What Video Mountain Do You Need to Move?
As soon as you call your latest project, a “corporate video” you’ve signed its death warrant.
No matter what so-called “marketing experts” may tell you, not one person on this or any other planet will stop what they’re doing to watch a corporate video.
No one wants to hear you boast about your 100,000 square feet of state-of-the-art facilities, factory-trained technicians or global supply chain superlatives. No one wants to watch canned responses from happy employees claiming they belong to a ‘family’. No one connects with a professional façade or pure vanilla platitudes.
In a post-trust world, people are craving real.
They hunger for true and meaningful connection.
Something beyond the buzzword that has become “authenticity”.
They want you to pull the curtain back. Reveal something true about yourself.
Your values. What you believe in. Stuff you care about beyond work.
No matter what industry or category you compete, people want to hear your story. They want to know what makes you leap out of bed in the morning. And if you’re two soft-spoken roofers from the Canadian Rockies, they want to breathe the same mountain air as you. Before embracing video marketing, Craig Nelson and Mike Boonstoppel made a prudent decision to focus on long-term strategy. They began gaining unusual clarity on their brand identity well in advance of bringing in lights, cameras and film directors. In other words, they played a much longer game by getting their brand story straight in the first place.
See what Craig and Mike have done to illustrate what’s possible and inspire you to Move The Video Mountain in this edition of Leaders & Legends.
“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
STEVE JOBS
Strategic Visionaries of Digital Video Marketing
Entering 2024, digital video marketing in North America is fast becoming a $200 Billion industry. Those numbers confirm that the fallout from the pandemic fundamentally and forever shifted viewer habits and video marketing for businesses of all sizes – including yours.
Even when money is tight and resources thin, there are business leaders like Craig Nelson and Mike Boonstoppel of Sure West Roofing who can see far enough into the future. They recognized the average person is watching more online video than ever before and they knew they had to be in front of that curve.
Snake oil salesmen may tell you that moving the video mountain is fast, easy and quick. Don’t believe it for a minute. Otherwise, you run the risk of repeating what happened that fateful day in the Garden of Eden when the serpent of temptation convinced Eve to offer Adam the apple.
Craig and Mike understood from Day One, that there is no sure road to paradise called Video Marketing success. However, the surest path to failure is not having a long-term strategy. Which is why they invested considerable time and effort to sharpen the tip of their strategy spear.
They invested in the discovery of their own Story.
They were already living it. Now they are telling it.
The Sure West Signature Story
When you watch their Signature Story, you can readily see Craig and Mike are among the few who were willing to practice on small hills. After some intensive exercises, assignments, rewrites and reflections, they began to realize the incredible parallels between the mental and physical discipline required to scale heights at more than 10,000 feet and what was involved in creating a safe and effective work environment on top of somebody’s roof.
Click HERE to watch their Signature Story
The more they worked this original concept with brand strategist Dana Zilic and videographer Josh Parlee, the more it became clear that “Move The Mountain” was the perfect brand narrative and battle cry that connected their own values to obstacles faced by any real-life customer struggling with a problematic roof.
Embracing Vulnerability: Powerful Personal Storytelling
Many of us would like to move mountains, but what if this less about video marketing and more about ourselves. Or in the words of Sir Edmund Hillary, “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves”.
Each day you delay and procrastinate on developing your story and message, represents another day in which you fall further by failing to release branded video content on a consistent basis. Getting started can be tough, but throughout history legends have only ever been created by those who lean into that which is hard. No one ever became a brand legend by creating another generic, formulaic corporate video. Anyone can play safe and hide behind the veil of professional posturing. Being avid mountain climbers, Craig and Mike pushed well beyond the standard category language of their industry and stepped into their own story. The “movie trailer” style video just captured who they already were.
It’s a scary place to go.
To put yourself out there.
To stand on the roof naked, for the entire world to see your true self.
Much easier to rely on the crutches of cliches.
Who you are matters. Your Signature Story represents your Identity - beyond any product or service - and video is how you share that story with the world.
What’s stopping you from standing out while staying true to yourself?
You either step inside your story and own it. Or stand outside your story and wonder why you don’t stand out. More than anything, Craig Nelson and Mike Boonstoppel have demonstrated a timeless truth that is common with all legends big and small.
When you embrace your Identity, you unleash your Destiny.
“Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain,
but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it”
ANDY ROONEY
Explore Our Exclusive Coaching Programs and Transformative BIG LITTLE LEGENDS MasterClass
Our next in-person MASTERCLASS is scheduled for April 18th in Calgary, AB. With one click you can see how the BIG LITTLE LEGENDS MASTERCLASS is ideal for small companies and solopreneurs who want to make a make a substantial splash in their market. There is a limit of only 4 companies for each in-person MASTERCLASS. Reach out to our Chief Efficiency Officer, Maria Pegg for further details. You can e-mail her at maria@biglittlelegends.com.
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BIG LITTLE LEGENDS: SPOTLIGHTED IN FORBES 🌟
ACCELERATE YOUR BRAND: NAVIGATE THE BRANDING HIGHWAY
Is the horizon beckoning your brand to chart its distinct course? Embark on an exhilarating metaphorical road trip through THE BRANDING HIGHWAY. Tailored for larger enterprises and organizations, our Executive Bootcamps act as both your compass and destination, propelling your brand to ascend as a trailblazing, unrivaled “Category of One.” En route, unravel the art of forging formidable Differentiation, strategic Relevance, and harmonizing your executive ensemble. The Branding Highway, with its riveting bends and revelations, begs to be experienced first-hand. Catch a glimpse of this high-octane journey in the teaser video below.
CRAFTING MASTERPIECES WITH DEFIANT ASTRONAUT MEDIA 🎥🚀
Every single week, we’re flooded with queries about the captivating allure of our videos. The wizard behind the curtain? Defiant Astronaut Media, our ingenious media partner breathing life into the narrative through spellbinding storyboarding, meticulous production, and polished editing. With a command center in Toronto, ON, and a strategic outpost in Calgary, AB, Defiant Astronaut Media is not just a company; it’s a launchpad empowering business trailblazers across the continent to redefine the horizons of creativity. Buckle up and venture into a realm where artistry knows no bounds.
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