Travel restrictions should not restrict your storytelling

Erin Craft

Vice President Content and Creative

Mar 9, 2020

As the COVID-19 virus spreads, event cancellations and travel restrictions are on the rise. At Centerline, we embrace the challenge that comes with finding an alternative way to get your message out. For one, it’s a great reminder that traditional executions of a brand’s POV, like live-action video, aren’t the only options. Just as events can be moved to the virtual space, there are many ways to capture and tell your story without all the moving parts of in-person video production.

The rise in podcasts should make it clear that voice paired with an engaging narrative holds listeners’ attention when it is curated and packaged correctly. Instead of shelving your stories and content when a video shoot gets canceled, look at it as an opportunity to build, engage, and activate the imagination of your audience in a new way. Here are some tips to keep your audience engaged when you’re working in a new format:

Don’t underestimate the authenticity of your voice and your client’s voice. In this case, we’re literally talking about your voices. It cannot be overstated how impactful hearing the voices of the real people behind the brand can be when sharing brand stories. Real people resonate and connect in a way which voiceover talent reading a script simply cannot. The overwhelming success of podcasts like Serial illustrate the power of candid, unique storytelling.
Utilize a narrator instead of simply a voiceover. A narrator can be a client or brand representative, just must be someone with a particular point of view on the content. For example, this can be from the perspective of an educator, an expert, or a historian.
Layer your animation with authentic audio. Animation is a standby for great storytelling. Amp it up by layering authentic voices, anecdotal stories, or interesting perspectives to end up with an entirely fresh audience experience.
Engage your brand cheerleaders. Consider using community-driven content via crowd-sourced video to tell your story on a platform that still maintains brand integrity and key messaging.
Expand your options. Your story isn’t restricted to just video and audio. Other executional formats that tap into the imagination and present content in this information-needy world include micro-sites with featured channels and thought-leader roundtable topic discussions via video conference technology presented in an episodic format.

Remember, a travel restriction is just one roadblock. And at Centerline, we’re all about knocking those down. From shipping iPhone rigs and interviewing/directing via video conference, to capturing audio via direct phone call and using it as the base narration to make a beautiful kinetic typography animation, over the years Centerline has perfected the art of telling client stories every way we can.