<div class="article_quote"><div class="article_quote_contain"><div class="article_quote_quote">"Ultimately, it’s about telling stories."</div><div class="article_quote_name u-text-style-main">Stefan Kern</div></div></div>

APA-OTS (Austria Press Agency - Original Text Service) is Austria's largest distributor of multimedia press information via text, image, video and audio. Stefan Kern is Product Manager for OTS Video and responsible for media relations. Since 2014, he has been advising companies on how to communicate their content and messages through video and how moving image content can best resonate with the media. Kern studied journalism, communications and political science in Vienna. He worked as a journalist for ten years, including in the video editorial department of the Austrian Press Agency (APA), at ServusTV and as a video producer in London.

Insights from Stefan Kern, Product Manager at APA-OTS

<h3 class="interview-question">Mr. Kern, what is your role at APA-OTS Originaltext-Service GmbH?</h3>
APA-OTS is a wholly owned subsidiary of APA and the largest distributor of press releases in Austria, hence the name "Originaltext-Service". For some years now, it has been distributing not only original text and images, but also audio and video material. I am the product manager for video, and it is through my hands that the commissioned productions run. When a company decides to produce a video with us, the job goes to me. I then work very closely with a variety of production teams, coordinating the job and advising on the video. I'm also in charge of video distribution. Before that, I was mainly involved in video relations, which I still do to some extent, in constant contact with many Austrian editorial offices.

<h3 class="interview-question">Does this mean that APA-OTS also produces its own videos, or does it work with other video teams?</h3>
We do not have our own video team. Our original core business is press release distribution; over time, video distribution was added. About four years ago, we started to focus more on this area; we soon realized that the quality of the videos we were distributing was too low. But if the content isn't good enough, there won't be any acquisitions. Hence the decision to also offer video production and know-how. We work with several production teams.

<h3 class="interview-question">Video content has seen a huge upsurge in online communication and marketing in recent years. What have been the most important milestones in this development for you?</h3>
We've been talking about the "year of video" for many years now, but for a long time it was just an empty phrase. In 2017, however, there was a noticeable shift in thinking in corporate communications. Video is now more prominent in the minds of our partners and customers. However, we are still not where I would like to be. Today, 360° videos, virtual reality and drone videos are all the rage. Actually, we need to take a step back, because in Austria most press releases are still produced without video or multimedia content. So video communication has not really arrived yet.One of the big developments is that video production has become cheaper. It is easy to make good videos these days. Live video is also coming on strong: you can see from user behavior that interaction with live video is much higher than with normal video. As we know, the motto in the media industry is "always newer, always faster," both on the user side and on the corporate and media side. People want real-time content on their smartphones, and live video is the perfect way to do that.

<h3 class="interview-question">How did the triumph of the smartphone or the changing media landscape contribute to the video theme? Were these events that made APA think about deepening the theme?</h3>
Yes and no, everything is intertwined, you can see the change in usage. It's a fact that video content is being consumed more and more, especially on smartphones. So content has to be shorter and more visual. These are developments that require adaptation. If you fail to do so, you run the risk that information or a message will not be received. Therefore, as a service provider, we must always be aware of what we can offer our clients. The most important thing in video production is to have a goal and a strategy.

<div class="article_quote"><div class="article_quote_contain"><div class="article_quote_quote">"The most important thing in video production is to have a goal and a strategy."</div><div class="article_quote_name u-text-style-main">Stefan Kern</div></div></div>

Storytelling and the Right Strategy for the Tourism Industry

<h3 class="interview-question">In our day-to-day business, we often get feedback from clients that video production is very time-consuming and complex.</h3>

The most important thing is to have a goal and a strategy.Many companies rush into video production because video is trendy or to get media coverage for certain topics. But it doesn't work because without a story, a video is useless. You have to ask yourself: "What story do I want to tell? What channels should I use to tell it? What is the appropriate target audience?"

Needless to say, I'm a strong advocate of media distribution: it's effective, you don't have to build your own audience, it's highly visible on Google, and you have higher credibility. These are all important benefits, but of course it's not always the right way to go. For example, if the content you want to distribute is not newsworthy, or if you want to reach a younger audience, it makes sense to distribute the content through social media channels and influencers.

<h3 class="interview-question">What are the pitfalls to avoid in video production?</h3>
There are two specific pitfalls: One is that as a company, you should take a step back and remove the advertising from the video content and put the story first. My credo is "story first. That's what consumers are looking for, both on social media channels and in the media. They don't want to be bombarded with advertising, they want to be able to judge for themselves what's good and what's bad. However, it should be clear who they are and where to find them.Another obstacle is not recognizing the story. This is essential in the media industry, but it also applies to corporate communications. Especially in tourism, I as a company should think about what makes me unique and special. Many people don't immediately recognize what a story is and what makes it special. That's where I can help. For example, I start with research to see what headlines, stories and trends have worked well in the past around the topic. That has a lot to do with storytelling, which to me is synonymous with journalism. Whether you call it "storytelling" or "editorializing" doesn't matter, because ultimately it's about telling stories.

<h3 class="interview-question">Here I would like to make a connection to the topic of virality. In principle, the APA-OTS approach of "do something that's exciting" can also be applied to social media .....</h3>
Exactly, from a storytelling perspective, I don't see much difference between a social media video and a media video. It's just as true for journalistic content as it is for social media that the first few seconds are crucial and the strongest images and quotes serve as an introduction. I'm very critical of virality because I think the definition is crucial. In my opinion, there is hardly any content in corporate communications that has gone viral without a marketing and advertising budget. There are always companies that have large and very well produced campaigns with the goal of creating virality, but where a very large budget had to be invested.

<div class="article_quote"><div class="article_quote_contain"><div class="article_quote_quote">"My tip is to analyze what content works better, why it works better, who you want to target, and which channels get more interaction and media coverage."</div><div class="article_quote_name u-text-style-main">Stefan Kern</div></div></div>

<h3 class="interview-question">What forms of content production and distribution can you recommend in the tourism environment, e.g. for hotels, tourism associations or tourism regions that want to invest in video content and video PR in the long term?</h3>
First of all, you have to clarify what you want to achieve with the video. Guest testimonials, for example, are a great thing, and short videos about them can be produced quite inexpensively: You let authentic guests tell you what they liked about their vacation and put the video on your own website. By the way, I recently read a study that says that video is increasingly important in the booking process and that websites without video are perceived as low quality and outdated.In addition, the following questions play a role: Which channel do I manage the most? Where do I have the biggest community? Where do I want to spend most of my advertising budget?On the other hand, if you want to transport content to the media, editorially designed articles or storytelling are ideal. Basically, there are no rules about what is right or wrong. You have to have the courage and commitment to do it - I often find that the threshold is high because of the investment costs. It's not enough to produce a video and hope that it will make money, bookings or virality on its own. There's no guarantee that a video will "take off" regardless of distribution. My tip: Analyze what content works better, why it works better, who you want to target, and what channels will generate more interaction and media coverage.

<h3 class="interview-question">What are the key benefits of working with video in the medium to long term?</h3>

Viewing and consumption patterns are changing dramatically; people are becoming more and more audiovisual. Video consumption is increasingly manifesting itself in higher age groups, and it is precisely this market that needs to be served. Today, journalists are less interested in a press release without multimedia content. It is also well known that Google rates the content less without video and that the buying behavior increases as soon as a video is involved. Especially in tourism, when it comes to vacation destinations, people want to know where they are going and what it looks like.

<h3 class="interview-question">What key performance indicators (KPIs) are used to measure and evaluate video content or distribution channels?</h3>
For OTS video distribution, one KPI is media adoption: how many media outlets covered the content. There is a study from our German partner that says a press release is 300% more likely to be used if it is accompanied by video. We think it should be similar in Austria. A tourism example from my daily life: recently there was a story that was distributed by a competitor three days before. That's problematic because the likelihood of it being repeated is very low. Together with the client, we managed to get more than twice as many shares with the same story, but with a combination of special graphics, great photos and a video. This shows the added value of video.When asked about the number of views, I cannot define that because the media do not share their views, so we can only measure the theoretical reach. What counts are the media acquisitions.

<h3 class="interview-question">What are important KPIs on video platforms like Facebook and YouTube? How do you measure success?</h3>
It depends on how valuable a single click or view is. For example, potential reach includes Facebook users who just scroll through the video. Also, it's very easy to buy likes, which have no value. A good metric is interactions, because that's how you know people are engaging with the material. We've also seen the impact of influencers, for example, when they participate in a panel discussion or share content. The bottom line is that every company needs to define its own KPIs and goals.

<div class="article_quote"><div class="article_quote_contain"><div class="article_quote_quote">"To get the most out of a video, I think all three forms of distribution - media distribution, owned channels, and social media channels - are ideal. However, it is important to assess whether the video is appropriate for each channel or whether it needs to be adapted."</div><div class="article_quote_name u-text-style-main">Stefan Kern</div></div></div>

<h3 class="interview-question">The goal of the OTS video is to get media coverage through PR and good content. You are putting content into the medium that is not advertising, but part of the medium.</h3>
not advertising, but part of the medium.[/question]Absolutely right, the content is PR video, has a source reference, but is not labeled and has no fixed placement. As a company, I just trust that my story is good enough that the journalist wants to cover it. This creates credibility because someone else is reporting on me. And it happens directly in a target group, for example in the tourism channel, where the people who are interested in tourism are. This way I reach a very large community that I don't have to build myself.I find the combination of all three forms of distribution - media distribution, my own channels such as websites and newsletters, and social media channels - ideal; you have to get the maximum out of a video. However, it is important to assess whether the video fits in each channel or whether it needs to be adapted.