This 'Stories and the Loop' presentation demonstrates that to get better at producing video content in a social media age we should look at historical fact to understand the origins of brand content and social media and how that is applicable in our work today. Some key points: - The start of the the British documentary movement and its close link to marketing -How brands and filmmakers have worked successfully together since the 1920s and even before in Soviet propaganda -Success of the film Night Mail in saving the Royal Mail from privitisation. -The work of Norbert Weiner during WWII on feedback loops which lay behind the way facebook and social media works. - 1960s - a film called Snow funded by a brand wins an oscar and gets a global audience. - 1960s - A revolutionary ad man - Howard Gossage applies feedback loop and stories to advertising and creates interactive advertising We give our recommendations from those learnings and conclude that: To create online videos you need to engage an audience with relevant and inspiring stories.

1. Stories & The Loop
14th September 2010 www.etio.co.uk

3. Who we are
Ashley Pollak - Founder/Creative Director
Ashley was a student at the prestigious Screen Academy Scotland, and studied Documentary
film making, he then went on to have a successful career in advertising & strategy for both
agencies and clients alike. Ashley has worked for some of the largest UK and global brands
including Marks & Spencer, P&G, The BBC, Barclays Capital, Panasonic, Novo Nordisk and Emap.
Megan Price - Production Director
Megan has worked as a successful television Producer and Director on a diverse range of
programmes such as Horizon, Crimewatch, Live at the Apollo, & The Paul O’Grady Show.
She has produced video campaigns for The New York Times, Help The Aged, M&S, The Church of
England and Diva Magazine. Megan has a degree in Economics from The University of Edinburgh.
Rebecca Perfect - Account Director
Rebecca has had a successful career as a PR professional working on a variety of brands such as
FremantleMedia, Sony, Aeroflot, Nissan, Phillips and Habanos Cigars.
She has a Masters in Marketing from The Birmingham Business School and is also a working
actor and presenter.

4. So why are you here to listen to us?
www.etio.co.uk

5. Overview
✤ All of you use facebook, twitter, linked in, flickr, you tube and four square
✤ There is no point in analysing what you already know
✤ Look at history to understand origins of brand content and social media
✤ Apply lessons learnt to current challenges
www.etio.co.uk

6. John Grierson
Rockerfeller Fellowship - “Psychology of Propaganda”
Father of documentary

7. ‘Documentary’
✤ A creative treatment of actuality
✤ Moving pictures playing a key role in the democratic process
✤ A form of social and political communication.
✤ A mechanism for social reform and education.
www.etio.co.uk

8. Dziga Vertov
Experimental pioneer
Capturing reality
Regarded drama as “the opiate of the masses”
Further the communist cause

9. Kino Pravda
“Film Truth”
The Agit Prop trains

10. Man with the
Movie Camera
1929

11. Man with the Movie Camera
www.etio.co.uk

12. Empire Marketing
Board
"The elect have their duty. I look on cinema as a pulpit, and
use it as a propagandist."
EMB - government agency
Promote British world trade and unity
Grierson sets up it first Film Unit

13. General Post Office
(GPO)
1933

14. Night Mail
1936
30 minute film shown in cinemas
Post train between London and Edinburgh
dir - Basil Wright
music - Benjamin Britten
poetry - WH Auden

15. Night Mail
www.etio.co.uk

16. Effectiveness
www.etio.co.uk

17. Effectiveness
Mythical status in British Cinema
Saved the Post Office from Privatisation
Improved morale
Launched the British Documentary Movement

19. The problem:
Luftwaffe bombing

20. Norbert Weiner
Famous mathematics child prodigy

21. Cybernetics &
Feedback loops
“The Art of Steering”
Basis behind social media - Facebook

22. Feedback Loops
Date www.etio.co.uk

24. Snow
Geoffrey Jones
1963
“The Big Freeze”

25. Snow
www.etio.co.uk

26. Effectiveness
Academy Award
7 film festivals
Global audience
Funded by a brand

27. Shell
Geoffrey Jones

29. Howard Gossage
Applying feedback loops to advertising

30. Eagle Shirts
one ad at a time - see response

31. Effectiveness
A book - The Postman Hardly Ever Rings 11,342 times
Irish Whisky campaign
An ad that started the modern environmental movement

32. How is this relevant?
Date www.etio.co.uk

33. In summary
✤ Grierson - The start of ‘documentary’ - originally based in marketing
✤ Vertov - Film truth - revealing real stories
✤ Weiner - Feedback loops - the start of the theory behind social media
✤ Jones - Can a piece of brand content win an Oscar?
✤ Gossage - Applying the loop to a social, interactive form of advertising
www.etio.co.uk

34. How do we apply those learnings today?
Date www.etio.co.uk

35. Recommendations 1
✤ Social media world
✤ Increasing viewership of online video
✤ Computers becoming tvs
✤ Content not broadcast
✤ How to optimise?
www.etio.co.uk

36. Recommendations 2
✤ How to engage ‘audiences’ on a deeper level?
✤ Thankfully the answer is quite simple
✤ Brands as content creators
✤ Working with advertising to reinforce brand campaigns
www.etio.co.uk

37. Create videos that engage an audience with
relevant and inspiring stories.
www.etio.co.uk

38. Case studies
Date www.etio.co.uk

39. Best Practice:
End of the Line
“To support the launch of such an important film
was an absolute must for Waitrose. With many
species on the brink of extinction there has never
been a more pressing need to bring this issue to
the fore. The End of the Line shows that we can all
enjoy fish, but encourages viewers to think more
carefully about where their fish is coming from.”

40. The End of the Line

41. Best Practice:
Whopper Virgins

42. Whopper Virgins

43. Thank you for listening
Any questions please get in touch:
Email - stories@etio.co.uk
Phone - 07852 197398
www.etio.co.uk