Marco Greenberg was in the Greenwich, Conn.-branch of Mitchells/Richards in the summer of 2003 getting a suit tailored when he ran into CEO Jack Mitchell, who mingles
easily with customers. Mitchells/Richards, launched in 1958 by Mitchell's father, with just three suits on the rack, has in the last 45 years grown into the premiere luxury-
clothing story in Connecticut.
After they started to kibbitz Greenberg mentioned that he had recently launched his own company, called Reel Biography (New York), which provides broadcast-quality
biographies to businesses, individuals and nonprofit organizations with a story to tell. But not just generic business stories that are a dime a dozen, but pieces designed to
communicate the soul of an organization, warts and all. Mitchell was intrigued. "Can you make a video showing the history of the family business?" he asked.
Fast-forward to September 2003. The video, featuring three generations of Mitchells' executives, was shown as part of the reopening of the clothier's Westport store. Around
1,000 customers, clients, vendors and media reps were invited to the event, which included a fashion show and a concert by "Godfather of Soul" James Brown. But the real highlight,
Mitchell says, was the video tribute to Mitchell the family. "It captured the essence of the people who run the business and our extended family -- our customers."
The family video led to a separate video (http://www.hugyourcustomers.com) plugging Mitchell's 2003 book, "Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and
Achieve Astounding Results" (2003, Hyperion, $19.95). In that video, Mitchell, wearing his trademark tape measure around his neck, discusses the rather basic (but often
ignored) tenets of customer relationships described in his book, which has been translated into a dozen languages.
While it may seem trivial, the tape measure defines Mitchell. "It symbolizes that I'm a real retailer who walks the walk and talks the talk," he says, adding that the reel
"makes people think of me as a person who considers his customers friends." Since he started making the video available Mitchell's speaking engagements have increased
dramatically, he says, with recent appearances about his book before HP, Starbucks, and Smith Barney executives, for example.
"It's a new way of communicating the message," says Mitchell, referring to Reel Biography. "It's not going to replace TV, getting a story in the New York Times or
writing an op-ed piece, but Marco has a real opportunity to show how companies can present what's truly unique about them and capture it in two or three minutes."
Video production companies are countless, of course, and video has been a PR vehicle for years. But Greenberg brings a more cinematic sensibility to the table. He's assembled
an experienced staff of cinemato-graphers and film editors (BBC, PBS, Discovery Channel) who put together unscripted video biographies that personalize the
executive(s) telling the story.
"The problem with typical corporate videos is they strip away the humanity," says Greenberg, a 15-year PR and marketing veteran who for several years ran his own PR firm
(NYPR) and has also had stints at BBDO and Burson-Marsteller. "We, by our very nature of our name, lead with humanity. We leave all of Jack's hand gestures in the
video because that's Jack. We can do the same thing with a lawyer, surgeon or Indian chief; taking that person and positioning the product and/or service so the message is better
than the next guy's," he says. "Business these days is too anonymous and people want the warm and the human."
Greenberg's clients include Association of Management Consulting Firms, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York University, Research Frontiers Inc. and
The New York Times Company.
Costs can range from $2,000 to $20,000, depending on the level of production and, say, the number of corporate executives who participate in the video. But a median range is
around $10,000, soup-to-nuts, including distribution (whether digital, analog or both), compression, delivery, streaming and monitoring of the video. For individuals, the cost is
less.
"If you are spending $10,000 on something you know you're not going to like, spend half that amount on something that is really going to be thought-provoking," says Richard
Laermer, president of New York-based RLM PR and author of "Full Frontal PR," who is featured in a Reel Biography (http://www.reelbiography.com/richard_laermer). "This is pain-free. You're dealing with someone who understands CEOs
but also has a head for film. It's something that can be done very quickly but has substance, fun and flash and, that's what a lot of videographers are lacking."
Stephanie Horton, senior manager of advertising and promotion at the Times, hired Reel Biography to produce a video on the second annual "Nursing Awards" this past
November, which is sponsored by The New York Times Job Market (http://www.nytimes.com/marketing/jobmarket/jobfair/2004/tribute/nursing.html).
"We'll be able to take the video and show it different hospitals to raise awareness," Horton says, adding that the program currently has more than 150 participating hospitals
and medical organizations. "It's one thing to call people about the awards but it's another when you can show nurses in their element."
Greenberg is well-aware of the skeptics and challenges them to view the videos to see the difference. "This isn't herky-jerky 1999 video but high-quality, commercial-like
productions in which you own the story," he says. With the proliferation amd acceptance of reality TV, he adds, "there's a consciousness that everyone has a story to tell. You
don't have to be a celebrity. "
Contacts: Marco Greenberg, 212.867.7287, [email protected]; Richard Laermer, 310.207.9200, X116, [email protected]; Stephanie Horton, 212.556.1973, [email protected]; Jack Mitchell,
203.341.6407, [email protected]