Chris Tongue, Author at Dead Ready

Video Marketing for Pharma – Golden Rules

We’ve produced video content for pharma and med comms for many years, and in that time, we’ve learned a few best practices. These are the factors the most successful pharma videos tend to have in common.

Rule 1: Ensure Compliance

This is obvious but has to be emphasised. so to avoid pulled campaigns, reputational damage, and heavy fines, embed compliance expertise directly into the team from the start to reduce risk and streamline sign-off.

Rule 2: Prioritise engagement

The most successful pharma content recognises that presenting information in an engaging format is important to all audiences. Dynamic formats, such as placing KOLs in augmented 3D environments with creative, mobile data visualisation, can elevate your content well beyond a superimposed PowerPoint slide. It’s fair to say that scientists are keen to see data, but choosing dynamic and fresh ways to present that data is where your content can stand out.

Rule 3: Be authentic

Authentic, well-judged storytelling resonates with all audiences. Patients connect with data when it’s presented meaningfully, and academic viewers respond to clear narratives grounded in human relevance. For example,

Rule 4: Collate Feedback

The smoothest sign-offs happen when review is integrated throughout the process. In our workflow, that means legal and medical feedback is invited at script, storyboard, and edit stages. Once feedback from all stakeholders is gathered at each stage, a single, consolidated list—coordinated through a central contact—allows us to implement changes accurately and efficiently, avoiding delays and costly rework.

Rule 5: Consistency Across Channels

Within pharma campaigns, video rarely exists in isolation. We’ve seen that when messaging is aligned across video, print, digital, and sales comms, it reinforces clarity and reduces compliance queries. A consistent tone, language, and claim set across all content types is a subtle but essential ingredient in successful campaigns.

In our experience, when these principles are embedded from the start, the result is content that not only clears review, but genuinely connects with its audience. Thanks for watching and we’ll see you next time.

AI Voiceovers – Are they any good?

AI Voiceovers – are they any good?

There’s no escaping it, AI-generated voiceover tracks are now unavoidable. They’ve improved hugely, and quickly become an invaluable tool in the video production process. But are they actually any good? The answer is a resounding yes, but also kind of…. No.

Why they’re good

AI voiceovers are quick and easy to create. Using either a text prompt or an existing audio reference track, you can have a pro-sounding voiceover ready in seconds.

This means they’re cheaper than working with a human VO artist, and a great choice for quick turnaround projects, those that are likely to have lots of script revisions, or when budget is particularly tight.

They’re useful as a placeholder for testing out scripts ahead of a proper VO recording, or for boosting accessibility on videos where you might not normally include a VO.

Why they’re bad

Robots are getting better at conveying emotion. But while you do have some control over delivery and pronunciation with AI voiceovers, it’s limited, and the more granular you try to be with this, the more you lose the benefits of speed and cost. The fact is if nuance and expression is critical for your script, you need a real human to provide it.

There’s also the fact that people’s ears are already becoming attuned to AI voiceovers, and they’re increasingly able to tell when they’re listening to a robot. In certain contexts this can distract from a video’s messaging, or make it feel impersonal.

Our view

We’re finding AI-generated voiceovers to be a hugely useful tool in the video creation process, especially in the early stages. There also open up exciting possibilities, like automatic translation to different languages, or using voice imprints to allow a person to sound like someone entirely different.

But for now, we see them as something that won’t replace traditional voiceover artists in the production process, but sit alongside them; robots and VO artists, together in narrative harmony.

Presentation Filming – How many cameras do you need?

Video Transcript:

Hi. When creating presentation videos, you often have the opportunity to assign multiple cameras, so we thought we’d use some recent conference footage to show you the pros and cons of different camera setups.

Firstly, one camera.

Every conference video is going to need at least one camera and therefore camera one does most of the heavy lifting. It can be set up in different ways.

Option one is to simply stick it on a tripod, aim for a wide view and record everything.This works well when there are multiple people on stage and no presentation slides, but it isn’t particularly engaging to watch as everyone is so small in the frame and there’s no variety in the visuals.

Option two is our preferred approach for one cam shoots. We capture a close up of the speaker and then combine it with the presentation slides in post-production. You can then get three views for the price of one in that you can cut from a full screen close up of the presenter, to the slides full screen, to a picture in picture view of both. Offering your audience some variety and thus keeping their interest.

When you add camera two, you add more variety to your video and this dramatically increases watchability, with cam one capturing a reliable angle, cam two can roam free, allowing you to get some different views like a bit of audience reaction.

If you had a third, fourth, fifth camera, you’re amplifying the variety of views, upping engagement and delivering a premium feel, more along the lines of, say, a TED talk.

Obviously, adding cameras generally increases costs, so you pay for that extra variety, but this is offset by greater audience engagement and more successful productions.

Thanks for watching.

If you’d like to discuss how Dead Ready Productions could bring your video marketing projects to life, please get in touch via the button below or by calling +44 (0)208 339 6139.

Voiceover vs. Titles: Exploring the Best Animated Video Strategy for Your Message

Video Transcript:

When you’re creating animated videos for business, a key decision is whether to feature a voiceover track, or to instead deliver the messaging entirely through on-screen text titles. Understanding the benefits of both methods is key to choosing the most effective approach for your video. Here’s a look at both:

Voiceover:

Voiceover provides the opportunity to connect your message with a specific tone of voice, evoking emotions, building trust, and grabbing attention. Videos delivered with a voiceover can also fit in more words than text titles alone; roughly 150 words a minute. This makes a voiceover track suitable for more complex or detailed content. Titles on the other hand, work differently…

Text Titles:

Text Titles have to be:

short, direct and impactful.

Scripts should be 75words per minute,

Suiting videos with simpler messaging.

They’re easy to edit, rearrange, translate and localise.

They’re more accessible to hearing impaired viewers

And particularly effective when viewed mute on social channels.

So when picking between these two options, think closely about what will work best for your audience and where they’ll be accessing the content. We’d also suggest that ALL videos include some form of on-screen text or subtitles, to maximise accessibility and ensure they can be understood when viewed on mute. Good luck!

If you have an idea for a project and would like to discuss how Dead Ready Productions could help bring it to life, please get in touch via the button below or by calling +44 (0)208 339 6139.

Video Production For Event Organisers During Challenging Times

Dead Ready Productions chats to events organiser Jamie Chapple about the exciting ways the events industry is responding to the Coronavirus crisis.

Jamie takes us through some ambitious and innovative suggestions about how to create immersive remote events through the power of video, creating a whole new event experience that can be delivered directly to audiences at home.

If you would like to find out more about the services Dead Ready Productions can offer your business, please feel free to get in touch via the button below or by calling +44 (0)208 339 6139.