Most businesses are creating content right now. The problem is that most of it isn’t doing much.
Watch the whole recording here.
When we sat down to run this session, the three of us kept coming back to the same idea. It’s not that people lack cameras, tools or platforms. They lack clarity. Clarity about who they are, who they are speaking to, and what the content is actually meant to achieve. Without that, even expensive, polished visuals can end up blending into the noise.
I’ve seen it over and over again. Businesses decide they “need a video”, so they start with format. A website banner. A Facebook ad. A brand film. But they haven’t answered the basic questions first. What are we trying to achieve? Who exactly is this for? What do we want them to think, feel or do afterwards? And how does this fit with the rest of our brand?
That strategic layer is where Paul does a lot of his work. He comes from a marketing and communications background, and he’s relentless about purpose. If you don’t know what success looks like before you hit record, you’re gambling with your budget. He pushes clients to define measurable objectives, to be specific about their audience, and to articulate what makes them genuinely different. Not “we provide great service”, but what is unique about your offer that makes the right customer gravitate towards you?
That difference is where brand identity comes to life. A brand is not just a logo and colour palette. It’s a personality. It’s how you show up in the market. I often use the example of two airlines with similar positioning but very different expressions. Virgin Australia leans into a relaxed, confident, slightly glamorous tone. Southwest Airlines in the United States takes a far more everyday, down-to-earth approach. Both are challengers in their markets. Both are clear about who they are. Neither is beige.
Beige isn’t about production quality alone. It’s about personality. You can shoot something on a high-end camera and still end up with a bland result if the message is safe, generic and overly corporate. On the flip side, you can create something relatively simple that feels authentic, intentional and aligned, and it will cut through.
When I talk about execution, this is where I see businesses either lift or fall short. We often hear, “Let’s just keep it safe.” Safe scripts. Safe visuals. Stock footage that looks like every other website in the industry. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen the same overseas stock imagery reused across Australian sites. It might look slick, but it doesn’t represent the actual business.
One of the clearest examples we showed was for Deakin University. We created two very different pieces of content for them. One focused on Australian students studying overseas. The other showcased international students coming to Melbourne. Same institution. Same production team. Completely different tone and energy.
For the student audience, the vibe had to feel natural, conversational and slightly imperfect. Studying abroad can be intimidating. So instead of rigid interviews, we leaned into laughter, small bloopers and genuine reactions. The edit was short, snappy and aligned with the type of content younger audiences already consume. It felt like friends sharing experiences, not a corporate brochure in video form.
Contrast that with a project we produced for Mobile Industrial Robots, featuring a client like Kinrise. That audience was technical and commercially focused. The structure deliberately followed a problem-solution narrative. We opened with the manufacturing challenge, then demonstrated how the robotics solution addressed efficiency and safety. We didn’t avoid industry terminology because the audience understood it. The tone was confident, authoritative and polished. Different objective, different audience, different outcome.
Then there are projects like the animations we developed for the State Revenue Office Victoria. Explaining tax changes isn’t meant to feel playful. It needs clarity and authority. Animation allowed us to simplify complex information, use familiar Victorian visual cues, and create a format that can be easily updated when policies change. It would have been the wrong approach for a university marketing piece, but it was exactly right here.
That’s the core point. Different content solves different problems. Awareness pieces need a strong central idea and emotional hook. Trust-building content often relies on testimonials and case studies. Clarity pieces break down complex concepts in digestible steps. Internal content, like onboarding or training, must align with what’s happening externally so your brand feels consistent from the inside out.
Jamie often says that by the time a project reaches the edit suite, it’s being rewritten again. Even with a solid brief and storyboard, the final impact comes down to story. Which takes do we use? Where do we cut? What music reinforces the right tone? Are we showing leadership, not just saying it? Are we actually demonstrating that an experience is fun, or just claiming it?
Sometimes we’ll have hours of interviews to distil into two minutes. That only works if the groundwork was done properly. If the strategy was vague, the footage will be vague. If the intent was clear, the story almost assembles itself.
We also spent time addressing something that comes up constantly. Budget. Not every business can commission a large scale production, and not every business needs to. A smaller firm might benefit more from a sharp, well structured studio piece or a focused photo shoot that elevates their website. The key is not to chase a format beyond your means, but to invest where alignment and clarity will give you the greatest return.
The same applies to being on camera. Even confident leaders can freeze when a lens is pointed at them. Preparation matters. Conversation guides matter. Breathing and simplicity matter. The best advice we give is speak like you’re explaining your work to someone at a barbecue. Clear sentences. One idea at a time. When people relax and focus on being understood rather than sounding impressive, the content instantly improves.
All of this circles back to maturity. Production maturity is not about having drones and cinematic lenses. It’s about knowing why you’re creating something, who it’s for, and how it reflects the true quality of your business. When those elements align, you feel it. The content carries quiet confidence. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t chase trends. It simply represents the business accurately and consistently.
That’s what we want people to walk away with. Not hype. Not pressure to produce more. Just a simple framework to match content with audience and intent. To understand the distinct roles of video, photography, animation and internal content. And to feel less overwhelmed by platforms and trends because you’re anchored in clarity.
If this struck a chord and you’re rethinking how your business shows up visually, I’d encourage you to start with the basics. Ask the hard questions about identity and objective before you touch a camera. And if you’d like to explore it further, come along to the masterclass or grab a coffee with us. We’re always up for a conversation about how to help good businesses stop being beige.