The Missed Branding Opportunity: Benefits of Branded Virtual Backgrounds

Transcript:

Hi, Dave, here from Arc Intermedia, and welcome back to “What Am I Working on Today?” Today’s backdrop is Aruba. Soft sand, warm ocean.  
 
So, this morning, I needed to drive to North Jersey to meet with our client, Sharp Electronics at their US headquarters. As I walked in the lobby, I was met with a large red, Sharp logo prominently displayed, and the furniture walls were all in company colors. They literally have their business creed etched in metal, and there are shelves of awards and plenty of Sharp products. I clearly was in the right place.  
 
Our contact, Stephanie, came out and met with us, and then she gave us a tour of workspaces where we saw more branded Sharp products, as well as photos of Sharp employees engaged in charitable events. She then led us to the conference room, which of course, had a large Sharp TV mounted on the wall with the Sharp logo on the screen. And in the far wall was New York Giants and New York Jets, football helmets and a replica of MetLife Stadium, you know, which gave the room some localized personality.  
 
We were also fortunate enough to receive some Sharp oven mitts. Sharp definitely knows branding. So, as we met with the marketing team, as well as Peter, the Senior VP of Sales and Marketing, he gave us a tour of a brand new showroom they just built that showcases all of Sharp’s kitchen appliances. We got to see the latest and greatest. We got to see Alexa turn on an oven. We saw Alexa open a microwave drawer, and of course, we saw Alexa put ESPN on a Sharp TV. We met with the marketing team, and we talked through some digital strategies that we may employ in 2025 to help sell these amazing products. Great people at Sharp and were super pumped to try to drive revenue next year. 
  
So, on my drive home, I began to think about, in this post COVID world, how infrequent any one of us ever goes to a company’s headquarters, I would be willing to bet that 90% of all of our meetings are these video conferences. So, think about it, this little video window behind me here has become our company lobby, our company conference room and our company offices. This is where our clients and our partners most often see us. So, I don’t think it’s a crazy statement to say this video window has now become a very important branding opportunity for all of us.  
 
I am still surprised by how many folks still show a cluttered background or just some weird, odd angle of a room in their house. And you know, of course, we’ve all used the blurred background, but it shows no branding. It has no visual appeal, but what it does do is instantly tell me that you don’t want me to see whatever’s behind you.  
 
Now, here’s something for marketing and communications companies to think about. If you are unwilling to champion your own brand in this very simple way, why should your customers truly believe that you will do absolutely everything to champion theirs? Hmm, I should have gotten Matthew McConaughey to do that line.  
 
Anyway. I’d like to give a shout out to Michelle at Tag Strategies, a branding company down in Philly. She has her logo physically mounted on the wall behind her, which is visible in every call she does. Nice job. And then there’s our client ImageFIRST out in King of Prussia, their entire staff uses a compliant branded video background, go team. And then there’s Samaritan over in South Jersey, not only did they create a branded graphical background, they also added the graphic for their best place to work. That’s just next level.  
 
So here at Arc, we’ve created a PowerPoint template, and yes, I can hear the creative folks moaning and groaning right now, but what it enabled us to do is to have a standardized template where any of our staff members can add their own personality. So we have our standard art blue background. We have abstract art created by AI. We literally have hundreds of these. Staffers can add vacation picks, and those are always a real big hit. And then lastly, they can add anything that they’re into right now, like a 40-year-old movie that doesn’t feel so fictional anymore.  
 
Anyway, we get so many compliments on our branded backgrounds, and they’re doing exactly exactly as I had hoped. They present us as a cohesive and creative team. They create conversation like, hey, what’s that in your background? I mean, they’re literally ice breakers. But most importantly, as a marketing company, it shows that we pay attention to every detail, every branding opportunity, while reinforcing our own brand.  
 
So well, let me get back to this if you’re interested in thinking about doing branded backgrounds. Here’s some direction. If you want to show off your clean and organized physical workspace, think about the expert consultants that are brought in on TV and sports shows. Think about having a physical logo in the background. Think about a shelf with branded items or products or anything that can convey your brand or your expertise. Show us you’re the expert and the brand that you rep!  
 
If your workspace doesn’t allow for that, maybe you work in multiple places, go the route of the graphical background. It will work in every possible scenario, even if you’re working at a cafe in Italy. Establish a branded template, but please add visual interest. Give us something to look at, besides your smile and face, of course. So, while you may think this is trivial, I think it’s as important enough that it should be included in every company brand standard manual.  
 
So, to that end, here are some final steps. First off, don’t use video or anything that moves in your background. It’s distracting, and quite honestly, it may be real hard to compete with. Don’t put people in your background, especially not your Wednesday night bowling team. That’s just weird. Please do not create a giant advertisement. This is not a Black Friday sale. And lastly, there will be points deducted if you use a stock office photo. Just be real. So, there you have it. Do better, reinforce your brand in this very simple way. Give us something interesting to look at. Mix it up from time to time, I look forward to seeing what you’ve got!