Industry's FIRST B2B Online Video Ads

I am proud to say that INDIUM's Marcom team has achieved another first. This week we unleashed the electronics assembly materials industry's FIRST video ads. Online. B2B.

Video is nothing new to us (product demos, tours, etc.) - and ads have been around forever. But issuing a full-blown video ad has never happened in our industry, until this week.

WHY VIDEO ADS?
I firmly believe that most of the novelty of print ads, press releases, exhibits has been played out in our industry. Everything I see looks the same - even my own ads. Catchy title, eye-grabbing still shot of the product, riveting list of reasons to believe. It's all good, but it's all been done countless times before. Not that we're abandoning them, we are adding to our arsenal.

Additionally, our industry - electronics assembly materials - is a serious place. Critical decisions regarding customers' product performance are made every single day. And our customers are often producing some serious stuff (life support devices, process control devices, medical, military, aerospace devices, etc.). "Serious" is a good thing. In fact, here at INDIUM, it is frequently the ONLY way to go.

That said, we're all people. Suppliers, consumers, designers, specifiers, buyers. And we all enjoy a little break now and then. My 23 years in this industry has shown me that the people that I work amongst are some of the most fun and humorous people around.

So, I figured, let's provide a little mental diversion - using two techniques. First, I wanted to advertise using video. A first for the industry (and something I have really wanted to do for years). Second, I wanted to inject a little humor. EVERYONE likes to chuckle a bit.

The theme of our ad series is Indium Corporation: We Know SMT Inside and Out. The "joke" is that our engineers are portrayed as being so dedicated, so inquisitive, so driven, that they actually put themselves through the SMT manufacturing process in their quest for process knowledge.

"Getting it" requires that the viewer knows what SMT is, and that they understand that no person could REALLY be processed like a circuit board. It's the impossibility, coupled with the familiarity with the process conditions, coupled with the secret notion that most of us would love to take a fantastic voyage through our processes that (hopefully) make these ads entertaining. In essence, the ads are targeted at the very people who design this equipment, who use it, who manage the quality that comes out of it. Those who are "in the know".

The media picked right up on it strongly. Photonics.com reviewed the first Indium video ad. The PCB007 team (who filmed and produced the ads) recently released an audio interview with me - chatting about the ad strategy. And I am proud to say that I have never received so many e-mails on any one press release, ad, or activity in my career. My in box "lit up like a Christmas tree" the minute the announcement hit the street. (Do things "light up like a Christmas tree" anymore? Or is that old cliche officially dead?)

I know that, in the grand scheme, these are a long way from Super Bowl Ad quality, but I feel they ARE good online B2B Marcom. And, if enough people forward the links to each other, they could even become B2B viral marketing - which is a bit rare. We'll see.

Check out the Indium Corporation video ads (one is currently available, several others are being released soon). . And join us in celebrating this momentous occasion. FUN has returned to the SMT industry!

Finally, please do share your ideas, reactions, and opinions. We love to learn. Comment!