to the next level, and watch your social media engagement soar. 

By Charla Kucko