If you’ve not heard of Fenix, then you are clearly not ‘down’ with the kids. It was in the larger of Waterloo Film Studio’s two green screen stages where the sassy quartet filmed their forth coming music video. Studio 2 had an overwhelming aura of panache, allure, accompanied by a pinch of attitude.

Move over Spice Girls, girl power has a new advocate.

Comprising of a car scene complete with a former member of Blue Lee Ryan as the driver, a bedroom scene with red rose petals, it was apparent that the road to success had already been paved for this UK girl group.

Armed with a Canon 5D and plenty of creative ideas, the reputable Sam Evans of THE FILM BOY PROJECT directed the video. With the studio having 8x8 foot double door car access, filming Lee driving a shiny black Bentley GT was no problem at all.

After entering the charts with their urban/dance style of music, it is only right that Jade, Tanya, Ayshan and Pricelesstake it up a level. Not new to the scene having got together in 2007, this girl group is here to stay.

Waterloo Film Studios recommends.

As YouTube continues to dominate the world of online video sharing, more and more business owners around the world are investing in video “vlogging” to promote their brands, products and services business. But what is exactly is a “vlog” and why are companies – large and small using them.

So what is a vlogger?

A “vlogger” is a video-blogger – essentially, someone who uses first person, piece-to-camera videos to discus, inform and interact with an online audience. This form of online video communication has become hugely popular in recent years thanks to the success of online video-sharing sites like YouTube, evolving from a bedroom pastime to an increasingly effective form of Internet advertising.

For example, the popular online “how-to” video website Howcast recently released a recruitment video in search for a vlogger to become the key face of their website. The position was created because the company wanted to expand it's online presence and having found success in video, had a great understanding of how big a part vlogging plays in online video marketing.

Why you should vlog?

Having an employee or ambassador vlog for your organisation is a fantastic way to interact with a very broad audience. A good vlogger can provide a friendly and memorable face to a company; as well as personifying it’s character and brand values.

If for example, a vlogger is a company employee, not only can this enhance the reputation of his or her colleagues and the team general, it also adds a 'real' factor to the video. Audiences like to see an actual employee talk about the company because the information they deliver is direct and is (usually) reliable, so this should always be the first option to consider.

This kind of vlog is also a form of investment not just in your company, but also in your people, who get to be the stars and faces of the business. When everyone is pulling together for the organisation they work for, this can be a very powerful approach to vlogging.

If you have ever seen the UK’s Halifax adverts on television, you’ll no doubt be very familiar with the now-iconic dancing and singing about the building society’s current savings accounts. However, what a lot of people didn’t realise at first, is that all of the main characters were actual employees of the company. When this information was discovered, audiences arguably found it much easier to relate the company and its brand values.

Should you invest in vlogs?

Well … the cost is relatively cheap, it’s not particularly time-consuming and done well, vlogging can have mass appeal with the potential to reach millions of people and help generate an enormous amount of revenue for even the smallest organisations. Many companies are benefiting from vlogging and there’s no reason yours can’t to.

A decent vlogger can bring many benefits to any company through the following methods:

* Directly promoting the services or products to potential customers and clients, in a friendly, engaging and authentic way.

* Generating a loyal online fan base who will help promote other promotional videos across a wide range of social media platforms and video sharing sites. Fantastic free PR.

* Boost the online ranking of a company through searches and related videos, all of which will help rank a website higher in search engine results.
 

YouTube is planning to release TrueView, a new way in which companies will be able to advertise and market their products and services through online video.

When TrueView is launched, it will allow YouTube users to skip over advertisements. The skip over options vary depending on the length of the video, that being either a short-form or longer form. The proposed plan is to give users an option to skip over adverts on the shorter videos, whereas the longer videos will allow YouTube users to choose to view either all of the adverts up front, or scattered throughout the video. There is also talk that user will be able to choose which adverts they want to view from a selection of videos.

After this information was reported on global news site AdAge, Google Senior Product Manager Phil Farhi stated publicly that skippable content was a "tough sell".

"Some advertisers had an initial gut reaction of, ‘Wait, you’re gonna let users skip my ad?’.  But the thing that tips them over from that gut reaction is you’re not paying for those skipped ads, and it’s a system that allows you to reach that opted-in engaged audience at scale.”

Although this may seems counter-intuitive and revolutionary, this form of advertising was actually originally introduced by Hulu.

Whether YouTube can make a success out of it remains to be seen, but for all online video advertisers it will be fascinating to find out.

Find out more about video marketing.

A cleverly devised video marketing campaign by LA-based creative agency Stun Creative, has generated a huge amount of press over it's hoax video of a taser attachment for Apple’s iPhone.

The video was made to demonstrate the supposed capability of a taser attachment, which can render a person helpless for a few seconds.

The video was ingeniously made to look like it was shot by amateurs who had come up with an innovative product. However, on November 12th 2010 a press release revealed that the company behind this viral was none other than Stun Creative. The release also stated how the product had received global attention, from news organisations in Russia, Germany, Japan, Korea and Israel.

Stun Creative founders Mark Feldstein and Brad Roth created the hoax taser demo in an effort to promote their agency - hence the product being called the 'Stun Fone'

"We implemented this campaign solely to illustrate the power of a great idea,” said Roth in a statement. “In today's universe, you don't have to be heavily funded to present a new idea through social media; you just need to be highly inventive. In less than one week, we've actually received over 20,000 requests for orders for the 'Stun Fone' product from every corner of the globe."

To date, the video has received over 117,000 views and now redirects users to creative agency’s website. Overall, their unique approach to video marketing has proved to create a great deal of PR for the company and will no doubt help increase their client base.

The full video advert can be found below: 

Contrary to the usual studio scent of cosmetic products and perfume, this time around, Waterloo Film Studios had a different odour. The wholesome aroma of exotic spices from abroad, mixed with sweet smelling fruit and vegetable produce. No … we didn’t have a farmers market in Studio 3, but we did have professional chefs cooking up a storm.

Filming was taking place for the The World Food Channel, which will launch on Sky TV in January 2011. It will deliver content “focused on baking, ethnic cuisine, wine and spirits, healthy and vegetarian cooking and children's foods”. It has also scoured the globe and gathered the top culinary talent from countries such as Australia, Canada and England to bring never-before-seen world food shows to the UK and to the world for the first time.

That Chinese or Mexican takeaway won’t be so necessary after watching these guys in action. The passion of the chef plus, the simplicity of the recipes, make this a series of programmes you should definitely look out for!

The channel says; "We believe the World Food Channel will serve some very unique interests and needs of a highly engaged audience."

We wish them the very best for the January launch and hope to see them her again very soon.