Brand awareness is key as Highland company Story + Stage celebrates 40 year milestone
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Did you know that 86 per cent of businesses use video as a marketing tool? That 81 per cent of marketers say video has helped them directly increase sales? And that 93 per cent of marketers say video has helped them increase brand awareness? We didn’t until we talked to the face behind Story and Stage.
The power, value and benefit of using video coupled with their desire to listen to businesses stories is what keeps Story and Stage inspired.
Story and Stage began life as HCVF in August 1982 during the early days of video production and have grown into a leading video production and event production company based in the heart of the Highlands.
This year sees the business celebrate its 40th anniversary. The team behind the brand knows what it takes to tell your business story in the best possible way, as experts in creating content that is tailored to suit your specific needs.
Working with names across, private, public and third sector such as SSE Networks, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, Holyrood Communications, Mindtools, Highlands and Islands Airports Limited, Planit Scotland and The Life Changes Trust, Story and Stage has a reputation for excellence.
Executive Magazine caught up with Story and Stage’s managing director David Eglinton to talk about why video is so powerful for brand awareness, how they have secured a place in the market for the past 40 years through client relationships, and why they took this anniversary as an opportunity to rebrand.
Having taken over the stewardship of the business from his father, who started the company in 1982, David is passionate about the work they create and how it serves their customer base.
Creating and producing video content is what Stage and Story love to do, and for David this is the area he wants the business to focus on even more, as video continues to play an ever-increasing role in marketing strategies and helping businesses realise the value that video can provide.
Talking about the power of video, David explained: “Video is an extremely powerful and cost-effective tool that a business can use to reach ever-increasing, diverse and dispersed audiences”.
When looking at the benefits of using video, for example, as a way of explaining how a product or service works, the ability for the viewer to control the pace at which they learn puts the viewer in control, and at their own speed watch your demo to get the best out of particular product or service. It may also give you another way to keep up with your customer base by welcoming feedback from your customers about the explainer films that you are making.
Other potential uses for video could be interviews, tutorial films, product demonstrations, testimonials, health and safety inductions, recording of live events and of course advertising as part of a marketing strategy.
With new technologies continuing to push the boundaries of potential applications of video, Story and Stage have already been exploring how augmented and virtual reality technologies can be used for tourism and product advertising.
For David, it is vital that the client journey is an enjoyable experience when working with the Story and Stage team who take a relational approach to their work.
“What invariably keeps customers returning is the experience with working in partnership with our team on a film for their business that will help make a difference,” he said.
“Listening and talking is a huge part of the process. We bring people in for a chat, ask questions and then have a creative design discussion as a team, before going back to a client with ideas.
“There’s an agency style approach to it.”
He added: “It’s about using our expertise to shape the clients vision for the story they want to tell.”
Not only do they shoot and record video content for clients, but have also seen an increase in the amount of post-production editing carried out for businesses who are creating their own content but don’t have the skills, expertise or time to edit themselves.
Story and Stage has found its niche within the industrial and renewable energy industries. Being located in the Highlands gives the team an excellent base for their production operations. These sectors are extremely strong in the Highlands and Islands and the team are proud of their work within these industries.
The event production department of Story and Stage are involved in providing the technology to help clients share their stories through events whether in-person or online.
From their studio in Inverness they are able to run and stream live events to a global audience.
During the pandemic, Story and Stage were involved in recording and live broadcasting numerous events from their studio with the most recent being the 2022 Scottish Highlands and Islands Renewable Energy Conference and Awards.
Being responsive to the ways in which clients wanted to run and interact with events became a main focus of the event production side of Story and Stage during the pandemic.
“We had clients who began using video webinars in the pandemic and didn’t go back to face to face. Organisers found they could reach much wider audiences and do so more cost effectively. While the conference method was different, the message remained the same. It could be argued that it could have been enhanced because conference speakers could now be anywhere in the world!”.
For David, the rebrand from HCVF to Stage and Story has been about connecting with other businesses and for people to know more about who they are and to see even more businesses and organisations gain the confidence to engage with their audiences using video.
“So with the 40th anniversary this year, we thought why not talk about more of who we are in our name?
“It’s given us a freshen up, and as one of a number of excellent video-production companies in the Highlands, we’re all here to help provide businesses see the value in using video.
“The talent in the Highlands is incredible and we want to see Highland businesses thrive and would encourage all businesses and organisations in the area to look at the production skills base in the region before looking elsewhere.
Happy anniversary to Story and Stage from all at Executive Magazine.
Check out www.storyandstage.co to see all the work that they have done – don’t be left in that 14 per cent without any video marketing!
MEET THE TEAM
David Eglinton – Managing director of Story and Stage
What’s your favourite film? -The Shawshank Redemption
Favourite band? - Zak Brown Band!
Favourite food? Pizza
What are the three qualities that you possess that has got you to where you are?
- Integrity – with clients and your staff.
- We are human, not perfect and if something doesn’t go the way it should, we learn from it.
- Hard work!
Mairi - As the office manager, Mairi is responsible for the finance and day to day administration functions of the business.
Grant – As our head of creative, Grant is responsible for leading all aspects of the production team and liaising with clients.
Janina – With a background in football content and University marketing, Janina is the newest member of the digital content creative team and works alongside Grant and Anna.
Stephen – With lots of experience working in the corporate audio-visual industry in the central belt of Scotland prior to joining Story and Stage, Stephen has settled in quickly to his role as a sound engineer and technician.
Anna – Anna is our senior video editor who has a special talent for weaving footage together to really help tell a story. Anna is also astute at putting together blooper reels so be careful on camera.
Top tips for webinars – Zoom still has it’s place
- Treat your webinar with the same amount of planning as you would any other type of event.
- Like audio on video, having a good audio set-up is vital when you are taking part in a webinar.
- If you are going to be involving any guests in your webinar, schedule a short technical rehearsal with them to check the connectivity, and their audio and video set-up.
If you are going to use screen sharing, make sure you don’t have lots of other applications or documents open on your desktop and give your desktop a quick tidy
Top tip for engaging with a production company
- The old adage of “treating someone how you would want to be treated” forms a major part of our Story and Stage ethos.
- We are passionate about our work and like to work hard on the films we produce for our clients, so make sure you work with someone who values you as their customer.
Top tips for shooting your own videos
- If you are going to have a go at making your own selfie style videos, invest in a microphone – you won’t regret it and your viewers will thank you for it.
- Avoid sitting with your back to a window when filming yourself unless you are planning on using extra lighting.
- Invest in a tripod or mobile phone gimbal as shaky phone footage isn’t going to help.
Wells Street Studios, 31/33 Wells Street, Inverness IV3 5JU
E: hello@storyandstage.co
T: 01463 224788
