NAVIGATING PR APPROVAL MINEFIELDS: HOW TO GET

STELLAR VISUAL CONTENT OUT QUICKLY

4 / 7 / 1 6C h a r l e n e S a r m i e n t o @ C h a r l e n e S a r

PEOPLE DONATE TO GOODWILL…

A PAIR OF JEANS A CHILD’S BIKE A BOX OF BOOKS

SPORTS EQUIPMENT HANDBAGS OLD COOKWARE

…AND TRANSFORM LIVES IN THEIR COMMUNITIES.

DONATE STUFF, CREATE JOBS

GOODWILL PROVIDES

89 million

services annually

Career counseling and development services

Computer courses

Resume review

Interview training

Financial education

Specialized job training in healthcare, culinary,

landscaping, banking, retail and many more.

Paid transitional and community service jobs

Free tax preparation

Mentoring for youth and adults

GOODWILL HELPED

26.4 million

people

Youth

Older Workers

Veterans and military families

Underemployed and unemployed men and women

People who need education and training

People with disabilities

GOODWILL’S MAIN PR CHALLENGE

WHY VISUAL CONTENT IS IMPORTANT

Visual content and video puts a human face to Goodwill’s mission, highlight our success

stories

Expands the brand beyond what the public already knows of Goodwill.

Help people emotionally connect with our mission and inspire them to support Goodwill.

Demonstrates social impact.

NORMAL PR APPROVAL PROCESS

VISUAL COMMUNICATION AND VIDEO

APPROVAL PROCESS

VISUAL COMMUNICATION AND VIDEO

APPROVAL CHALLENGES

Be inclusive during the creative process. We want to foster innovation and creative

thinking within our peers.

Everyone thinks they are an expert.

Higher budget means more approvals needed from different leaders and departments.

Risk of too many opinions watering down the final product

“If I had asked people what they

wanted, they would have said faster

horses.”

-- Henry Ford

EARLY ENGAGEMENT AND EXPECTATION

MANAGEMENT IS KEY

Bring everyone to the table early to agree on goals, objectives and audiences. Write them

down and bring with you to all review sessions, in case someone forgets.

Agree on budget.

Lay out concepts that you want to integrate.

Manage expectations early and continue to do this throughout the approval process.

Over communicate as needed.

STRUCTURED TWO-TIERED REVIEW PROCESS

1. Group one includes all stakeholders to provide feedback.

2. Group two includes small group of stakeholders to evaluate initial feedback, provide

edits and approve edits.

Goal is to separate the actionable feedback from the tips we don’t want to integrate.

Proactively ask for feedback from quieter reviewers.

BUILD TRUST AND RESPECT

Create a safe space for sharing and providing feedback. “We will listen and evaluate all

feedback related to the video, graphic etc.”

But remind everyone that with many people reviewing, not all edits shared will make it

into the final project.

Ask that all edits suggested include a possible solution. Instead of “I don’t like the music

in the video” how about “I don’t like the music in the video. I would prefer more upbeat

music, to match the tone of the narrator.”

Expect disagreements and difficult conversations. Separate the feedback from the

person.

INTEGRATING VISUALS IN

STORYTELLING AND

COMMUNICATIONS

GOODSTOCK

GOODSTOCK

GOODSTOCK PHOTOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

GOODSTOCK

Preapproved images that can be used by 164 local Goodwill members organizations.

Sharepoint database of photos tagged for convenience, easy to download and integrate

into communications

We save money and time by having these pre-approved photos available. Our member

organizations can use these photos for free.

New photos are added once a year.

LETTERS CAMPAIGN

Created evergreen and customizable tool for

Goodwill promotion.

Visualize Goodwill’s mission differently using

donations.

Fashioned entire alphabet, numbers and

punctuation out of donations

LETTERS CAMPAIGN

HALLOWEEN

HALLOWEEN

HALLOWEEN

VIDEO STORYTELLING

CANDICE

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhigtwZH0Io

TRENDS FOR VIDEO STORYTELLING

Choose the right subject, someone who can really connect with the audience.

The right subject is not always the loudest or most outgoing person. Look for someone

sincere and honest.

Consider a documentary approach that highlights the personal story. Think visually.

Only include additional interviews when needed. No CEO in a suit interviews, if you can

help it.

PRODUCING IN-HOUSE VS VENDOR

•Produce in-house if:

Short and sweet

Limited use (short shelf life)

Limited budget

Time

•Consider calling a vendor if:

The video will be longer than the usual one to two minutes

Shown at an important event like a gala or banquet

Budget

Time is limited

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF VENDORS AND A

VIDEO BUDGET

Producing in-house saves money but not time.

Learn as much as you can about the video production process from a production company, ask questions. Do

this so you can work with freelancers the next time.

Consider a hybrid approach. If you can film video, it’s cheaper to hire an video editor than to hire a crew to

shoot your video.

Repurpose your videos, create long and short versions, such as :30, :60, 1:20 versions. Consider making

versions for Vine, Instagram etc.

Create an iron-clad contract for pro-bono services, spell out what services are free and not.

Consider hiring film students but expect to supervise them closely. Only use students for certain smaller

projects, not your organization’s big mission/brand video. If they prove themselves to be trustworthy and

competent, scale up to bigger projects.

TAKEAWAYS

Agree to goals and objectives early on with stakeholders to have clear direction.

Build trust and respect for people's creative feedback.

Consider a two-tiered review process.

Develop preapproved collateral that can be used to make evergreen and customizable pieces to get

content out quicker. Examples are preapproved stock photos, letters etc.

Find the right subject for video, someone open, sincere and can take viewers on the journey and

story you want to tell.

Producing videos in house will save you money but not time. Weigh which resource

(time versus money) you can spare. Make the most out of vendor relationships.

THANK YOU

Charlene Sarmiento

Goodwill Industries International

@CharleneSar

(240) 333-5590

charlene.sarmiento@goodwill.org