“Ads Worth Spreading” offers creative inspiration for the video-minded

By Matter

Technology continues to enhance our creativity and change the way we communicate and market to our clients’ target audiences. Regardless of what communication channels we use and what those individual messages are, there is one common trend that PR pros cannot ignore: The demand for and potential use of video in all that we do.

In November, we seized this opportunity and added professional video capabilities to our extensive lineup of services. What that means is that all video work is now done in-house, giving us, and our clients, full creative control over the content, concept, design and production of our client’s stories. And just as social media challenged us to think more succinctly (for example, in just 140 characters), integrating video into our programs challenges us to think visually about our clients’ messages.

We’re pretty sharp people, so I use the word “challenge” carefully here, but who couldn’t use a little inspiration? We’re constantly looking to other videos as sources for new ideas and new ways to present interviews, text treatments, animations and talking heads. What’s been done? What hasn’t been done? How can we engage our audiences and present this information in a new, innovative way?

In January, TED founder Chris Anderson announced a new initiative called Ads Worth Spreading. After receiving thousands of video entries, TED’s panel of experts recently announced the winners of the competition. This fantastic round-up of noteworthy videos has definitely served as a source of artistic and visual story-telling inspiration for us here at Matter.

So we ask, what videos have inspired you and your creative team?