The video arrives six weeks after the brief. Meanwhile you have shipped four versions and renamed a feature. The video is good, and already out of date.
Brief against what will stay true
Film what will not change
The product will change, the problem will not. The situation your user lives in before knowing you will be the same in a year, while your interface will have been redone twice. A video built on the situation ages slowly; a video built on a screen ages at the next release.
What ages fastest
Seven elements to avoid or to isolate in a replaceable shot.
A feature name, changed more often than people think.
The interface, redone at every funding stage.
The price and the names of the plans.
The number of clients or users announced.
The logo, often redrawn in the first year.
The name of a partner integration.
And any promise of something coming, out of date as soon as it ships.
What to film once and keep
Seven sequences that stay true for a long time.
The situation lived before, with no mention of the product.
The manual gesture the product replaces.
A typical user day, filmed from a distance.
The workplace, with no screen visible.
Objections said out loud by a user.
An explanation of the problem in one sentence, with no jargon.
And neutral cutaways, reusable anywhere.
How to choose a creator for a product that moves
Six criteria, in this order.
Somebody willing to deliver the raw files.
Somebody who shoots in a reusable setting.
Somebody whose partial reshoot rate is known in advance.
Somebody who films with no burnt-in text.
Somebody who stays reachable for several months.
And somebody who understands the problem, not just the product.
How much to spend on the first round
Six markers for a young organisation.
Ordering three videos rather than one expensive one.
Reserving a third of the budget for corrections and re-edits.
Paying for the rushes rather than a longer licence period.
Not spending on advertising before having two versions to compare.
Keeping enough to reshoot one shot in six months.
And refusing any service that leaves no usable file.
The founder is not a strategy
Why it stops working
At the start the founder explains better than anybody and costs nothing. That works for a few months, then it becomes a ceiling: their face saturates their own network, they no longer have time to shoot, and the company becomes dependent on one person who has other things to do. The founder is a good first piece of content, never a system.
Nor are your first clients
The other reflex is to film the very first users, often friends or sector acquaintances. The trouble is that they resemble your network and not your market. Their testimonial convinces people who already know you, which is exactly the audience you do not need.
Buy a licence that survives a rename
Seven clauses to write at order time.
Delivery of the raw files, dealt with above.
The right to re-edit and recut with no new agreement.
The right to add or replace on-screen text.
A duration of at least twelve months, paid advertising included.
A wide territory, if you export.
The right to translate and subtitle.
And a rate agreed in advance for a partial reshoot with the same person.
When the product changed before delivery
Six responses, from the cheapest to the most expensive.
Cutting the shot that became wrong, if the video holds without it.
Replacing the shot with another one from the rushes.
Redoing only the voice over the seconds concerned.
Adding on-screen text that corrects, as a last resort.
Reshooting a shot with the same person, at the agreed rate.
And running organically only, if correction is not possible.
How to produce for a year, not for a launch
Six habits that change the cost-to-lifespan ratio.
Ordering three videos rather than one, on the same day.
Having two versions of every sensitive shot filmed.
Asking for a version with no on-screen text.
Recording a neutral voice track, reusable after a rename.
Archiving the rushes in a folder named by date.
And noting in a file what will one day make each video wrong.
What a young company can show
| Subject | What it brings | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| The product in use | Proof that it exists | A mockup presented as a product |
| The team at work | Embodiment | An empty office that rings false |
| A precise use case | Understanding | A promise of vision |
What matters more than budget
Clarity. A young company rarely has the means for a big production, but it has the advantage of being able to explain its product in one sentence, which large brands often lose.
What is never said too early
An upcoming feature, a funding round, an unsigned partnership or a growth figure. Each of these commits the company and is confirmed with it before release.
The mistakes specific to young companies
Six costly reflexes.
Making one video per new feature, which multiplies disposable content.
Showing the interface in close-up for ten seconds.
Announcing a growth figure dated to the previous month.
Confusing the launch and the product, in the same piece.
Negotiating a short licence to save twenty per cent.
And losing the rushes while changing storage tool.
One last marker: in a fast-moving company, the most profitable video is not the prettiest, it is the one you can fix in an hour without calling anybody back.
