In the 25 years I have been in and around the audio, video, multimedia and Internet industries, a lot of companies have succeeded. But recently, a lot have gone down the tubes. While everyone wants a magic formula for success, the alchemy a company needs to turn its vision into gold has not changed. To create a winner, mix equal parts of outstanding service and positive attitude with talent operating the latest technology.
Already, I can hear the chorus singing:"The economy is bad and everyone’s cutting their advertising budgets. No one can make money in a market like this." We all know that the soft economy has hurt our industry; the stock market has fallen thousands of points and, yes, the media industry has been rocked. But this is a service industry, and companies that provide customers with outstanding service and have technical savvy, also seem to have a knack for making it through tough times. And they also seem to flourish when business ramps up.
Too many companies and industry leaders must have gone to the Ralph Cramden School of Business: "When I had it, I spent it!" Show me a penny pincher who is willing to spend money on improving the service his clients receive, and I’ll show you someone who is always going to be busy.
During a recent management meeting, one of our principals recalled how the bad attitude of one or two employees had spread like a cancer at a teleproduction facility where we’d worked years ago. Employees just did not go the distance for clients, and while the inattentive service was not the only reason why the company eventually closed, it certainly didn’t make the fight any easier.
Ironically, when I walked out to our deck, one of our editors was listening to a veteran video client complain about a large teleproduction facility which went bankrupt this year. The client said, "I knew they were in trouble when I asked someone to make me a 3/4-dub with burn-in, and he said, after ignoring me for a few minutes, ‘I don’t usually do that, but I could get you a VHS if you want.’ "
The scenario was almost identical to the one I had heard in the meeting! As their conversation continued, the client said he only works now with companies that are professional and service-oriented.
Remembering that we’re in a service industry has to be at the root of everything we do. It’s a given that clients will go where they can get quality creative and technical perfection; To maintain existing clients and gain new clients, service and attitude count big time!
As far as the role of talent and technology, back in the ’80s and ’90s, it cost about a million dollars to build a state-of-the–art video facility. ADOs, Kaleidoscopes and Grass Valley Switchers were the six-figure components required to build a suite which could perform the latest and greatest digital video effects. These are now common place on many desktop editing systems. Like the Titanic, some large teleproduction facilities with huge capital investments in infrastructure were doomed when their management could not change course and avoid the inevitable iceberg of client demand for more efficient, user-friendly technology.
User-friendly technology that saves clients valuable time and money has changed the production process, but it still takes talent to operate the newest toys and be creative. In the 21st Century, thanks to digital, systems have evolved that integrate video, special effects, and audio components, creating a streamlined approach to post production. But the bottom line remains, as it always will, that machines are simply the tools of the artist. Good technology is important, but it must be accompanied by equally stunning talent to make it work.
Like the SATs, which are a major factor determining the fate of high school seniors applying to college, service, attitude and talent will help decide who the winners will be in audio, video, and multimedia industry game of Survivor.
