What's New With RESLV Blog

By Jake DeHart, Creative Strategist at RESLV

One thing I’ve always loved about marketing is how often the best work happens at the intersection of different departments. For me, that means blending strategic thinking, creative ideas, hands-on execution, and the analytical insights that back it all up.

That’s also why I don’t view a finished video, graphic, blog post (like this), or any piece of content as the end of a project. When the edit is approved, the color is corrected, and the final file is exported, the production may be finished, but the marketing work is really just getting started. A case in point is the incredible Cradle of Coaches documentary our team recently produced for Miami University (stream it now on Peacock!).

Great Creative Still Needs a Plan

A brand can invest a lot of time and budget in creating a great video, but if its distribution plan is simply to post it on social and hope people see it, it’s more than likely leaving value on the table.

We like to start by asking a few simple questions:

• Who are we trying to reach?
• Where are they most likely to see this?
• What do we want them to do after they watch?
• And how can we build the content in a way that gives us flexibility once it is out in the world?

We also help clients ask the right questions before we get started and provide a clear roadmap for Return On Investment.

Those answers can shape the creative from the beginning. A video built for Instagram shouldn’t be approached the same way as a piece made for YouTube, paid media, a website, or connected TV. The audience, platform, and objective all matter, and I think the strongest work accounts for those variables before the cameras ever start rolling.

We Think in Content Ecosystems Rather Than Deliverables

One of the biggest ways my digital brain influences how I approach creative is that I am rarely thinking about one finished asset. I try thinking about what else we can get from the same production and how far the idea can stretch without losing its impact.

• Can the main video become multiple social edits?
• Can we capture vertical footage while we are already on set?
• Can behind-the-scenes content help extend the campaign?

The mindset should be intentional and focus on getting more mileage from the time, budget, and access you already have, rather than creating more content just for the sake of creating more content. Sometimes a few small pre-production decisions can create a much bigger toolbox once the campaign launches.

Creative and Distribution Should Influence Each Other

This is where I think strategy, creative, and performance really start to work together. The strongest creative idea may still need to take different forms depending on where it lives.

A social clip may need the most compelling moment in the first few seconds, or a longer-form piece may have more room to build a story and let the audience settle in.

To me, adapting creative for different platforms does not make it less creative. It actually tends to make it more purposeful and versatile. The best work comes from understanding both the idea itself and the environment where that idea needs to perform.

Then the Data Gets Involved

The process shouldn’t stop once the content goes live, either. I want to know what happened next and what we can learn and scale.

What held people’s attention, or which version performed best?  Those insights should do a little more than live in a reporting deck. They should help shape the next concept or the next campaign.

That feedback loop is one of my favorite parts of the work because it brings everything together. Strategy informs the creative, creative gets executed, distribution puts it in front of the right audience, and data gives us something useful to learn from.

Then we do it again, hopefully a little smarter.

The Export Is Not the Finish Line

I still love the moment when a project comes together, and the final video is ready. There’s something satisfying about seeing all of the planning, production, and post-production hours turn into a finished piece. But my digital marketing brain doesn’t allow me to see that as the finish line. I see it as the point where the strategic, creative, and analytical pieces finally start working together.

Making a great video will always matter here. Making sure it actually does something matters just as much to me.

Have a project in mind? Let’s think beyond the final deliverable and plan where it can go next. Reach out to RESLV today.