First, the video:
Background, thoughts and observations:
I’m biased. I love “Garden & Gun” magazine, and have been a subscriber since their second issue. (And then, only because the first issue snuck past me and managed to sell out on newsstands). As a Southerner by birth and now by choice, I love how they blend a lot of different elements of Southern culture (high, low and all around) into an interesting mix, issue to issue.
The name’s also deceptive, since there’s usually incredibly little about gardening (breathes sign of relief), not so much about guns (awww…), but a lot about lifestyle — music, history, travel, food, drinking, etc. etc. etc.
The magazine also has a decent online presence, and the roots to really flourish from here.
This video is one example: Justin Townes Earle is Steve Earle’s son, and he now lives in Brooklyn, NY. He hasn’t yet been profiled in G&G’s print version (it’ll be the Dec/Jan issue), but this type of video profile is incredibly savvy for several reasons:
1. You can push content out far ahead of traditional print schedules. (Now, versus Dec/Jan issue delivery).
2. You can benefit from the work of other people (not just yourself or your staff). Earles obviously isn’t G&G’s in-house musician. And this piece was directed by Tim Sutton, who’s an art director in NYC — although he’s worked on a handful of G&G videos.
3. This external/different work (different aesthetics, different subjects and themes, etc) can bring in different, new, fresh audiences. You never want to be stagnant in terms of outreach, so a foray into music video can make great intuitive sense for a print publication — even though it may not make a great deal of short-term, direct-path business sense.
4. Your site needs a wide variety of content, period. Remember, your website is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. It’s like 7/11, always open. And that being the case, you want to offer a variety of content for a variety of content consumers, in a range of media types.
5. Sometimes, you just need to connect with bourbon-drinkin’, chain-smokin’, tattooed Southern musicians. Trust me. (Although you should red-flag any thoughts about a Ryan Adams profile. Again, trust me on this.)
All this said, you should now be thinking about what kind of video profiles might liven up your website.
— If you’re a college or university MarComm rep, you’ve got a wealth of alumni, donors, faculty, staff, students and community supporters out there. Why not go for some color?
— If you’re in the pop-culture/entertainment-media industry, you should be way ahead of this. If not, call me.
— Even for more traditional industries, there are a lot of great ideas that would be completely fun and help burnish your image while reaching into new demographics.
I’m also willing to hear the counter-argument, from those who might want to play it safer or more traditionally. So let’s hear what you have to say…
James Hyatt 