The Business of Imagination

During the beginning of this week, I've begun delving into the depths of yet another dark corner of the business world: Business Intelligence. BI, as those savvy in the terminology of this industry call it, concerns itself with creating an architecture around gathering and using the various customer, financial, and technological data swirling about untamed in a company's infrastructure. Sounds dry as a bone, right? Sure, but have I yet met a topic I failed to spice up? I guess we'll find out.

BI, like so many other practices in the oft-draconian corporate world, has myriad appearances and methods of application, and looks quite intimidating from a high level. Despite this fact, however, I am convinced that with the correct application of a talent unique to our species, we can break down these walls and restore what so often falls by the wayside of progress: accessibility.

What talent could possibly accomplish this herculean feat? What skill could cut a swathe through the seas of endless red tape? The key, my friends, is imagination. True, the previous sentence might seem to contain an overabundance of cheese, but the point stands.  By linking concepts that seem unyielding in their complexity to the creative centers of our brains, we can break them down piece by piece into digestible packets of visual, auditory, and written data. Several examples of these kind of business practices already exist. Once again, as in my last article, I find myself giving a well-deserved tip of the hat to Wistia.

In addition to their innovative video marketing platform, the Wistia team makes BI easy through gathering vital information about the videos they host using analytical tools. This video, taken from the Wistia Learning Center, gives some insight into how this kind of information can help track success without melting the minds of the innocent. As you can see, Wistia presents video stats using a clean, graphical representation that forms an instantaneous imprint on the user's mind. The colors delineate important patterns and draw the eye to the most relevant data points. No longer must we swim through line after line of a spreadsheet to glean insights into performance. Using the resources that modern technology affords us, we can harness the artistic ideas bursting from our brains and speak to others through cornea blasts of content that excite rather than frighten.

This does not simply apply to video, either. Wistia's methodology is extensible. The infographic below, posted on Column Five's site and done with Wistia, moves the scope outward to cover the video marketing industry as a whole and articulates its efficacy with striking grace.

Using an aesthetic mix of colorful imagery and easy-to-decipher text, this page breaks down the applications of video marketing, as well as its key audiences. It accesses the interplay of verbal and visual connections that form the constant backdrop of our mental experience. Through understanding this transience in our language, we can transfer meaning and resonance to objects and establish chains of significance leading from words to pictures to ideas. This is at once a powerful case study for deconstructive philosophy and a boon to business practices. Who says academic and corporate culture can't live in harmony?

I know it seems that I've harped on Wistia a great deal of late, but that's only because they've done such a great deal to deserve it. Companies using the kinds of methods articulated above give me hope for further innovations to come. If we can make business our art and art our business, then nothing will stop the free flow of imagination between the two. No longer will we need to choose between the drudgeries of work and the amusements our hobbies afford us. Instead, we will all simply live in a world at play.

#TweetFiction, Video Marketing, and General Excitement

This week has been one of the most eventful in recent history for me. So much discovery, exploration, and imagination is flooding my mind that I simply have spill such wondrous brain contents here. In terms of authorly-type activities, the ideas have been flowing, and to start I'd like to articulate a concept upon which I've been musing of late: #TweetFiction.

Similar to the flash fiction of luminaries such as Warren Ellis, #TweetFiction further condenses the concept to work within the scant 140-character confines of everyone's favorite social media platform. Thus far, it seems that about two sentences is the average workspace afforded. I've published four or so entries on my Twitter feed as concepts pop into my head. This is a wonderful brainstorming tactic, as it galvanizes the ol' neural connections and, in my case, leads to springboards for longer form fictional endeavors.

Being interested as I am in connection and perspectives, I'd like to extend an invitation. All ye writerly types, flood the Twittersphere with your dazzling creations. Pass it on, share the wealth, and provoke thought in a region of the web so often perceived (unfairly) as a source of irrelevant trivialities. Whether you're a fan of the real, fantastical, or scientific, this format offers a way to send out polished nuggets of verbal excellence to the world. Consider this the beginning of your manifesto: creativity and expansion. After all, isn't life boring if it's all defined for you?

Continuing on the track of creativity, I've recently become acquainted with an industry that has me quite excited: video marketing. Ranging from whimsical to instructional, these pieces of content highlight the importance of the emotional resonance that I spoke of in my last post when it comes to selling products and services. In our Big Data-centric society, the visual content is often of even higher importance than the verbal message. As Eddie Izzard put it, "It's 70 percent how you look, 20 percent how you sound, and only 10 percent what you actually say." Now, this isn't to say that verbal content should go out the window; my point is more that the visuals should match and amplify the message.

One of the best examples I've found of this amplification lately is the work being done by Wistia, a video marketing group out of Somerville, MA. They've managed to push for change in the marketing industry in ways that inspire others and spark conversations about where the industry as whole should head. Most important in my mind, however, is their generosity. Not only do they offer masterful solutions to clients, they also have numerous free resources available to the general public. One of their newer efforts is the Wistia Learning Center, a portal in which the company expounds upon the various aspects of video marketing. Whether it's the nuts and bolts of production techniques, the cerebral process of concept design, or the analytical intricacies of measuring video success, Wistia has it covered. Their easy-to-digest content is enlightening and integral to the building of success in the industry. Additionally, they offer free hosting for three videos to anyone who makes an account so that both the resources and opportunity to learn are within reach. Check them out if you have time.

Well, this brings us to the end of another scintillating installment. I hope to see #TweetFiction and videos popping up across the untamed vastness that is the Internet. Remember, construct your lives one moment at a time, and always broaden your perspective.