Saturday, July 18, 2015

The Secret to Actually Producing Great Visual Storytelling

The Secret to Actually Producing Great Visual Storytelling
It's 2014 and there is no question that visual storytelling is an important tool in every marketer's tool belt. However, how to swiftly produce consistent, cost-effective and beautiful work is a lot less obvious. To arm you with the methods, resources and workflows you need to win at visual storytelling, we've asked marketer and data visualization pioneer Leslie Bradshaw to share her playbook. In her own words the session will deliver: Less hype. More do.


The Secret to Actually Producing Great Visual Storytelling from Leslie Bradshaw

Transcript of "The Secret to Actually Producing Great Visual Storytelling"

  1. 1. STEP TWO (i.e., how to actually do it) @LeslieBradshaw ||#StepTwo || #INBOUND14 visual storytelling’s
  2. 2. howdy :)
  3. 3. I am the Managing Partner of their NYC office & head up marcom globally
  4. 4. I am the Managing Partner of their NYC office & head up marcom globally In my career, I’ve helped pioneer visual storytelling efforts on behalf of some awesome brands
  5. 5. AGENDA
  6. 6. AGE ND A (Latin: “Things fit to be done”)
  7. 7. The underpant stealing gnome dilemma. The production of visual storytelling dilemma. Your romantic relationship with visual storytelling. The nitty gritty of visual storytelling. All 12 gritty steps. Post script: what makes a visual storytelling team tick.
  8. 8. The underpant stealing gnome dilemma. The production of visual storytelling dilemma. Your romantic relationship with visual storytelling. The nitty gritty of visual storytelling. All 12 gritty steps. Post script: what makes a visual storytelling team tick.
  9. 9. The underpant stealing gnome dilemma. The production of visual storytelling dilemma. Your romantic relationship with visual storytelling. The nitty gritty of visual storytelling. All 12 gritty steps. Post script: what makes a visual storytelling team tick.
  10. 10. The underpant stealing gnome dilemma. The production of visual storytelling dilemma. Your romantic relationship with visual storytelling. The nitty gritty of visual storytelling. All 12 gritty steps. Post script: what makes a visual storytelling team tick.
  11. 11. The underpant stealing gnome dilemma. The production of visual storytelling dilemma. Your romantic relationship with visual storytelling. The nitty gritty of visual storytelling. All 12 gritty steps. Post script: what makes a visual storytelling team tick.
  12. 12. UNDERPANTS ! GNOMES ! ROMANCE ! GRIT
  13. 13. #STEPTWO
  14. 14. STEP ONE: collect underpants
  15. 15. STEP TWO:
  16. 16. STEP THREE: profit.
  17. 17. STEP ONE: decide to use visual storytelling
  18. 18. STEP TWO:
  19. 19. STEP THREE: profit.
  20. 20. THE ROMANCE
  21. 21. THE FLIRTATION… you “like” and “share” visual content from other brands
  22. 22. THE FLIRTATION… you “like” and “share” visual content from other brands
  23. 23. THE SEDUCTION… everyone is doing it! they look so successful!
  24. 24. THE HEARTBREAK… time producing good work is hard budget
  25. 25. THE HEARTBREAK… trust = weak time coordinating stakeholders externalities data = weak approvals story = weak overly branded producing good work is hard budget
  26. 26. THE HEARTBREAK… budget timing just “off” design = weak trust = weak time overplayed coordinating stakeholders externalities lost in translation beat to the punch approvals tactic data = weak no ROI story = weak overly branded producing good work is hard and it doesn’t always work out
  27. 27. THE NITTY GRITTY
  28. 28. PLAN THE WORK, WORK THE PLAN 1. Customer Research 2. Identify Opportunities 3. Test Propositions (Repeat 1 - 3) 4. Supplementary Research Get out in the field. Ask open-ended questions. OBSERVE real behaviors. Distill your findings. Extract out the opportunities. Let the data speak for itself. Start with sketches + small batches. Don’t blow your budget on one BIG idea. Do you have all the data you need to make a sound argument? No? Go fish. 5. Analysis 6. Creative Brief Development 7. Sketch / Wireframes 8. Copywriting Combine what you know + what you’ve learned. Be ruthless RE: cutting fat. Combine goals, mandatory elements, dimensions, sketches. Don’t be afraid of pen and paper. Or Balsamiq. Everyone should contribute. Respect a designer’s time by buttoning up the copy and nailing character count. 9. Moodboards & Styleframes 10. Combine Design + Copy 11. Edit 12. Release, Refine, Reuse Explore styles through mood boards (Pinterest!) and rough color mock ups. Sort of like folding the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. Taste the batter! Get a fresh set of eyes on all aspects of the asset. Release and monitor performance. Templatize and watermelon smash. PHASE 3 PHASE 2 PHASE 1
  29. 29. PHASE 1 evidence over opinion
  30. 30. over opinion over your goals evidence customer
  31. 31. over opinion over your goals evidence customer strategy over tatical enthusiasm
  32. 32. 1. CUSTOMER RESEARCH Flickr: darronb
  33. 33. 2. IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES Flickr: nathangibbs
  34. 34. 3. TEST PROPOSITIONS my pic :-)
  35. 35. 4. SUPPLEMENTARY RESEARCH Flickr: jacobgutierrezflores
  36. 36. small batches over BDUF PHASE 2
  37. 37. small batches over BDUF
  38. 38. over BDUF small batches co-design over table tennis
  39. 39. over BDUF small batches co-design T.E.A.M. over “creatives” over table tennis
  40. 40. 5. ANALYSIS Flickr: internetarchivebookimages
  41. 41. 6. CREATIVE BRIEF my doc :-)
  42. 42. 7. SKETCH / WIREFRAME Flickr: baldiri
  43. 43. team’s rough sketches
  44. 44. turned into this…
  45. 45. 8. COPYWRITING PRECISION Flickr: mamchenkov
  46. 46. PHASE 3 continuous improvement over finitude
  47. 47. continuous improvement over finitude
  48. 48. over finitude continuous improvement over marketing fluff real value
  49. 49. over finitude over marketing fluff over profit continuous improvement real value trust
  50. 50. 9. MOODBOARDS & STYLEFRAMES Pinterest: Tiffany Farrant Gonzalez Mark Kulakoff Jehoaddan Kulakoff
  51. 51. 10. COMBINE DESIGN + COPY Flickr: benward
  52. 52. 11. EDIT WITH FRESH EYES Flickr: nics_events
  53. 53. 12. RELEASE, REFINE, REUSE Flickr: joeybls Concept: @jchernov
  54. 54. Video eBook resources time
  55. 55. Video eBook Script = Blog Posts resources time Vector Images = Template Building Blocks Styleframes = Snackables for Social Animatics = Gifs Thesis Evidence Authors Graphics
  56. 56. FINAL ADMISSIONS
  57. 57. Respecting the process is key. The second step is always hard. Used to sell it, still believe in it. Most of the time.
  58. 58. Respecting the process is key. The second step is always hard. Used to sell it, still believe in it. Most of the time.
  59. 59. Respecting the process is key. The second step is always hard. Used to sell it, still believe in it. Most of the time.
  60. 60. SPECIAL THANKS
  61. 61. @tiffanyfarrant @marklemunyon @ChristianJDay @supnah @TheTraceyCarl @Kyle_Musgrave @alixmcalpine @ripetungi @olsonchr @RobynCantTweet @ripetungi @jennykarn @jchernov @nishachittal @michael_hendrix @theEABrown @sarahEhill @kulakoff @JehoaddanK
  62. 62. leslie@madebymany.com PLEASE STAY IN TOUCH :) @lesliebradshaw
  63. 63. POST SCRIPT: WHAT MAKES YOUR TEAM TICK? ! WHAT TICKS YOUR TEAM OFF?
  64. 64. “…the client allows us to experiment and trusts our vision without injecting heavy-handed branding or logos.” ! ! ! - @alixmcalpine creative, BuzzFeed I LOVE IT WHEN…
  65. 65. I LOVE IT WHEN… “… the client knows exactly how the content will be used, and then repurposed.” ! - @supnah content strategist, BitTorrent
  66. 66. “…the client fully shares the brand with me. Not just a brand guide, but the raison d’être… it’s a lot more genuine if we're telling the story of the company as well [as the product].” - @olsonchr content strategist I LOVE IT WHEN…
  67. 67. “… the client hands over the all the data, and says: ‘we think this is the story, but would like for you to help us refine / find it’.” ! ! - @ripetungi information designer I LOVE IT WHEN…
  68. 68. “Good content should deliver on both business needs and user needs. It's easy for clients and agency folks to keep the business needs in mind, but fighting for value for the end user can be difficult at times.” ! - @Kyle_Musgrave content strategist, Havas Worldwide
  69. 69. "The hardest parts of a visual storytelling project are all at the beginning, when your focus is on crafting strong content before even beginning the visual work.” ! - @michael_hendrix strategist, US Chamber of Commerce Foundation
  70. 70. “It's easy to get excited about the data set and to want to share everything you have. But there's a real art in cutting the fluff to reveal the singular message you want to get across.” ! ! - @jennykarn co-founder, Beutler Ink
  71. 71. “Sketches are the key to happiness, smooth approvals and sunshine all around. ! One of our designers sketches things by hand with pencil to paper and I love that we have a tangible product on our side to hold on to after a project is completed.” ! - @alixmcalpine creative, BuzzFeed
  72. 72. I HATE IT WHEN… “… the client is married to one visual solution instead of being open to letting the designer explore ideas.” ! ! ! - @RobynCantTweet art director, Beutler Ink
  73. 73. I HATE IT WHEN… “… the client gives piecemeal feedback and copy updates round after round after round, when … we could have received the feedback in one complete round — our time is as valuable as theirs!” ! - @ChristianJDay creative director, Knight Studios
  74. 74. “… the client doesn't have a clear objective for telling the story in the first place. Why will your audience find this story of value? Who is the audience you are telling this story to?” ! - @TheTraceyCarl content strategist I HATE IT WHEN…
  75. 75. “…the client judges the world through a camera instead of their eyes.” ! ! - @theEABrown strategist I HATE IT WHEN…
  76. 76. “… my boss asks for the impossible, or asks for sky high conceptual ideas without understanding the executional realities.” ! ! ! - @nishachittal strategist, msnbc I HATE IT WHEN…
  77. 77. I HATE IT WHEN… “… the client shoehorns their marketing objectives into the story.” ! ! ! - @marklemunyon client manager, NOBODY
  78. 78. “… decides the creative strategy before proper research and team brainstorming.” ! ! - @sarahEhill content strategist I HATE IT WHEN…
  79. 79. “… I am told I only have a width of 600px to work with.” ! ! ! - @tiffanyfarrant information designer I HATE IT WHEN…
  80. 80. I HATE IT WHEN… “… the client starts with the visual, before allowing the data to reveal the story it wants to tell.” - @ripetungi information designer
  81. 81. I HATE IT WHEN… “… the client is certain they want to say X very emphatically, but is pretty sure X is not actually true or that any evidence exists for it.” - @supnah content strategist, BitTorrent
  82. 82. leslie@madebymany.com PLEASE STAY IN TOUCH :) @lesliebradshaw
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