High Impact Video - With a 5-Pound Sledge

Video is a great way to tell a story. The combination of visual and audio elements can have a great effect on the viewer. I believe the more entertaining the video is, the more impact it will have and the more it will be remembered. Videos can be very effective, even if you’re reaching out to a niche market. A great example of using video to reach out is “Wilsonart Flooring and Charlie the Cheapskate” by Spike and Dave.

Spike tells the story: “I have been in the flooring business since 1993 and Dave (the salesman in the video) has been in flooring since 2000. Both of us attended the Wilsonart Training in Temple, Texas a few years ago, since then we have pushed to sell Wilsonart because of the quality and the difference between HPL (High-Pressure Laminate) & DPL (Direct-Pressure Laminate)[flooring]. We were asked … to come up with something that would show how we sell the Wilsonart Flooring.”

How the two sell flooring is apparent throughout the short video. They talk about low price versus value, especially considering how HPL resists stains, spills and damage. They even go so far as to drop a sledge hammer head onto a piece of HPL laminate flooring. According to Spike, this is something they really do, “When customers come into our store we use the sledgehammer as a visual to show the impact resistance of the [Wilsonart] floor.”

From a marketing perspective, the video incorporates important elements of a successful video, including the “Call to Action” at the end to visit Wilsonart Flooring’s web site. It’s all done in a short, to-the-point, but very entertaining segment. “As an advertising manager, I think it's important to have something that people don't forget... so we created 'Charlie the Cheapskate', a story of a man that would shop around at the Big Box stores to get the cheapest price on flooring, until he was educated from a professional, on why one floor is cheap and another is not,” said Spike. I believe he did it right as the video he created could be used as a training tool for sales people as well as a spot to educate customers the difference between different kinds of laminate flooring.

Check out the video and see for yourself. Does it give you ideas how to use video in your business either as a training or promotion tool?

Video credit: spikegilley