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A Website Without Video Is Like
ell-O Without Whip Cream the Chicago Bulls stink? It's
just that without MJ they're not
Do you like Jell-O? It's the Chicago Bulls of old. When
Okay I guess; I mean it's not a Michael played we all watched, he
hot fudge sundae is it? But if was magic, he wasn't just a great
you add a little whip cream, then basketball player, he was a great
my friend you've got something personality and he gave the team
worth calling dessert. My it's character; no Michael, no
question to you is, does your personality.
website have that something
extra, that dollop of whip cream Is your website like the new
on top that says, "oh mama let me Chicago Bulls, a talented group
at it," or does it just lie there of players with skills but no
squirming in your dish with the singular personality? Time for a
sound of Peggy Lee's voice humanity injection, add a
ringing in your ears, "is that Web-video featuring a signature
all there is?" character host who can generate
some excitement and establish
If your website disappointments, your unique business personality.
you need something that provides
the 'eureka factor' and that can Television Without Sound
be provided with a creative,
informative Web-video. You're watching your favorite
television show, say CSI, the
The Chicago Bulls Without Michael Vegas one not Miami, and the
Jordan phone rings. It's your mother.
You turn the television's sound
How the mighty have fallen, at down so you can hear her but
least in terms of brand you're still watching the show.
personality. I mean it's not like You love your Mom but Grissom has
just discovered a new miniature hide it. A lousy video script is
killer clue and you need to know no better than lousy print copy.
what is going on, but your Mom is Your Web-audience has no patience
carrying on about how your Dad for mumbo-jumbo that masquerades
needs new dentures or something… as information or for text and
Frustrating. No audio, no dialog that says nothing in as
information. many words as possible in an
effort to attract the search
Does your website have the same engines. Words have meaning, say
effect as watching television them with style and deliver them
without the sound. It's there, with conviction.
people visit, but they leave
without getting your message. The Rumba Without Rhythm
Time to add a little life to your
presentation in the form of a Have you ever sat at a wedding
Web-video that tells your story and watched people dance? There
out loud. are the people who know how to
move, how to respond to the their
Words Without Meaning partners and to communicate with
the slightest of gestures or
Have you ever reread someone's movements. And then there are the
website copy several times and others who look like they've got
still not understood what the something icky stuck to the
heck they're trying to tell you, bottom of their shoes and are
or maybe you understand every trying desperately to remove it.
word but still can't figure out
what they're selling? If you want to communicate to
your audience, you have to use
Words have meaning, they are all the techniques available.
meant to convey a message not Communication is more than just
copy, its voice, gesture,
movement and meaningful dialog. Everybody likes a funny story. A
good joke is nothing more than a
Romance Without Kisses short story with a set-up, an
escalation, and a twist, but the
Ah … the first kiss, something real key to a good story lies in
special that can seal a the telling. Even comedians with
relationship or sour it forever. second-rate material can get
Your landing page is like that their audience's howling if they
first embrace. Is yours as know how to deliver their
exciting as it could be, or is it material.
like the guy who spends the
entire first date talking about It's all well and good to repeat
his double entry booking keeping the mantra, "websites are about
skills? content," but if that content
isn't delivered with some style
A well-crafted, expertly and panache, don't expect anybody
presented marketing message is to pay much attention.
like a seduction; if you're not
generating any excitement don't A Song Without A Hook
expect to produce any sales
either. Boring mission statement Hit songs are highly structured
gobbledygook and keyword-laden stories with verses that function
palaver are not the same as an as chapters or acts, and a chorus
enticing video. An engaging that provides the hook that
business story, well told, is sticks in your audience's heads.
like a juicy wet-one planted Add a toe tapping beat and some
right on your audience's lips. instrumental flourishes and
you've got something that people
A Joke Without A Punch Line will listen to over and over
again. interactivity thing. Let's all
get interactive, why? I mean what
Does that sound like your website is interactivity anyway? Is it
presentation? Are people willing developing a hugely expensive
to come back to your site just to game that people can play on your
watch your presentation, or does website to avoid working, or is
your website leave visitors with it getting them to click on the
a 'been there, done that' "Tell Me More" button?
impression?
I vote for the interactivity that
Information Without Knowledge leads to opening a dialogue with
a potential client, one that gets
Just because you're in business visitors to pick up the phone and
doesn't mean you've got to be call you to discuss their needs,
boring. And just because you dump not the one that generates a
a lot of facts and figures and "Game Over" message. Of course
bulleted points onto your that assumes you're willing to
Web-pages doesn't mean you're actually talk to customers.
making a convincing argument for
anyone to buy your stuff. Frequency Without Resonance
Web audiences demand more. If you I happened to like vinegar on my
won't give it to them, you can be fries, Okay it's weird I admit
sure someone else will, like it, but the Dutch like mayonnaise
maybe your competition. on theirs, even weirder. I once
had a chef in a Tucson restaurant
Interactivity Without Purpose come out of the kitchen and
confront me when I asked the
Can we all just stop and take a waiter for vinegar (it's a
breath and think about this whole Canadian thing). The chef
approached the table and asked survival.
who ordered the vinegar? I
reluctantly raised my hand. "You A guy slips on a banana and
must be from Canada," he said, breaks his neck - that's not
"I'm from Victoria, where you funny. A guy slips on a banana,
from?" jumps up and looks around to see
if anybody saw - that's funny.
Good advertising is all about Humor is based on creating some
delivering a message that sense of uncertainty or tension
resonates with your audience. It that is ultimately relieved with
doesn't matter how many times you a humorous punch line or
run an advertisement if that comforting resolution. The safe
advertisement doesn't make an or amusing resolution creates a
impression on your audience. You chain reaction in the audience
can't be afraid to be creative or that signals, "hay guys, all is
even a bit weird. well; everything is back to
normal."
Humor Without Laughter
Without tension there can be no
Dr. Max Sutherland in his e-mail relief, no opportunity for an
newsletter report, "False Alarm entertaining resolution that
Theory: How Humorous Ads Work" creates a cascading viral
describes how laughter is a reaction among your audience. So
hardwired residual mechanism that don't expect your website to be
developed in our ape days as an passed on to friends and
'all clear' signal once a danger colleagues unless you deliver a
had past. The 'all clear' message compelling presentation that
is passed on from one ape to offers the opportunity to signal
another, until the entire troop the rest of the world that all is
is screeching with the ecstasy of well.
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About the Author:
Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia, a website design firm that specializes in Web-audio and Web-video. Visit http://www.mrpwebmedia.com/ads, http://www.136words.com, and http://www.sonicpersonality.com. Contact at info@mrpwebmedia.com or telephone (905) 764-1246.
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