Friday, February 22, 2013

Five-and-a-Half Steps to a Great Video: The Pagano Video Method
- Step Two



Five-and-a-Half Steps to a Great Video: 
The Pagano Video Method - Step Two

Welcome back!

In our last installment of this series, we looked at the first step in my method for creating a great video.   We started by borrowing a page from the actors' handbook and began to create a back story.  The back story, you'll remember, is a trick actors use to give their characters depth, personality, and the motivation that leads them to their current situation -- a moment in time we experience as a movie, play or TV show.  It's the story behind the story. 

Step Two: What's your product?
In this installment, we continue building on the back story by asking another key question that this time will give us knowledge about the main character in the video.  That main character is your product or service:  The star of the show.

What do we know about the star?  At this stage, not much.  From the exercise we completed in Step One we know about you and your business, but the star of our show -- your product or service -- is still an unknown.  So now let's learn about your product or service. 


Question Two:  "What's Your Product?"

"Pizza Boxes." 

I have to admit, if this were a real conversation with a real client, I'd be grinning right now.  The idea of making a video with pizza boxes as the star would never occur to me.  I haven't really thought much about pizza boxes at any time I can remember.  Sure, I've thought a lot about the pizza.  But the box?  Not so much. 

"So tell me about pizza boxes…"

"Well Fred, you'd be surprised at the variety of pizza boxes.  They come in many different sizes and shapes."

"Shapes, you say?"

"Yes-- there are square ones, of course, but there are also octagons, round ones, and some that are wedge shaped, for single servings."

"I've never seen a round pizza box."

"They're fairly new to the market, but they're catching on.  You see them more in high-end pizza restaurants." 

"Why mostly in high-end shops?"

"It's because gourmet pizzas are gaining in popularity.  The operators want to show off the uniqueness of their product, and one of the best ways they can do that is with a box that's unique.  You wouldn't put a diamond ring in a cardboard box, and the gourmet pizza purveyors feel the same way. 

"Customers like them too.  And the really interesting thing is that our research shows, over and over, that just putting a pizza in a premium box means an operator can charge two, three, even five dollars more for the same pizza.  Just because of the box, which only adds about 25 cents to the cost."

Eureka!  We've discovered the star power of the pizza box.  Spending an extra 25 cents on the box brings in up to $4.75 in extra income.

Had we not taken the time to learn everything we could about the product, we wouldn't have gotten this extremely important bit of information  Is there any question that we'll be talking this fact up big in the pizza box video?  You bet we will.  It's a gem!

When you're planning for a video, be sure to learn everything possible about the product involved.  It's the star of the show, so make sure you give it the star treatment.

Next time we mark the halfway point in the Pagano Video Method and ask yet another key question in the pre-production process:  What do you want to do?

See you then!

Best,
Fred Pagano


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Don't want to wait for the next article in this series?  Learn more about the Pagano Video Method and how it can help you produce great videos direct from the source.  Contact Fred Pagano at Brown Cow Studios today!  

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Copyright 2013 Fred Pagano & Brown Cow Studios of Boston.  All rights reserved.  This copyrighted article may be redistributed provided all text, credits, and this copyright notice are intact.  Please let us know you've linked to us. 

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