LEGO gives Brand Context via Video Marketing

LEGO, manufacturers of the plastic block building systems that many of us enjoyed as kids and as adults, celebrated their 80th anniversary this month.  How did they celebrate?  By releasing an animated short (completed by their in-house team), which illustrates and narrates the joys and trials of the business to-date.  The delightful 15-minute video gives context to the brand story by sharing many behind-the-scenes examples and circumstances that many consumers of their products may not be familiar with, but add to the value the company incorporates into their products.

This short is a nearly perfect example of using video marketing to tell [as Paul Harvey would say], 'The Rest of the Story.'  See for yourself.

How have you put video marketing to work to tell your brand story?  Do you have a favorite(s) example of genius use of video for this purpose by brands you patron?

Finding Work-Life Balance

Innumerable professionals struggle with the daily juggling of act related to balance between their work hours and their home life.  Far too often work trickles into the precious hours that are allocated to family, friends and loved ones.  In an era of hyper connectivity this challenge to find balance is even harder.

Is the solution to throw in the towel and hope that your kids understand your partial attention to their animated review of their day at school whilst you parse through your work email on that tiny 5" screen should be enough to validate them?  No!

Is it acceptable to hide your mobile in the bottom of your attaché and never attend to it outside of business hours?  For some, this is the only way they can truly enjoy their vacations and time off. 

There's no one set solution for how to balance all elements of work and personal lives - but it is a factor that a healthy business person should at least consider and put forth effort to find the mix right for him/her.  This mix has to be comfortable for the professional or it's a wasted effort.

Some will argue that as entrepreneurs they never really can leave the office behind, especially if they work from home - but, where there's a will there is a way.  The home office could be an area of a home that is set apart from common areas shared with the family, regular "office hours" could be set, mobile devices can be set aside and concerted effort made to focus on family during non "office hours." 

Again, everyone's thresh holds and benchmarks for balance will be different.  

It is a continuous process of relearning and refocusing on what matters most and then acting on that.  It is pertinent to understand what imbalance looks like and take the steps to find the mix that is best for you and yours.  

Balance today may not look like what it did last year, or even last week.  Find yours and understand its natural ebbs and flows - for your betterment, that of your family and your career.