When a small company grows into a global giant with thousands of employees, sometimes communicating to so many people is a real challenge. Therefore, new and innovative ways to deliver messages have to be formed. For example, INEOS, one of the world's largest manufacturers of chemicals and oil products, started to produce short films approximately six years ago to help give some of the articles in the company's magazine a different perspective. According to Richard Longden, group communications manager of INEOS, the short films have been very well received. Using these short films, the company started its IN.TV channel, which was initially created to keep its staff up to date. Now the program has evolved.
"Since IN.TV first began, it has come full circle," Longden said. "We built IN.TV from short films created for our magazine and used a longer format with our employees before extending the circulation wider to stakeholders. Now we edit the program down into shorter, bite-size clips for social media. A shorter, 'punchier' format is where we are taking the program."
Filmed in a different location each episode, IN.TV covers news, industry issues and innovations from INEOS' sites around the world. These segments include site profiles, stories from its people, executive interviews and Q&A sessions with INEOS Founder, Chairman and CEO Jim Ratcliffe. According to Longden , IN.TV is helping to strengthen a bond and bring the company's 20 businesses and 80 sites together.
"We have shared values as a company," he said. "Most of our employees arrived at INEOS from other companies, so it is important they follow the INEOS culture and style. The program is translated into French, German and Dutch and available via our YouTube channel, website, social media channels and internal server network. Our people now share a common understanding of the INEOS culture and feel an increasingly stronger bond to the company."
At the moment , IN.TV is quarterly, but INEOS is issuing new short films all the time. Therefore , IN.TV has effectively become a quarterly roundup.
"We have many plants and employees working in shifts," Longden said. "The longer format helps to keep them up to speed on what the company is doing, its growth and strategy. For this reason alone, it is unlikely we will do away with the long format. The company is very dynamic, and there is always interesting news to feature."
As far as an industry as a whole, Longden said he sees more and more companies producing short-form films. BIC Media Solutions -- BIC Alliance's custom publishing, event planning and media investment firm -- recently teamed up with Mission Media Productions to produce two videos about leadership and "how to become a better person" that are hosted by Founder and
CEO Earl Heard. Two years ago, BIC Media partnered with Launch Media to release "Energy Marketing 101," a short video that discusses the connection among the upstream, midstream and downstream energy sectors and highlights some of the best events to attend and associations to join in the industry. Now, BIC Media is looking to possibly partner with another media group to launch energy-related programming of its own.
For more information about BIC Media Solutions, its media partnerships or videos, visit BICMediaSolutions.com or call (800) 460-4242.
For more information about IN.TV, visit www.ineos.com/intv or call +41 21 627 7063.
