WMD Becomes ROAD 5
Four years ago, we launched WMD Atmopsheres to create a new video and image centric website experience to prove out the reality that pictures and video are far greater in their ability to quickly and effectively convey key messaging. Over and over in heatmaps amd memory panels we found this to be true and powerful. Others were doing similar research at the time and came to similar conclusions that video, imagery and media created a more interesting and memorable user experience.
Fast forward to 2024 and a move from the Silicon Valley to a more strategic location between Silicon Valley and Los Angeles and it felt like time to lean more into business storytelling. We still produced video, website, presentation and mailable video but we felt that a heavier focus on delivering affordable, well produced storytelling would help out current and future clients across business size make the leap to moving video forward in their communications and relying less on words which studies have shown to be increasingly less effective as people respond better to the three sensory dominances of see, hear and feel. Seeing and hearing are fairly easy to deliver in video. but getting people to feel ( kinestetic) is much harder and often times complex to deliver. How do we “touch” you through media. The answer we discovered in presenting to audiences was to make them feel something, remind them of something dear to them. laughing, crying, remembering and supporting. People share these videos because they mean something to them and they often times have had a hard time expressing their feelings simply, so they share a video to say “this is how I feel, I hope you feel the same way”. If it’s funny, we want them to laugh along with us, if they cry we want them to enjoy the moment of shaing am emotional story which allows us to dip into our soul. A story of support or caring tells a bit of a Joseph Campbell Hero’s Journey and we all love the hero’s journey.
Many marketers I have worked with over the years overlook the power of storytelling and focus on the product instead of how the product solves a previously unresolved issue for them through a story. Or companies which provide care, hospitality or experiences under-deliver in building excitement for the experience the user is considering or about to embark on. Did you know that when someone books an adventure or a stay or a life change, they ofen times want to share it with their tribe or they want to go back to watch video to get excited about what is forthcoming. You just can’t do “experience” with words or static images.
So ROAD 5 is dedicated to visual delivery of stories, experiences and adventures. These can be everything from a 100 MPH zip line, to a hotel on top of Italian Mountains or to a local event or simply ball bearings. As Seth Godin used to say, if you want to market ball bearings you need to find a way to make them sexy. Story’s deliver sexy emotion that moves buyers to connect to the brand, connect to their world view and to share that story with others around them. Allow your visitors to become your salespeople by empowering them with well produced, fun to watch and interesting stories. Make them the center of your website and stop asking visitors to read your marketing, they don’t care, what they are interested in is a connection. Create it, share it and remember it. That is what we deliver at ROAD 5.