Persuading with a Powerful Pitch Video

By Harry van Sambeeck

Inventing a new T&G product is one thing, but the persuasion of the power and potential of this new product is a completely different story. And this is especially true if you have to convince a T&G company to choose your product. Without successfully triggering potential enthusiasm of the stakeholders, the product will never even find its way to the store shelves. There are multiple ways of presenting the concept of a new T&G product. Personal presentations are often used, but given the fact that potential T&G companies are geographically dispersed, this goes hand in hand with some challenges. Also the fact that presentations often have to be done at fairs, which take place at predetermined specific times and places during the year, complicate this issue even further. How to turn this inconvenience into an opportunity? The answer is simple: create a powerful video that translates your idea into something visual, something the audience can ‘experience’. A video reduces the understanding gap between the intended and perceived message. Combining the video with a short description of the product and rules of play is an easy and efficient way to present your idea to several potential interested companies all over the world, without the need of being there in person. Do as the T&G companies do Why not use the power of video as companies that do it themselves when selling a T&G product using TV commercials and visual online promotion? A picture is worth a thousand words, that’s why you can convey the message in a very short time. Often 30 seconds are already enough, especially to guarantee continuous attention during the entire video. Based on this short first impression, potential interested parties can develop an initial feeling or attitude towards the new product. In case there is interest in the product, they sure would like to see and test the product in real life before deciding to commit resources. One can then consider building an actual working prototype. However, when one is not sure if there is certainly interest in the product, or when the development of a technically working prototype is difficult and costly, a phased process of slowly committing resources might be more attractive. Smart phone, friends and family Often a simple, do‐it‐yourself prototype ‐ just by simulating the technical function ‐ can already be sufficient. The audience will not even notice, since such a video has the ability to give a very realistic view of the product experience. Making a video that looks professional is not as difficult and expensive as it once was. With a smart phone (camera) and a simple editing program you are on your way! It also should not be really hard to find actors: family, friends, and neighbors are surprisingly often happy to help out. Music can be added to give the whole a dynamic touch. Indeed, one can also rely on a professional for the video, but this increases costs, while it is absolutely unnecessary. Easy and effective A major benefit of using a fairly simple do‐it-yourself prototype in a persuasion video is the fact that the interested parties still have the ability to join the thinking process and give input, before you committed resources in a costly prototype already. This is evidently way more efficient and effective than continuously changing a working prototype. Pitch video is a powerful tool I have already made various videos in order to introduce my new product ideas to potential interested companies. Experience taught me they are usually welcomed with open arms. The product concept itself is of course still of main importance, but keeping in mind that every inventor believes that his innovation is a breakthrough, the process of selling this specific idea usually poses the biggest challenge. That exactly is why a persuasion video could be a powerful tool.