Non-Profit & Government

Strategy: Visualize National Organizations

IB5k Non Profit & Government Video 2.0 Multimedia Producers Accross the Country, governed by a robust Washington-based Production nucleus

Employing a national network of video producers takes organizational, campaign, and government video to a new level, allowing for creative solutions that communicate nuanced microtargeted messages and visualize the growing potential and momentum of national movements.

The Obama Campaign demonstrated the unique power of video to excite and sustain engagement, enable a movement to compellingly convey its story, and allow a large and diverse organization to visualize its collective momentum. We employ similar Obama campaign video strategies to create effective, micro-targeted and inspiring video. Not only did we find that video excites online engagement but it legitimizes, enhances and magnifies the impact of field activities and increases online and offline engagement metrics. (Small example: The Obama email team found that the word “VIDEO” in an email subject increased the open rate by 5%).

CASE STUDY: “Obama For America” 2008 Presidential Campaign

Obama For America
IB5k employs the largest team of Video creatives from the winning 2008 Presidential Campaign

A strong new media video campaign is not a gimmick anymore. When done right, it can actually help win you elections. The well-oiled Obama campaign set fundraising records during the 2008 cycle, and a large majority of that money came in through our website. Video was an integral part of that effort, not only in bringing people to our website, but keeping them there, directing them towards action and keeping everyone, including the media, on message. You need every advantage you can get and it’s our mission to use what we learned in order to help you succeed. Here’s how we did it.

THE TEAM: From the People Who Brought You Obama ‘08

We hear you. There are a lot of New Media strategies out there, but how many are proven? During the 2008 campaign, members of IB5k were part of a core team of over 30 filmmakers, editors, producers, animators, and strategists located in 10 key states. We helped produce roughly 12 videos per day on subjects ranging from get out the vote efforts, investigations into the failures of the opponent, rapid response viral videos that became the talk of the nation, to how much voters would save on their taxes if they voted for Obama. Our videos were the basis for countless stories in the mainstream media every news cycle, provided the necessary training to build 50 state canvassing operations which helped deliver massive returns on election day, and inspired new voters to give the relatively unknown Barack Obama their vote.

We at IB5k, employ the largest share of the internal video team from the Obama campaign; we’re some of the only people out there who have a successful track record in this new form of connecting with and inspiring voters. Our goal is to make what we learned accessible to other campaigns — that’s our civically-minded mission. We know what we're doing and want to teach you and your staff the right ways to do New Media to ensure that CHANGE continues to come to Washington and beyond.

Wow! VIDEOS: Attention Getting Behavior

These days key political conversation is being had on the internet and through video. Just one video can turn an entire movement in another direction (just ask Sarah Palin about her Katie Couric interviews). While its hard to create these moments in a laboratory, at IB5k, we have brought together a confluence of talent that excels at using this new platform to get attention. Our writers have worked for the Daily Show, our animators break new formats for blue chip advertisers (you don’t want a copy of the same powerpoint presentation visualization that’s been going around), our filmmakers editors have worked on mainstream Hollywood motion pictures and our political team has helped win presidential elections.

RAPID/DIRECT RESPONSE: Control Your Message, Leave No Charge Unanswered

The days of sending a press release and forgetting it are over. Reporters are overworked and in many cases aren’t even at their posts anymore, even if YouTube had never been invented. These days, when its important to get your message out right — you need to take matters into your own hands — with the help of the video experts from IB5k.

INFORMATIVE: You Have To Because no One Else Will

We've read the stories — and then again we haven’t. The state of the American Journalism business is depressing. Beats are being left unmanned, and campaigns are often left uncovered. If you don’t tell the story yourself, often times the public may never get informed — and an educated consumer is your best customer!

EVENT COVERAGE: Events Without Video Are Non Events

You wouldn’t be throwing events if you didn’t want attention, and unfortunately, getting the media with their slashed budgets to attend is getting really hard these days. If I was running my own campaign, I would put event coverage at the top of my list, especially if your competition doesn’t do it. The cash-strapped news media will take your event off of youtube when trying to fill in their news holes, not to mention the bloggers, twitters, and everyone else out there. Without good solid video of your event online, this can’t happen. You could get your cousin to do it, but nothing distracts more from your message than amateur quality video. IB5k’s network brings creative professionalism to every event we do. Your gathering is special, or else you wouldn’t be having it, so why should your video be anything less than epic?

CAMPAIGN TRAIL: All Candidates Are Human, We Know How to Show It

The Obama campaign set the new standard for campaign coverage. While our new media video team employed over two dozen in our Chicago headqaurters and on the road following the candidates, it is the mission of IB5k to take what we learned from this historic experience and train our network of talented filmakers in order to provide a presidential quality of campaign coverage to candidates running for offices of all sizes. Its one thing to win a historic election, but its a mistake to not build upon what we learned in order to “spread the wealth” as one wise candidate once said.

TRAINING: Showing Your Supporters How to Support You

Its been baffling as of late — how are movements created? First you need a good reason to get people to move, beyond that, supporters don’t know how to just organize themselves. In the Obama campaign — we produced training videos that helped them to feel secure knocking on their neighbors door or, calling up a stranger hundreds of miles away and, in the end, our community reached out to more people, neighbor-to-neighbor, than any other campaign in history. This genuine contact produced genuine results, but training is vital to mobilizing a confident, effective grassroots force.

NARRATIVE DOCUMENTARY: The Story of Your Campaign

Building a movement doesn’t just happen cause you say so. Mobilizing people behind your cause requires a deliberate plan that takes place over the course of your entire campaign. Finding that narrative track is the first step, but then telling that story in a genuine and compelling manner is crucial. Many can try to replicate a genuine-looking documentary for political purposes, but in order to have a true effect, your documentary must be crafted by honest filmmakers.