Online Video and Podcasting for Campaigning
In 2006, online video became widely viewed and influenced the media and the course of politics in a number of countries. Organisations also started using online videos as part of their mix of advocacy with mixed success. Furthermore podcasting has steadily grown in popularity despite not having as much hype surrounding it in the last year.
This topic could be (depends on you) a sharing of successful and unsuccessful approaches to:
- Video: using online video, including in-house videos, stunt videos, supporter videos and any other approaches organisations have taken
- Podcasting: using podcasting, including in-house podcasts, supporter podcasts and any other approaches organisations have taken
It could also explore the impact of online video and podcasting and what benefits and down-sides they provide for a campaign.
Are you interested in participating in this group? Then add your name, comments and/or further edit the page with your thoughts, experience and questions to ensure it stays on the agenda.
Interested Participants
Format: name, organisation and why this topic?
Emma Savery, University of Birmingham Guild of Students, We've talked about doing these a lot and want to know how, why, are they useful etc.
Participant Input
Add directly here or via the comments box below.
Online campaign videos --Caro, Tue, 27 Mar 2007 08:26:32 -0500 reply
We're about to launch a video for one of our campaigns, so by the time this group meets in May we will know how successful (or not) the initiative was. This is a trial for us, one not without risks, and we're expecting to get a lot of learning out of it, so it would prove a useful discussion for other orgs who are thinking of using video for the first time.
we've been thinking about this too --Patrick Olszowski, Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:08:56 -0500 reply
Would be interested to read your experience of doing this as we have been considering the use of video for building support for our campaigns - both to showcase the impact of our problem (lack of medical research funding for premature birth) on real families up and down the UK, but also to show the possible solutions (ie here is a practical/applied piece of research, being done by a great researcher that could impact on the health outcomes of all children).
We have been stymied by a lack of will/money from senior bods, but is definitely still on the radar. How does one get feedback on this sort of activity from viewers - is it just a case of an email or discussion board?
we've been thinking about this too --Caro, Wed, 11 Apr 2007 11:39:29 -0500 reply
Funny how resistant senior bods can be to e-campaign methods, when it's clearly the only way campaigning can go! As for viewer feedback, we actually held some focus groups to watch our video...very useful! We can talk about it in Oxford. But I suppose yes forums would be a good way. Or if it's really powerful/shocking/funny then the media will produce a certain amount of feedback, maybe? Does someone more experienced know how else this could work? Maybe you could have a 'how did you hear about us?' box on your sign ups page, with 'campaign video' as a tick box option.
effective examples would help us bid for the funding! --AnneF?, Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:34:56 -0500 reply
We're currently redeveloping our entire site and campagins team are seeing this as a golden opportunity to use a range of effective e-campaigning methods. However, we realise we have a challenge ahead in getting the funding for some of the more expensive methods, including video and podcasts. If anyone has some very effective examples this would be greatly appreciated.
Interested in what works --Oistein, Tue, 01 May 2007 06:36:34 -0500 reply
We've used this a little bit in Oxfam but I have a feeling it could be much more effective. Would be good to see examples of what films 'make it' online, how best to promote them, and for what purpose are films useful?
top tips for creating podcasts --tracyf, Tue, 01 May 2007 07:09:44 -0500 reply
We are training up to create regular video podcasts and it would be useful to know the dos and don'ts from someone with a lot of experience, also what are the best ways to get podcasts watched.
learning --Jess Day, Wed, 02 May 2007 03:46:21 -0500 reply
We decided to go back to the drawing board with our first effort at campaign video, so would value the chance to talk about what works, and share experience. Jess Day, Which?
online videos and brand --ecornellana, Wed, 02 May 2007 04:12:42 -0500 reply
We've recently been posting some videos at Intermón in order to take action and show our online campaigns through a new tool. How can be our videos competitive and different from others? Impact versus lenght. Is Youtube a good marketing tool for our online actions? : Posting a video on Youtube can have consequences in our brand (anyone can copy it, make versions for different purposes, can use our logos, typo, and the way we explain a story can destroy our core message). Are we ready to let our campaigners to own our brand and use it to create more action? And I also am very interested in which kind of videos are working on the net, and which ones not. How can we create the most effective videos? which are the ingredients? How can we promote them?
maximising video and podcasts --Andrew, Wed, 02 May 2007 05:35:14 -0500 reply
So far have used video online to a limited degree as general way to educate / engage public on an issue e.g. short campaign film explaning issues, interviews with celebs / commmentators - but now wondering how to go further e.g. using film to drive campaign recruitment and how it could maybe deliver campaign demands to the target.
Podcast vs local video --brianfit, Wed, 02 May 2007 05:44:06 -0500 reply
We run something called Greenpeace TV, most recently for a year long Defending our Oceans campaign voyage. Visits on the flash (FLV) version of the channel which was local to our website were great, signups for the same material as Podcasts minimal. We also found that by providing video in our own flash players, we could add action buttons and more information links which we couldn't in Podcasts. Then there's teh YouTube? Question: Is the additional traffic which a video on YouTube? gets worth the inability to not really DO anything with that traffic or drive people to an action url? We find even for highly watched YouTube? videos, the return traffic to our sites is small, suggesting YouTubers? tend to channel surf within YouTube? and don't get off the couch. Tricky.
Like Tracy, love to hear from someone who has had success in this field.
Sonia Fèvre will join this --duane, Wed, 02 May 2007 11:31:48 -0500 reply
Anne Fox will join this --duane, Wed, 02 May 2007 15:36:09 -0500 reply
Share experience --Pascale Zintzen, Fri, 04 May 2007 06:33:07 -0500 reply
MSF started podcasting one year ago. First audio, now video as well (mostly slideshows). We would like to share experiences, how to promote?, subscription versus availability on websites, video versus audio, right length, format, frequence,...
Best practices --AndrewDavies, Mon, 07 May 2007 07:25:25 -0500 reply
There are a lot of different types of web videos these days with different purposes (short raw clips to illustrate a point, informational, dialog/blog style, inspiring to action, viral to drive traffic or spread the message). What are the best practices or at least some good examples for the different types?
call to action or information ? --thomas Noirfalisse, Tue, 08 May 2007 07:53:47 -0500 reply
what's the best way to use video?
