I remember when I was hired at a drug store during my college years.  I had to watch about 4 hours of some of the worst corporate videos ever produced.  If it weren’t for the sexual harassment video and its mildly entertaining “examples” segment, I think I would have walked out.  It was bad and it didn’t begin my relationship with my new employer very well.  It immediately made me feel that they were out of touch and really didn’t care about how their employees felt.

Unfortunately, I’m many years older and unfortunately this practice of torturing employees is still common.

The video isn’t really the problem, though. It’s merely a symptom. The real cause is a lack of understanding of how to build a healthy internal culture. Your internal culture is a HUGE part of your brand.  How your employees act or feel affects how your company is perceived. So yes, bad corporate video is bad for your brand.

Here’s another perspective from Tracey Nelson.  Tracey is veteran brand builder and co-founder of Austin-based Maven Marketing Solutions. She says, “Whether it’s an executive or a shipping clerk or anything in between, that employee will be associated with your brand.

The more you can do to affect what that employee says and feels about your company or brand, the better off you’ll be.  Every employee you have is a marketing tool.”

And, it’s not just about the employees you have.  It’s also about the talent you wish you had.

If your corporate culture video falls flat, then your ability to retain talent may also flat line.

The solution:  DON’T DO BAD VIDEOS.

These corporate videos can be engaging.  They can be inspirational.  They can be full of authentic personality.  Don’t be afraid to be gutsy.  I think it’s better to aim high and hit middle then to shoot low and ruin someone’s day.

If your only option is to do the video yourself, that’s ok.  Don’t be intimidated.   (see Kevin’s article about Telling Stories with Video)

If you can bring in an outside video company, that’s better of course.  Just make sure whomever you bring in understands your culture and appreciates your brand goals.  Lean on them.  They should help you raise your game and not just be there to hit the record button.

For fun, here’s an example of when doing a corporate video goes terribly wrong (and racist too, I’m pretty sure).