Jim Robinson, the President of Image Management created a niche market in Washington, D.C. for high-end residential and commercial real estate videos. Clients paid a premium for Image Management professional quality sales presentations in 1985, the period I joined the company and became Jim’s sole Producer/Director. A short video sales and marketing presentation routinely cost between 1,500 to 3,000 dollars per finished minute.

BACKGROUND

Video, as a marketing tool, grew exponentially in the early 80’s once there was a critical mass of consumers who owned either a VHS or Betamax video player. But the skill necessary to write a script, shoot video and properly record sound required people with a film background. With Jim’s background in radio and television, coupled with an entrepreneurial passion for sales and marketing, he speculated that there was an opportunity to leverage his expertise, experience and contacts, creating Image Management to harness the power of video to sell and market a wide assortment of products and services.

VIDEO KILLED THE NEWSPAPER STAR

Video would soon be everywhere and it had the potential to disrupt the traditional print and newspaper model that historically dominated the advertising, public relations and direct marketing industries for more than a century. Industry analysis demonstrated that consumers believed video was flashier and more engaging, and the newly emerging infomercial business was finding success in the wee hours, gobbling up excess satellite transponder time that the cable networks couldn’t program profitably. Jim was confident that video marketing, targeted selectively to customers and industries, could capture and convert more prospects to customers.

NOW OR NEVER

It was time for action , industry would ultimately learn the fundamentals used by Hollywood Producers to connect with a new audience of men, women and children, raised on television. Deploying video into new, untapped markets was the future of marketing. Of course video streaming, not technically possible at that time, was on everyone’s radar and those positioned for the future of video marketing could use their “early mover advantage” to capture a bigger share of the market once the technology became available.

HIGH TICKET PRODUCTS AND INDUSTRIES

Jim looked for high ticket products and services like luxury homes, cars, commercial leasing, travel, industrial products and other industries that would likely venture a percentage of their advertising and promotional budget on video marketing. Image Management’s Washington, D.C. location was also and ideal incubator for video marketing, considering the constellation of massive government contractors that dotted the metropolitan area. Companies like Fairchild, Intelsat, and SAIC along with numerous Bio-Medical firms, Defense contractors and Telecommunications companies collectively referred to as the Beltway bandits. If videos could be used to win contracts, push or defeat legislation, the higher costs could be easily justified because of the higher ROI’s through the launch of a successful video marketing campaign.

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS and HOME BUILDERS TAKE THE PLUNGE

So Jim concentrated on real estate. Videos were used to market products and services in leasing sales offices, in model homes and on-ste, in B to B presentations. Jim often brought with hm, a monitor/vhs combo unit made by a company in Moorpark, CA, MPO Videotronics, to sales appointments. That unit was portable and came with a stylish, and sturdy padded case. Now you could bring the video to the client rather than depend on the client having the resources to play your video. That MPO unit got a lot of traction. We became a dealer of MPO products and bundled the player with the video content, produced for many clients and their respective sales forces. Jim, was killing two birds with one stone. Video could always be played, no matter what and he could demonstrate proof of concept, or more specifically video gets people’s attention better than print. Our customers immediately grasped the opportunity for their businesses. Video tapes were also sent to prospects via U.S. mail and courier services like U.P.S and Fed-Ex. Graphics, music, voice-vers and B-roll were often repurposed for other applications and markets or used for thirty and sixty second commercials. Jim rightfully assumed that given the intensive, up-front capital investment necessary to build a residential community or commercial office building, the cost to make a video would be considered a wise investment and would deliver meaningful results for years to come. Video also hada powerful, “water cooler” effect, meaning customers took so much pride in their videos that they often passed their video on to others, further demonstrating the visceral impact video had on practically everyone.

CONCLUSION

Image Management was ahead of it’s time. You only need to look at the massive success of YouTube, Instagram and Tic Toc to see how video has evolved into the “lingua franca” of today’s generation. There are thousands of Broadcast, Cable. Public Access, OTT and Podcasts that feature video to better educate, inform, sell, brand, and influence public opinion. Jim’s vision, and the technical evolution of video over the internet has had a profound impact on every industry, every country, and nearely every person on the planet. The immortal message of futurist writer Marshall McCluhan has never resounding more today than ever before, “The Message is The Medium”.