Working with a video production company is an exciting time when a brief you are passionate about can come to life. You likely spent some time researching the agency in question and are looking forward to the collaboration.
Like in any long-term project where a lot of time and money are at stake, however, specific challenges stand in the way of smooth sailing. With a bit of mindfulness, these can be avoided. Of course, you can only control your side of the interaction, but it’s worth making sure that the buck doesn’t stop with you.
In this post, we’ll discuss how to ensure your collaboration with a video production company goes as smoothly as possible.
Be Clear About Your Vision
A video production company can only create a film that meets your vision if they understand it. Remember, an agency is likely new to your brand, so they will need a little hand-holding until they know exactly what you’re about. A good agency will ask the right questions to start this conversation. Still, it helps if you share your foundational vision, like:
- Your brand’s purpose, vision and values
- How the project contributes to your content strategy
- What the objective of the brief is
This is a meaningful conversation to have, even for one-off projects!
Create a Distribution Plan
How content type is prepared depends on where it will be distributed. Different channels have different best practices that a production company will consider. Deciding on your distribution strategy upfront is essential for video production, primarily because of just how many moving parts go into making a great video.
Also, let your video agency know if there are any specific requirements for the final project. For example, that content will need to fit into a 30-second ad.
Nail Your Project Brief
Your project brief is vitally important to the success of a project. It’s what your partners will use for guidance as they develop ideas and create a vision.
There are a lot of common pitfalls with project briefs that can delay the project, confuse the team, or make it difficult to align the final vision.
- Don’t be too ambitious. If you’re working with a concise ad, be aware that there are limits to how much you can cover. Don’t overestimate your budget. Shoot for the moon, and in this case, you might end up in the vast emptiness of space.
- Translate any industry-specific, confusing terms. Your video agency is an expert on video production but might not know anything about the automotive parts you advertise to a specific client.
- Don’t be too vague! Use descriptive words to emphasise what feeling you want your project to invoke in the audience. The more specific you can be, the clearer a vision you’ll produce for your video production partners.
- Keep it short. Don’t make your video production company read through an entire handbook to understand your business. Communicate what you and the project are about concisely. It doesn’t hurt to help your video production company get as excited about the brief as you are!
Take an Agile Approach
Many video production companies nowadays take an agile approach to any new project. This means they will create ideas, then iterate them through feedback, and keep going in small steps until they have found the perfect solution to a brief. For this to work, you need to be part of the process.
Be willing to give feedback frequently and stay involved with the process. However, don’t narrow down ideas from the start, and be open to new perspectives. Instead, you should be an active part of the brainstorming process and consider the agency’s expertise.
ZAK works with an agile video production company in London to bring the visions of unique, mould-breaking brands to life freshly and excitingly. So to start telling your brand’s story, get in touch today!
