The B2B Video Marketing Trifecta For Trust And Revenue with Tim Bradley

We talk with Tim Bradley, co-founder of Pennant Video, about why B2B video works best when it builds trust in the mid-funnel instead of chasing trends. We break down a simple three-part framework that helps marketing and sales teams explain their value, prove outcomes, and shorten the messy middle of the buyer journey. 
• Tim’s path from early DIY storytelling to agency leadership and launching a focused B2B video company 
• Why video complements email, sales calls, and in-person meetings by scaling a consistent message 
• The video marketing trifecta: anthem videos for “why,” explainer videos for “what,” endorsement videos for proof 
• How to think about ROI across top, middle, and bottom of funnel content 
• Video-first planning for rebrands, launches, sales kickoffs, and other high-attention moments 
• When to keep content in-house vs when to outsource for higher production value and stronger first impressions 
• Organic distribution basics: formats, captions, website placement, trade show versions, internal sales enablement files 
• AI and stock content tradeoffs, and why trust and authenticity beat shortcuts 
• Advice for new creators on learning lighting, audio, editing, feedback loops, and finding mentors 
I encourage anyone to go to the website and can grab that that that ebook. It’s just a PDF download. You can check us out at africastalking.com and impactmasters.io 

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_00 0:19

All right, all right, all right. This is Impact Masters Podcast in collaboration with Record Podcast recording live from Nairobi and Boston simultaneously. And today we have an amazing guest, Tim Bradley himself joining us today. Uh Tim Bradley is the co-founder of Penant Video, a B2B forecast agency that has pioneered the video marketing trade factor as a trademark to power mid-funnel marketing strategies. With nearly two decades of experience in video marketing, team has partnered with leading B2B tech brands like Cisco, Itaki Philips, and Countless Startups, bringing their story to life with compelling video campaigns. Before founding a pennant, team was the executive producer at a large communications agency. In his 12 years there, he built managed and mentored a 25-person creative team while growing the business in competitive sectors such as TAFTEC, cybersecurity, and healthcare. He believes in creating work that cuts through the noise, methodical, yet bespoke, scalable, yet unique. Beyond client projects, team mentors aspiring creatives through workshops and portfolio reviews, reinforcing his belief that elevating new talent forces a more innovative and story-driven industry. Team has built an engaged following on LinkedIn by being relatable, authentic, and authoritative with equal parts, actionable, insight, and compelling storytelling and the occasional dad joke. I believe today is gonna give a few dad jokes as he converse. Also, he believes in strongly in the power of community and mentoring that connections mean more than just a numbers game, and that young creative deserves the wisdom he has gained over a long and ongoing creative career. His philosophy is simple create meaningful connections through impactful stories that resonate and endure. Outside the office, Tim draws inspiration from its love of snowboarding, family, and the outdoors, channeling the focus, adaptability, and persistence on the slopes into navigating today's competitive marketing landscape. When should a company introduce itself using videos? So today we're gonna delve into a conversation with Tim. Hi Tim.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Hi, Michael. Thank you for having me, and thank you for that very warm introduction.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

Wow, wow, wow. No, I mean this is uh uh quite an experience, and uh we're glad to host you today as our main guest. And here we just actually introduce movers and shakers in tech. Uh, we've been doing it for Africa Movers and Shakers, and now uh we're covering some of the global movers and shakers, you know, telling the stories that really matter and sharing technology, information, and knowledge that really moves the needle when it comes to different uh aspects of life as well as uh highlighting key innovators in the ecosystem. Uh, but without further ado, you know, this is just uh what the official former, you know, who team drag is. But I don't know. Here we like going all the way back, you know, like you know, who is team as a person, you know, how was that team before

Tim’s Early Storytelling Roots

SPEAKER_00 3:30

it was formed uh to figure out marketing? You mind telling us who is team where you're born, you know, how was it growing up a bit, you know, so that we get some background about yourself.

SPEAKER_02 3:41

Sure, yeah, I'd be happy to. Yeah, so I'm the oldest of three, three boys, three brothers, right? And so my parents we grew up in western Massachusetts. So this very pretty remote town. It was about 300 people in the sort of foothills of of some like very pretty mountains in in western Massachusetts, right? And so the with that, it was a lot of nature, a lot of you know, exploration, and therefore a lot of like imagination. So I found that my brothers and I were often, you know, in our own little worlds, like you know, creating characters, creating sort of stories and situations. And I was I was fortunate enough that my parents had and one of those oversized like VHS camcorders, right? Like the big video cameras from the from the 90s. And we we got to use that to create you know little videos and stories of of our of our Lego sets or of our teenage ninja turtles or of ourselves, right? So sort of that intersection of being able to explore and be creative and be sort of adventurous and storytellers, along with you know, having the ability to do some recordings and things, I think really started me down a path early, right, in into video storytelling at large. Fast forward, I went to college for communications, and so that was a bit of broad, a bit of journalism like writing, I worked on the on the on the school paper or the newspaper, right? The bit of radio, I had a radio program every semester, and then video. There was several video classes you could take about documentary filmmaking or broadcast or just you know per production in general. And so when I was sort of uh ending my my time at college, it just seemed very, very clear that video was often the preferred medium. You're gonna hear me saying that a lot. It was just you know, the medium that was having the sort of the best opportunities from as a professional, but also just for me, it just the creativity of a video just really spoke to me. So yeah, with with with that, I moved to to Lake Tahoe, California to pursue this sort of snowboarding, skiing, you know, mountain lifestyle, right? And and with that, I did the classic thing of opening my first credit card and you know, buying a camera and buying a computer so I could just be really like immersed in the doing of of creation, right? And in video, just be very immersed in that. So looking back on that, it was you know, this sort of culture of of skiing and snowboarding, and a lot of it is very, very fluid, very, you know, you're feeling very inspired. You're just sort of inspired by the by the mountains and the people. And there's no like right or wrong way to to necessarily to do those sports, right? And so the combination of that with video just really allowed me to just like explore and learn learn, you know, the all parts of the camera and how to edit uh you know, a tight story, how to edit to music, like how to edit and and conduct interviews and et cetera. So I really feel that those four years after college were even more like enriching, right? Because I could just there wasn't anyone telling me, not telling me, there wasn't anyone necessarily like advising along the way, like like in a college or in a school situation, but that freedom to explore really helped me realize the sort of like bounds or limits of of storytelling and and and producing, right? And then from there, yeah, I I I when we moved back to Massachusetts, I found this job as a video production specialist inside of a public relations company. And that was really such an awesome opportunity to be that sort of first creative hire in inside of a burgeoning agency, right? And that opportunity to continue with that autonomy and that sort of entrepreneurial spirit, as I'm realizing later, right? You know, that like intrapreneur is the way I describe it now. I was there for 12 years and helped build a really robust team of creatives. We did motion design and animation, we did podcasting, we did live events and production and broadcasts and all sorts of video across all channels, right? Like internal communications and employer branding to social media to live events to recruiting, you know, so really like so immersed in in the medium was like the best thing for it. But then I also got to understand different different industries from healthcare and cybersecurity and and climate technology and green technology and and these sort of like always cutting edge innovative industries, and that really like spoke to me as as a as like the person I am in this stage of my life, right? Maybe it's I had a because I had a couple kids and I want a safer, more secure, sustainable future for them, right? But that that's sort of what the combination of all those things, the skills, the relationships, the the networking, the leadership that just brought me the overall confidence to then launch what is now Pennant Video Company. And so as you as you outlined, we're a B2B focused, mid-funnel focused, which I'm sure we'll talk about, video marketing agency. So we use writing and motion design and live action production to produce really impactful videos that support marketing and sales teams in building out a robust buyer's journey for their audiences, right? Like our goal is to help empower decision making for audiences, and yeah, that sense of focus and and the passion of all of those decades behind it, right, have brought me here today. So was that brief enough? Is that okay?

SPEAKER_00 9:45

No, I mean uh I asked so many questions, but uh definitely that was really comprehensive in terms of you know understanding West Team broadly overall. And in fact, today's topic would not really be out of uh you know the world. If 10 years ago we did this podcast around uh video instead of B2B marketing, that would sound like you know, what are you talking about? The expenses and all that. Uh in fact, uh with the real shots and and all this, you know, uh video gunning you know attention span of everyone, there's no better time to discuss how this impacts sales and marketing as well as revenue. And I think we can dive right in. So, how did you just

Learning Video Through Snowboard Culture

SPEAKER_00 10:30

decide at the end of the day, this is it, you know, and what research advisor before you know you said, okay, I want to, you know, go to pennant and start a pennant video, have a team that actually offers this as a service or as a product?

SPEAKER_02 10:45

Yeah, yeah, I love that question because it a lot of it really centers around like a sense of like purpose and focus, right? Yeah, again, like so much sort of love and affinity for for that agency experience. But there's that there is this saying that one year at an agency is like three years in-house, the sort of like dog ears equation, right? So that was really true. And and a lot of it wasn't necessarily like burnout, it was more the sense of like like lack of focus. So we we were producing so much work for all sizes and scales of companies from like Kickstarter earliest of foundation to like Fortune 5, right? And then every channel, every sort of style and length of video, and it just got to this point where I was sort of losing the force for the trees, right? Or it's just like I I'm not sure the impact of this work that we're producing anymore, like it in its in its broadest sense, right? So for me, the the intention of Pennit to be really mid-funnel focused with a framework that video marketing trifecta that supports sales and marketing teams to build out that buyer's journey was really the thing that you know helps continues to help me get out of bed every day. That like the work that we're producing is helping decision making, it's helping these brands that have really important missions of you know safety, security, or sustainability. And so those set of values align with the focus of of the craft and this and the the message and the audience is really what's helped like synthesize our business, right? But I love your what you said about the 10 years ago because it's it's totally true. Like when I was inside that agency as that that video production specialist, video YouTube was only like a couple years old, right? I mean, it sort of speaks to how old I am now, but like that that you know it was known as a place of cat videos, right? It wasn't it wasn't like a place for business, it wasn't a place for, you know, it wasn't attached to Google, you know, as like the second most powerful search and search engine in the world, right? So there's just been such an evolution and and in my mind, like overall adoption of the medium and certainly in marketing, right? Like marketers have not just come to learn, but just really like appreciate that while video is sort of challenging to conceive and produce and and iterate on, like it just has such an important ripple effect across their brand ecosystem, that like how they produce their creative. It's impactful to the the recipient, the audience, right? Because they can just digest or take in so much more information because of the visuals and the and the audio, right? It's the most primed for storytelling. So I'm not trying to convince you, it's just more that like, yeah, it's just funny how in in in the 10 years, just video is so prolific, right? On all on all channels. And here we are today on a on a live podcast that's with with video, right? Because there's that expectation.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Yeah, absolutely. They save uh it's not seen, it didn't happen. Yeah, um, yeah. Uh but um uh interestingly is that until today, 2025, you know, different companies still believe in uh B2B, uh, basically because of culture, you know, trust, and you know how people are being used to uh closing deals. You know, for you to get into this, you know, video of a B2B, does it mean you replace you know B2B or in person or you know, emails and all these other channels of sales and do away with it or does video complement the already existing mechanisms?

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Yeah, I would say it complements and amplifies, right? Where so if we're working with a marketing team or a sales team, it's like they have some sort of a message that they're trying to communicate repeatedly, right? So, you know, it's it's one thing to have one person do it on a one-on-one engagement, like ultimately you want that human to human, but you also need to sort of scale it, right? And so video in it in its sort of like truest form is as close to a conversation as you as you can get it compared to any of the other marketing channels or um mediums, right? So because of that, it's like we're always encouraging. Well, if you're trying to express your brand's why, like why you exist, why your audience should care, why you're different, that is a great opportunity for a video, right? If you're trying to explain how how how your product or service a service works, like like how it works and what it what it does and how it works, that's a great opportunity for

Why He Founded Pennant Video

SPEAKER_02 15:30

a video. Then if you have customers and you want them to like validate what what you what you do for them, right? Like that, who this is for and where set of story is really important, right? And so for us, like with the the video marketing trifecta, that's effectively the the point of this framework is to express your brand's why and differentiate you from the competition, yeah, explain what you do, and that demonstration of your value set, right? And then that endorsement, that customer story, that validation is the third prong of the trifecta. So for B2B, like that that clarity that you're you know, in in the most engaged medium, a video is really impactful and it helps you build that buyer's journey to build trust from you know why you exist, what you do, who this is for, right? Like all of those touch points are really important to build trust, especially when most B2B lifestyle selling cycles are like nine to 12 months, you know. So to have all these like really impactful touch points is a great way to differentiate from your competition.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Yeah. And interestingly is that uh, you know, given the trends and and and and even the way different businesses look like, besides even the Fortune 500, we have seen uh artists actually produce even TikTok music, uh, which actually starts with challenges and all that. And there are different strategies, of course, for business. And as an expert, uh how would you, you know, say to get the maximum return of investment? Is it driven by creating original content that addresses the business? Or is it good to go with the trends, or is it just to break the mold and and create something that you know is is kind of outside the box? How how do you go about this to get the maximum return of investment?

SPEAKER_02 17:22

Yeah, man, I love that question. Because the the shortest answer is just sort of like all of it, but that's not a great answer, right? Like the at the end of the day, like really looking at the the brand's the business's mission and purpose, and like making sure that you're you're you're you're being intentional behind that is usually the first, like that's your North Star, right? And like from there, you you get a real sense of like, well, of course, this is who we're serving. Like this is these are our these are our buyers, right? These are where our buyers exist, like they're on these respective channels and these places, they're in these rooms, they're having these conversations, right? Like having all of that information is is such a great bedrock for strategy. To then how do you how do you produce the materials to show up consistently, to be visible, to provide value to help empower decision making, right? So when it comes down to to like the channels from there, like all of the channels have their sort of best practices, right? So you're saying YouTube Shorts, it's like, well, it's in the name, make it short. So that is is like it's much more approachable to have a single person show up with value every day to produce a series of content. Like it's it's sort of it's almost as close to like consumer as as as possible. But at the end of the day, it's like you're showing up, beating a drum, being being visible, providing value. Like that, that is like the best sort of bedrocker intention or scaffolding of that approach, right? For us, like we find that our best sort of partnerships with brands are the ones that are doing that internally. They they have an internal resource that's taking care of the the or it not and by care, I mean like they're paying attention to those respective needs and channels of like of nurture specifically, that's sort of bottom of the funnel, right? Like having that employer branding content, that recruiting content, that thought leadership content, the internal and external communications, like the social media, right? Like that's that is like in my mind a lot of a social media strategy and video as a part of that. But having a small team or resources or or even just dedicated persons to that activity is such a great way to show up repeatedly in a in a in that space, right? Then you have your top of the funnel, like your advertising, those are like your big splashes, your awareness, like someone's never heard of you. How do you make that first impression like really count? You know? And then there's the middle, the sort of messy middle, right? And like that's that's where as pennant, like where we like love to be, and because it has that most opportunity for impact in closing that gap, right? Like, how do you like that conversion? How do you make that shorter? How do you make those timelines more concise, right? Or at least predictable, you know, how do you build that that journey for audiences? And so with that, like production

Video As A B2B Trust Multiplier

SPEAKER_02 20:20

value tends to matter a bit more, like your your clarity and what you're you know, those those key cornerstone questions you're trying to ask, like why, what, who, where, when, right? Those should be like really clear, really concise, and I engaging, like whether in sort of like a humorous sort of way or a way that it at least is aligned with your your brand's tone of voice and mission and value set, right? So, you know, I just I just described an entire journey, but there's like a lot of complexity within that. So being really thoughtful strategically for each of those moments across the buyer's journey is really important. And it doesn't mean you have to do all of them all of the time, but you know, to really help build the layers of that of that funnel is is really important.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

Yeah. And in in this in this aspect, you'll find that most companies actually will always uh try and do everything and anything. Is there a sort of framework? And if there's a framework, because uh at the end of the day, giving some sort of framework gives some clarity, regardless of whichever business that wants to do video. So where do you see the biggest gaps in a company's video marketing approach and how can the and them explainers and endorsement? And you can actually uh delve further in these three uh and them to tell us how do these fill out the gaps and how do you go about it? You know, if there's a framework out there that really has worked, or how even pennant comes into play.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, the uh the way I like to describe it is like you've uh an audience member you've been sold a click meaning meaning like you you've become aware of some uh some business it seemingly can help solve a a problem or a challenge you're having especially in b2b right like this there's many of them but it's like you you're looking for that for a solution ultimately and so with that sorry we went blank for a second with that the once that click happens it's being it's directing you realistically to a website in most common experiences right how do you keep them there how do you get you can provide clarity how do you build on that trust right and so having video front and center is a great way to do that there's data abound that like having video above the fold on the home page keeps people on site the more time they're with you the more the more engaged they are the more in interested and intrigued they are in your solution right so that's where the beginning of the video marketing trifecta starts right like they've sold a click they've arrived on your site the so to expand a bit more on that differentiation demonstration validation of those types of videos is is is really the other way I like to describe it is speaking to the heart speaking to the mind and then that sort of like that gut check of like trust before before making a commitment right so the practically anthem videos anthem videos are that mission those values that why that why you exist why your audiences should care your differentiation right that first prong of the trifecta the second prong is are those explainer videos right that they demonstrate what you do and how you do it succinctly clearly they they often speak to pain point solution sets or like leaning into certain industry segments right like how like what you do and how you do it in a certain industry or category right yeah the third prong of the trifecta is those endorsement videos they express who who you're for and where and that's often that customer testimonial that case study that customer hero video right that showcases or and validates your your your your solution through the the voice and and perspective of a customer right so these three prongs really build a strong foundation and they build that buyer's journey and that's that framework that we found is really successful and and from there any of those prongs can have a ripple effect on the rest of your category or the rest of your brand right like taking any B roll or testimony sound bites and like transforming those into other digital assets right using them as social fodder we've we've had a lot of our art from like an explainer video being repurposed into a trade show booth right because that art is is really impactful. So it's it's like the investment in those key assets is really critical from a marketing and sales standpoint. But then you've also built you're starting to build and compound on a robust library that can be used and repurposed throughout the throughout the sort of buyer's journey right but certainly at the bottom to just show up consistently and repeatedly on those channels that you can be most visible on.

SPEAKER_00 25:16

Interesting and and of late we have seen uh different companies including you know i security which has always for the longest been a bit you know secretive not because they don't want to share but because of the security uh involvement we've seen safety we've seen even military actually record some of the proceeding as well as you know some of the uh acquisitions in terms of capability and all these shared through videos but also we have seen uh you know companies and organizations in sustainability drive you know face in video marketing which actually shares more capability is there uh uh you know a way of doing this video in a certain way that really uh resonates with the audience address uh or how do they do specialized storytelling that really compels uh the intended audience or customers to really relate to it and uh how do they stand out because at the end of the day if it's fundraising everyone is fundraising if it's uh security of course it has its own issues uh if it's uh safety you know different companies offer different safety value or you know uh such in the business so how do they really stand out and what should they focus on?

SPEAKER_02 26:27

Yeah I always encourage them a couple things like one is someone should be paying attention to what the audience is is looking for and desiring right and some of that can be in the analytics of your your different social platforms or at your key events or talking to sales right any anyone that's on the front lines of of conversations with customers they are they are primed to to help support your storytelling and video marketing initiatives right but like on the on the whole you got to look internally too like if there's a message that you're you're either struggling struggling to synthesize or there's a moment of inflection so like a re a company rebrand or a company launch of a product or service or a sales kickoff or a customer experience event like these are really like really important moments in time there's a a lot of attention there's a lot of consorted effort internally you know working in in in lockstep to support this moment in time that is such a great time to

ROI Across The Funnel And Channels

SPEAKER_02 27:30

produce video that is like of high impact high high value right because it's that we call it that flagship asset right like that blue chip material that is is such a a great way to align the communication align brand mechanics and then it can be that ripple effect at the same time to like get your message out across across your channels and across your your audience segmentations so it's sort of the the cross section of those right like someone needs to be paying attention to the needs of of customers and their desires and what what they need that's that's inevitably happening in the in the business right but it's like someone's ear to the ground to the storytelling moments and those are usually through the the eyes and ears of customers right and then the calendar what are those key moments that are happening in a calendar year and how can we make the most impact in those moments video is that is is that path right so I'm often encouraging a video first mentality meaning if you're like okay we're going through a company rebrand how do we lead with video because because video is is the most like complex medium you know there's there's the the message is the tone of voice there's there's the brand there's the words there's the the the sentiment of like you know what is the music what is the the the the the feeling the vibe we want from this thing what are the pictures or the images you know like it is perfectly complex but if you put in the effort to produce that piece you've you've you've it sort of invariably supported so many other aspects of decision making like how do we say our message in 60 seconds or less right great that's gonna have a great impact across all of your your marketing and sales how are we showing up visually great that's gonna really you know have an impact across your brand identity and how you produce your visuals for all your social channels right like what's the what's the tone like what it what's the mood we want to evoke here that really aligns everybody in how they communicate this message like in person or at events or on socials or or or in emails and all of it right and then there's that library where it's like you've you've produced this really impactful moment this video you can carve that up into static graphics you can carve that up into animated gifts you can make shorter form versions you can make vertical versions for social channels right so now you have a relative like campaign of assets that can be they can be put into into email onto social into trade shows into the the hands of your your sales force on their on their desktop you know for in-person or or or or virtual meetings right so yeah again impact is a word that I use time and time again because it's the most sort of close to the to the moment to what video can really do for a business. Absolutely and that actually brings me to the you know the next question which is around you know at the end of the day people now are shooting videos using their phone you know using the minimum viable you know gadget that is available and you know at Trifecta you guys offer it professionally at what point do does someone actually outsource this work to you and why is it important for B2B to really you know uh like you know outsource this work to you and in this case why does it make it a critical difference in driving conversation uh conversions and focusing on that mid-funnel because at the end of the day there is always the awareness that is created and some activation that really goes thousands and thousands but then you close maybe 10 or 20 businesses so why why is it important to either do it internally or at what point do you even if you're doing it internally to outsource it to uh pennant do this work for you yeah absolutely I love that question the the challenge I always pose is like or the thing that I always bring up is like first impressions count right so if you're trying to make a really good impression on a buyer right like our or a customer or or a client is you don't get many of those chances right and so when you're top mid-funnel mid-funnel especially right like you want to show up with the right amount of care and the right amount of like uh respect for the audience's time right it's like especially when it's fleeting and they're you're trying to build trust at each of those sort of rungs so it it while the it's like the funnel's sort of inversed it's like you can do a lot of content at the bottom but that's because you've already built you've already built trust right and people now just want to show that show up to see that they're supported to learn more about the you know your product rollouts and like the innovations that you're always working on to see your people in action and so that is is totally fine for like a lower production value. It's more like getting your people to show up and and build trust on that human-to-human level but when you're further up it's like less less content but more production value right like you want to show the the care and the respect you have for for your audience's time when they're just trying to to to to make a quick decision or at least a thought a a like concerted decision on what on what is the best solution for their pain that for their problems their challenges that they're having right so if you can if you if you're one of a couple competitors right and you're showing up audience first video first with production value to show that you care about their decision this decision making in this moment and you're trying to give them the clarity and build on trust to go in your direction then like why wouldn't you invest in that way right especially when it has that ripple effect across brand and channel and and content marketing right large right so yeah that that's that's that's how I usually you know put it back in in sort of my my my client situation is have them consider well if they're the audience how how do they want to be perceived you know and so that care and intention and and clarity those always come together.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

Yeah I mean that actually brings me another question that is very important as we're speaking I was thinking about it you know shooting up shooting the video content is the easy part there is always the strategy the planning and what do you want to see but that video is as good as it goes out and as it's promoted. How do you advise your client to really go about it?

SPEAKER_02 34:04

Do they even set a budget for promotion do you actually include these in when you are like you know quoting and do you help do it or do you just say here are your videos and these are you share it these a strategy this is a you know the roadmap on how you share it or how does it go because yeah I might have the best of the videos but if no one sees them they're just they're just videos right so how do you go about that with your client especially B2B

The Trifecta Framework And Repurposing

SPEAKER_02 34:30

because we know most B2B companies have um marketing team they have social media strategists they have uh different arms of company now we see CEOs actually tweeting or sharing some of the captures so how do you go about that to make sure that you're successful yeah I mean it's the two prominent uh distinctions right uh organic and paid we while we don't do paid in-house at at pennant we have our partners to support that right and so that is like its own strategy right but when it comes to organic it's it's assuring that what we're delivering is is the most resonant on the channels that that they're being distributed on right so it's like social media great making sure it's shorter form versions it's it's a it's a variety of versions so they can A B test it's showing up with the copy that supports the video right because it's it there's often some copy and a call to action related to it right like how do you make sure that that not just like fills a content calendar but is like supporting the the conversion world we're we're living in from the mid-funnel strategy right it's also assuring that they have a playbook to be like great this is where they should live on your throughout your website there's probably at least one if not a couple places that this specific video can and should live throughout the architecture of your website right it's assuring that it's it's in a in a format and a file size that can be downloaded by people internally so they can use you know in Zoom meetings they can use on their iPad at a trade show or et cetera right it's making sure that there's a version that at least has the closed cap branded closed captioning if not like a text on screen animated version so that those can play at trade shows right so it's really just making sure that for you know and then it's having the animated gifts that go into email to to be distributed that point to the landing page or wherever the video is right so that just that organic distribution strategy while not like not super complex by any means it's just like we can come in and be like hey like we would advise you use it in this this way as in these places and also like share it more than once you know what I mean like people it's not often that everybody's on that channel in that moment. So like build it into your like into your program your content calendar so that it can be repurposed consistently you know so yeah it's a combination of organic and paid and again it kind of just depends on on the moment you know if this is a if this is a rebrand a company rebrand often encouraging some paid because it's like you're trying to capture new audiences while or new new potential clients right while also like informing your current clients of like what this means in this moment to them as as a customer you know so it sort of just depends I suppose on like the purpose of the trifecta and like the the content that you're creating in that in that moment right and then just the moment of the business and what you're trying to do and activate based on the the work. Yeah and now we've seen uh emergence of AI you know and and and these has impacted differently how the story is told is told to when how uh in which language has this really impacted your strategy in how you build better uh you know for your customer yeah I mean AI I have a lot of thoughts all right so like even for us it's a really attractive shortcut right it's like we can produce transcripts out out of out of interviews like we can within our editing software it can help us you know sort of sort of shortcut a few things but the concern I have is when you we have conversations with with with clients or customers are like well let's just produce the whole thing in in ai or let's use you know one of these AI video generators to do it it's it's it's not that it's like wrong it's just is that shortcut gonna build trust with your audience it always just always just goes back to trust like in what you're producing does that empower the decision empowered decision making by your audiences and does it build trust during that moment right so yeah it's I mean it it's all really attractive and honestly as a creative it's like wow this is this is really really powerful but I think it's just like making sure that the intentions and and the reasons for for leveraging the the image generation right is is just really clear and it and it's and it's gonna it doesn't I mean the adverse is that you you produce something because it's a it's a perceived sort of cheap shortcut or something right is like if that erodes the trust that you've worked really hard to to build on to date like that's terrible ROI right so yeah and I also sort of equate it to like to stock video which is like it has its purpose right like sometimes it's like you just don't have a way to to to showcase how something is working in the real world without you know let's take like military and defense for example right it's like you can't really showcase that in a lot of ways for so many red tape

Standing Out With Video-First Moments

SPEAKER_02 39:50

reasons and that's fine. So your roots are like go stock or produce something that's that's new and novel and motion design or animated in a way right or or like the gives a sort of impression of the thing you're talking about and you're doing it with with live action production. The shortcut with with stock is that well you get it done and you can go to market and use it but invariably a lot of your competition is probably using the same stock right because because this is a challenge in that industry. And so your buyer being like well this looks the same this stock video looks the same as this other one like this doesn't help with my decision making and doesn't build on the trust that that I want to have with this customer or with this with this with this business. So yeah so there's it's it's often just like caution combined with care right just like making sure you're careful and provide and showing up with care for your audiences. So yeah and I get it it's like you're you're hungry to to use this this tool you know you're you're you're you're eager to get it out there to have it start working on your behalf to compound your efforts but yeah it's not like I'm like one misstep or anything can ruin that but it's just those small decisions in in the creative certainly do have a long term impact.

SPEAKER_00 41:09

Yeah and and and actually with trust comes authenticity right and and in this case you have to really uh tell your own story and be out there sometimes vulnerable sometime you know sharing what has always been a secret or perceive that if it's shared out there there will be compromise and and and especially in the you know military defense and any other industry which actually considers data privacy as an issue for either security or otherwise so why is it essential for marketers to prioritize authenticity in their videos and what steps should they take to ensure they truly resonate with potential buyers or potential customers yeah I'm gonna answer this a few different ways the one is like the people inside your your business your subject matter experts right like they are so valuable to to be to help like showcase your message through through through a human lens or a point of view you know and it's like these these your employees are living unique experiences day to day right in in like the the the challenges that their customers are up against the the the challenges that the industry faces.

SPEAKER_02 42:24

And so having the capacity and honestly a bit of courage to just like show up and present these these thoughtful sense of purposes right as as the person on camera often just in this type of way right is is really really helpful from a brand because it's like it humanizes that brand it it shows that you you are trustworthy people behind the the the brand's sort of like allure of of logo and color palette you know and so that that that posture and ability to show up on camera is a really important skill set for for any professional right so and it's really valuable to a brand to have someone being able to do that either in this way or of course like on a stage or something like that. So it's always like from a professional POV really important way to to to do that right but when it comes to like the production and and and writing and and craft of of like the sort of higher production value right there's a lot of like control within that that creative it's like yeah the creative development and expression is a bit not like freewheeling but it's meant to be like a bit ambiguous because you're exploring you're trying to be like what is the right sort of avenue or path to take here creatively or visually or tonally right but once you arrive at that sort of milestone there's a lot of control within the words and like how you're portraying an idea, how you're conveying an emotion or a sentiment right and so there's a there's a lot of opportunity in there to you're not trying to like skirt around To anything that, but like you can sort of be matter of fact. Like if there's a you know, if you work in a business or in an industry that has tremendous NDA considerations, it's like that's okay, lean into that and and describe it as it is, and like people will trust you for that. And like, oh, that makes sense, you know. And so I think it's um that combination, right? Of like putting your people, giving them the like empowering them and supporting them to put their ideas and intentions out there that align with you because you know they're working on your, you know, you're working with them and they're working with you, right? From an employer's standpoint, yeah. And just being careful and in how and how you show up for your audiences with the with the higher production value, mid-funnel types of content.

SPEAKER_00 44:44

Interesting. Now, this actually gives me some perspective here, given your experience in the industry. Assuming a beginner of you know, I want to venture into this, you know, video storytelling. Is there any tips to start with, or do I need also to work for someone to understand how it works, uh, develop my acumen, you know, understand all the loops, or should I just uh take my iPhone, go to the biggest company in the valley, or Boston, or you know, Nairobi, and say, you know what, I can tell your story better because you know what? Today we have any uh so many influencers with over a million followers across different channels who actually have been building this just using their phone. Uh, we've seen also you know big names in the industry struggle to even use these influencers to get their brand out there. How should that look like? Should I land the ropes, maybe using Henant as an intern or an employee and then start my own company? Or should I go with what I have and stuff?

SPEAKER_02 45:45

Yeah, I wow, that's a great question. It's it's almost like what would I say to my say to my past self today, right? I mean, as we spoke to my like as I was describing my my experience, like a lot of it was just leaning in and doing it myself, like just like understanding the mechanics, right? Like, okay, like what does it mean in from a like lighting, right? Like, there's so much you can do with lighting, it almost always starts there. It almost always starts there. And then it's like, all right, what about the the the movement of a camera, like how the perspective of the lens, right? Like the perspective that I want the audience to have, like the feeling that that evokes through that. Then of course, audio, it's like, yeah, of course, there's like the the the spoken message,

When To Outsource Plus Distribution Strategy

SPEAKER_02 46:30

but then there's like the undercurrent of a music better or the the tone there, the sound design to like help bring the audience in, right? So it's it is tremendously complex, but like you kind of don't know that until you until you do it yourself, right? So it's like get just diving in is is kind of the best first thing I would say. But have the, I don't know, have the the the right system in place for yourself to make sure that you're you're learning along the way. You can't just like produce and walk away. It's like, well, you need to get feedback from people. You need to seek out those like anything, you need to seek out those mentors that can help advise like how this could be improved. Go to, I mean, YouTube has a tremendous amount of resources on on video and production and and the sort of value behind that, right? And then storytelling too. That's it's only uh that's its own beast in another way, right? So I think it's like that combination of your passion for for for the the the industry or or the mission that you're aligned with, right? And then the the courage to sort of show up and and produce and iterate and learn and improve, and honestly, just watching yourself, you learn a lot about, you know, just sort of like the just your own posture and how you speak and present yourself, right? And so all of those things uh in repetition and consistency will get you where you need to go.

SPEAKER_00 47:50

Interesting. So in fact, there's one thing I've even me I've been like asking myself because on the side I'm a pro DJ and I know the power of music. Then I've been following you know big production houses and how they use uh background sound effects and whatnot. Does it mean if you really are a big production house, there's an aspect of sound engineering, people who are thinking like what goes well with this kind of story and so on and so forth? And does that mean now, you know, you even set the bar higher? Once you know you are, you know, you establish your acumen, then you need to also think about sound engineers, you know, even artists to some extent.

SPEAKER_02 48:30

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think when I started out early, it was like I want to I want to film on my own stuff. Yeah, but then I need to edit it. So it's like great, I learned sort of those two like key elements, but then it's like the pre-production of planning and like having a sound logistics plan and like lighting plan and just all of those a strategy behind it all, right? It's like you start to become a well-rounded, like jack of all trades, right? But eventually, and this is where I'm at my career, it's like working with experts in each of those parts of the system. So, like the director of photography, someone that's like really paying attention to the lighting and the mood and the the capture of of what we're trying to produce here, right? Working with that sound engineer, the person that can like really get the best tones out of whatever, you know, if it's the voice, the voiceover, if it's the the room that we're in, right? Like the sound design to help like lift up the things that we're that we're showing, right? Working with writers, like someone that are really, really excellent at their craft and and choosing the right amount of words that can be compressed into a 60-second video is an incredible, incredible skill, right? And then editors, right? Like someone that can take a mountain of footage and could and condense it down into a you know a paced and and and compelling and engaging visual story, right, is is a really true art form. So yeah, it's it's one of those things where like if you if you do it all of your all yourself, you learn and have a tremendous respect for all the different components of like how video is produced, and that's that's a huge leg up, right? But then eventually you'll you'll recognize in yourself like what are the things that sort of bring you the most energy or the things that you're most sort of like passionate about, that the parts of the craft that you you really are just excited about, frankly, right? And the others you'll find those those key players that are also really passionate about the things while you're not passionate about them, they they they they synergize and they connect together in a puzzle, you know? So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:33

Interesting. And and this actually gives us a chance for you to give where where if someone wanted to engage you, where do they find you? And what does that mean? Is it do you serve US businesses? Do you serve global businesses? If it's global businesses, how does that work? Do you come on the ground? How does it work?

SPEAKER_02 50:53

Yeah, no, I appreciate that. Yeah, so from uh like a business standpoint, so pennett, penetvideo, yep, we're at pennit.video or pennitvideo.com. I should actually mention that while while while you're there, we have a ungated, we call it a playbook, but it's it's it's an ebook that supports a lot of what we talked about today. That's sort of funnel focused playbook to help marketers better understand like what is the right type of video, where when building out a buyer's journey, right, and where to sort of put the most concerted effort. So yeah, I encourage anyone to go to the website and can can grab that that that ebook. It's just a PDF download. There's also a little quiz in there, which is fun. It sort of like helps you understand like where you're at in your own sort of video marketing development journey. So that's I've I've heard that's really helpful for folks. But yeah, so we're we are really focused on sectors that embody safety, security, and sustainability as their core missions. So what that really means or what that means is like med tech, healthcare, life sciences, cybersecurity, data. Oh, nice, perfect. Yeah, so that does that that pop-up that just came up. Or was I oh green tech, climatech, right? So all of that is is is where we really aspire to be, and that we know we can really support these really innovative and competitive industries, right, with with the power of video. These are usually like high growth types of businesses or like really mature enterprise, right? Like ones that

AI, Authenticity, Career Advice, And Closing

SPEAKER_02 52:30

need a lot of good video or ones that need a like very selective good video to help amplify their message, right? So that's where we where we exist. But then for me personally, right? Like I'm always very active on LinkedIn, like you said. So you can find me at Tim BradleyPennant, our our you know, our our business has a LinkedIn too, but that's the primary channel for us.

SPEAKER_01 52:52

Yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_02 52:53

So there's a few z examples of our work there. There's a lot more where that came from. We're actually re I'm like sort of chuckling because we're redoing our website right now. So in about a month's time, there'll be quite a bit more examples on there. But yeah, I'm excited for people to to check out the work and uh if they want to learn more about just video marketing strategy at large. So I'm I'm on I'm on LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_00 53:14

Nice. And this is good. Definitely looks like you have done some really, really good work. Maybe as we you know, we we check out your work. Uh you know, as we conclude, we normally do proverbs, right? Your favorite proverbs. Then uh because you have good daddy jokes, you can give us one of those. And if you are an avid reader, uh, which is the best book that you could read the rest of your life if you had to read just one book?

SPEAKER_02 53:43

Oh wow, those are those are tough questions. I'm like looking on my bookshelf above me right now to see what I might say. A proverb, yeah. I'm not sure about a proverb specifically, but this this the microwave as you know it is history. Well a mentor of mine gave me this phrase you can do anything for 90 days. And that I I found has been really helpful when I'm you know, as that sort of business entrepreneur, right? Is like this feels really challenging to like onboard this this new system or onboard this new or or or produce this this new part of our system, right? And and the mechanics of that is just like getting started is always challenging, right? But like the mentality of you can do anything for 90 days is just like been really helpful for me as like a bit of a mantra, and it's like you're right, like you suddenly you you're you're like an expert at the or at least on the path to being an expert after that 90 days, right? So a lot of that just helps with the you know helps you build a framework for consistency and and just making sure it's sustainable and predictable, right? So I think that would be it.

SPEAKER_00 54:51

Yeah. Any daddy jokes?

SPEAKER_02 54:56

Dad jokes. Man, I wish my son was here. He's he's really good at him. No, it's it's usually like the beauty of a dad joke is that it's often like in the moment of life, you know, you see something and you you you riff on it, and it's it's it's it's so silly. So I love I have a I have a nine-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son, and so it's uh really really living living that dad life right now. It's fun.

SPEAKER_00 55:20

Yeah, yeah. No, I mean uh that's that's that's really awesome. And thank you so much, Tim, for making time for these. It's just the beginning of the story. I'm sure we can loop in in the future and talk about more about uh is doing. You know, I like some of those innovation. Possibly if you come or we meet in San Francisco, Nairobi, we can actually meet you in person.

SPEAKER_02 55:42

Likewise if you come if you come to the East Coast, if you come to Boston or New York, let me know.

SPEAKER_00 55:46

Definitely, I normally come there. In fact, I was there last year. Uh we're not connected. Uh, but without further ado, uh, this is Impact Masters. Uh, we also offer software as a service, design as a service, developer relations and developer community and developer experience as a service. Uh, we are a community that is driving, uh, trying to connect the Silicon Valley and Nairobi, which is Silicon Savannah, uh, with the intention of bringing all the innovators together. And we've started with the stories which we are telling uh for all the innovators around the world, uh, with the intention of also building a hackerspace that people can join, uh, creatives, engineers, uh, creatives to be able to you know uh fuse the energy as well as tell their story. Uh, uh so I work for Africa Stalking, which is a communication platform and service, uh offering 2G solutions that is SMS, USSD, voice, uh, and now uh C AI, which is more or less a voice with AI, in collaboration with our partners like Google and Mozilla. Uh, so you can check us out at africastalking.com and impactmasters.io. My name is Michael Kimadi. Until next time, enjoy. Goodbye, everyone.