In construction news, Sims Crane & Equipment is using humor in a series of safety video shorts posted on YouTube and other sites to grab the attention of its target audience--end-users of the firm's cranes and support equipment--and illustrate the need for crane safety.
"A little humor goes a long way,” declares Dean Sims II, vice president of marketing for Tampa-based Sims Crane & Equipment. “And, if you work humor into a short video they can watch almost anywhere, anytime, you’ve got ‘em learning about important crane safety issues. We are all visual learners, but if you use humor as a hook, the learning is just more effective.”
Sims began producing the video shorts (on average two minutes) on a wide range of safety topics and posting them online in May of 2012. To date, the company has produced and posted a total of 33 videos in an initiative called “The Sims Crane Minute.” The videos are designed to present enough information to clients so that if they identify a particular safety concern, they can conduct follow up research to learn more about it or ask Sims’ experts for more information on why precise safety standards must be met and exceeded. Also, they can help inform jobsite workers and managers about safety laws and regulations that must be observed.
Sims says the positive response he has received to-date has been overwhelming, with more than 50 e-mails jamming his inbox within hours of releasing his last humor-based safety video, a retro black-and-white thriller entitled, “Citizen Crane” http://www.youtube.com/user/SimsCrane.
“Unfortunately, we found that most of the videos that are out there now are about crane accidents, they are long and boring, and you have to pay for them,” said Sims. “Using the YouTube platform, we can very quickly reach end users such as the construction managers and the teams of people on worksites where our cranes are operating.”
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