Corporate Video in the Age of AI Disruption

I may have some bad news. If something doesn’t change significantly I think corporate production, as we know it, might be in its last season. You know, the one where it jumps the shark, tries to tie up all the loose ends, brings a couple of characters back from the dead, and they’re played by different actors.

Over the past 8 years, I've hosted gatherings called Film Summit. I brought my entire team together, fed them, and tried to educate and inspire. I challenged their preconceived notions of what was true about what they did, and then sent them off back to the workplace ready to question anything anyone said.

I also used to run the numbers with them.

I believe the highest-performing individuals have a deep understanding of the whole business they work for. Some people don’t agree with me and are very secretive about how the business works - they think if people see the money, they’ll ask for a pay rise. I think if they see the money, they’ll understand how to justify a pay rise and will contribute more. I’m correct on this one, by the way; it’s not a debate.

So, imagine you’re in a Film Summit right now, and my theme (I always had a theme) is Corpor.AI.te.

Accepted belief:

What we make tends to break down into 5 categories:

• Live Action - case studies, corporate interviews, short documentaries; you get the picture.

• Animation - all different styles but ultimately they take some sort of explainer form.

• Stock - library footage, music, motion graphics, voiceover, and/or captions.

• User Generated - over my lifetime, that's flipcams, iPhones, then Zoom records sent to us to edit.

• Other - We do a bunch of other stuff, podcasts, media training, website banners, re-edits of previous videos to remove the person who left the business - again, it’s not rocket science.

Through five agencies, over fifteen years. Here is an approximate breakdown of what project distribution kind of looks like across corporate production on an annual basis. This isn’t accurate to any one year with any one company, but if you run corporate production, you’ll see yourself in here.

• Live Action - 50%

• Animation - 20%

• Stock - 20%

• User Generated - 5%

• Other - 5%

Inciting incident:

Generative AI has been in the public consciousness for 18 months. If you have played with it, you’ll understand how quickly it went from generating still images of people with dead eyes and six fingers to this.

That video is all generated from TEXT PROMPTING.

If you haven’t played with it, you have my permission; please explore. Generative AI will be able to do a number of things quicker, cheaper, and faster than an agency can by 2025. Thus meeting the holy trinity of client demand without a blink. So potentially, the final season of corporate production actually begins like this:

• Live Action - 50%

• Animation - 20%

• Stock - 20%

• User Generated - 5%

• Other - 5%

Uh-Oh.

When commissioners realize that the things they just need to get out into the world in a simple, easy-to-understand fashion can be generated as animation or ‘stock,’ they will start to bleed things over from live action to some of those other buckets too. What’s the lesson? Adapt or die.

Anything that doesn’t demand emotion or personality will become AI-generated as quickly as is reasonably possible.

Challenging idea:

This not a bad thing.

Do you know what a pain in the ass it is to learn a product handbook and then work out how to explain it to someone as if they were a beginner? How time consuming and ultimately unrewarding it is.

If you’ve followed along for long enough you’ll know I’m into the idea of Serious Creative. To me that means - telling the stories of companies and workforces across the globe, shaping their messages into universal ideas that reach and resonate with everyone. Focusing on narrative and impact. Solving business critical issues with creativity in a rapidly changing world.

Let the robots do the other stuff, they’re really good at it.

This change, that may be terrifying to those who love the Status Quo, is actually a blessing. We get to become the storytellers we always wanted to be - we can focus on human-to-human. To take you back to my TV analogy. It creates the opportunity to be Frasier. And by that, I mean an evolution that is arguably better, smarter and more targeted than the original. But to do it, you need some actual mavericks out there who want to change things.

Concluding thought:

In a previously unreported quote, Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) says that AI will do 95% of what marketers use agencies, strategists and creative professionals for today.

I say that’s only if those things don’t evolve. Understand where you add value to the process and where you don’t.

What becomes valuable in an AI-led world? The answer is knowledge, experience, reference points. An art history degree potentially becomes invaluable to a designer - why? Because the machine already knows all the art, ever, and you need to direct it. An English literature degree becomes invaluable - why? Because the machine knows everything that’s ever been written - you need to be able to tap into it. Etc.

The Industrial Revolution transformed the way things were made, but it also changed jobs. Many people lost their position because machines could do the work faster and cheaper. But as people adapted, they learned new skills. This shift made the world more human because it gave opportunities to learn and do new things. Instead of doing repetitive tasks, they could use their creativity and problem-solving skills, making their jobs more fulfilling and contributing to innovation and progress.

Think about it, sounds pretty current.

As you were.

MrMcK.

Quick exercise in how easy it already is to create the building blocks of an explainer animation for a complicated subject.

Hey ChatGPT: Explain Quantum physics to me in a short paragraph as if I’m a beginner in grade school:

“Imagine you have a bunch of tiny, invisible building blocks called atoms. Quantum physics is like peeking inside these blocks to see what's going on. It tells us that things inside these atoms, like tiny particles called electrons, don't always behave like we expect. They can do weird things, like being in two places at once or disappearing and reappearing somewhere else. It's like playing hide-and-seek with ghosts! Quantum physics also says that just by looking at these particles, we change how they act. So, it's a bit like trying to catch a sneaky ghost - as soon as you try to see where it is, it's somewhere else! It's all very mysterious and surprising, but it helps us understand how the tiniest bits of our world work.”

Hey Midjourney: Create a mood board for a short explainer animation on quantum physics, corporate video, blue and white branding, simple, 2-dimensional, icon-led.

No editing in either of these btw, I’m literally doing it in another tab as I’m writing to you.

Hey ChatGPT: Turn this idea into a video script.

[Opening Shot: Animation of atoms and subatomic particles]

Narrator: "Ever wondered what makes the tiniest building blocks of our universe tick?"

[Transition to Visualization of Quantum Physics Principles]

Narrator: "That's where quantum physics comes in!"

[Scene of a classroom with a teacher and students]

Narrator: "Quantum physics is like the detective of the science world. It explores how matter and energy behave on the smallest scales."

[Visualization of classical physics principles]

Narrator: "Classical physics describes the world as straightforward and predictable..."

[Transition to Visualization of Quantum Physics]

Narrator: "...But quantum physics uncovers a realm of uncertainty and probability."

[Visualization of superposition principle]

Narrator: "Take superposition, for example. It's like a particle's version of playing hide-and-seek. They can be in multiple places at once!"

[Visualization of entanglement principle]

Narrator: "Then there's entanglement. Picture particles becoming best friends, where one's action instantly affects the other, no matter the distance."

[Transition to Modern Technology]

Narrator: "Believe it or not, quantum mechanics powers much of our modern technology..."

[Visualization of computers, lasers, and medical imaging devices]

Narrator: "...From the computers we use, to the lasers that scan barcodes, even the medical scanners at the hospital!"

[Closing Scene: Atom Animation]

Narrator: "So, while quantum physics might seem like a ghostly game of hide-and-seek, it's the key to unlocking the mysteries of our universe, one atom at a time."

[End Screen: Quantum Physics Explained, learn more here]

I’ve seen people pitch to clients with about this much content and thinking. Where do you add value? It’s not in the above anymore.