Quirk has proudly launched a slick new YouTube Channel, QuirkTV. We’ve been hard at work to ensure that it’s a channel that will showcase our latest innovative campaigns and work we’ve produced, as well as little Quirk-isms that stem from our company’s culture.

So… What’s the point?

When we work on large projects, our teams produce beautiful assets that are accompanied by interactions online. These, in turn, produce results that we track and eventually, report back on. Case studies enable us to get all of this goodness into one short video.

Our video team takes these assets and crafts short, punchy vids that give you an overview of the planning process and how we created and implemented the various campaigns. Some of these case studies cover campaign specific projects, which mean that after a certain time, the URL is taken down, or the campaign will end. By putting these various projects into case studies, it allows the projects to live on.

It also gives us the opportunity to break down our working process and explain it from the perspective of Think, Create, Engage and Optimise (TCEO). This approach of using the TCEO disciplines stems from the way Quirk is structured – to ensure that all of our online marketing tactics gel.

Motion Graphics Designer, Dylan Wrankmore, along with Videographer, Andrew “Captain Kirk” Kirkby, are the crafty ninjas behind the creative videos you’ll be able to watch on QuirkTV. I caught up with Dylan to hear a bit more about:

Q. Dyl, what’s the basic process when you create a video for QuirkTV?

• Pre-production: Think of this as the “planning phase” which includes creating a list of potential shots we want to film, accompanied by a script and storyboard which explains how we’ll tell the story. In this stage, we also need to find suitable locations to film/cast talent/source equipment etc.
   
• Production: This phase includes gathering all of our raw materials (video and audio). This phase probably takes the most work and know-how, especially if we’re shooting everything from scratch.
   
• Post-production: Here, we take all our raw materials and assemble them into a finished product. This includes video editing, designing titles, animation or a combo of all of these. The video is then rendered - this refers to the generation, via computer, of each individual frame, which when strung together form a fluid video. Lastly, the video has to be converted into a format that can be viewed online, a process known as transcoding.

The grand Engage-ment

Once the videos are up, it’s up to our Engage Team to set up the channel, manage it and ensure the content we post is find-able on the interwebs. Video SEM Campaign Manager, Daniel Kolossa, is responsible for this process and he told me a bit about QuirkTV’s optimisation.

Q. Danny K, please tell us what your role is when ‘optimising’ QuirkTV?

A. The majority of it involves applying SEO principals to the videos on the channel. There is, however, a flurry of differences that are specific to video. Furthermore, Engage’s work does not restrict itself only to the channel and its videos, but promoting them through various tactics that encompass social, organic and paid opportunities.

Q. What, in your professional opinion makes this channel a cut above the rest?

A. Our aim is to make QuirkTV the flagship representation not only of our creative work, but to showcase the mechanics that YouTube and video offer in terms of driving engagement for a brand. In essence, when you visit our channel, you will see a living case study of what a YouTube channel should be and what can be achieved with it.

Q. Any thoughts on where the channel will be in say… a year?

A. In this day and age “Social Media” is essential for a brand interacting with its audience in the digital space. In South Africa, this term is pretty much synonymous with Twitter and Facebook with YouTube being largely forgotten. The problem is that videos are associated with extremely high costs. This, however, is not an essential driving mechanism. We’re following the international trends very closely and I foresee our video presence playing a defining role in shaping interactions via the “social triumvirate” of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

So there we have it, straight from the mouths of the masterminds. Be sure to check out QuirkTV and let us know what you think of the various case studies and quirky extras by leaving your comments.