There are exciting times for anyone in communications. Every medium is within reach of just about any size company. There are plenty to choose from: Videos tell a powerful emotional story, audio lends itself to multitasking and maximized productivity, and blogs can be a powerful publishing platform that plug companies into the communities.

Provident Partners is on the cutting edge of using a variety of formats in business communication. We were among the first to introduce podcasting as an effective, powerful business-to-business marketing tool. The results for our clients include increased awareness, new customers, national media coverage, improved brand position and innovative sales tools that their competition is unlikely to have.

Our roots in television and radio give us a firm foundation in the art of storytelling using compelling images and sounds. We work with clients to find the uniqueness in their history, product, service and markets, then produce using the appropriate media and deliver across a variety of platforms.

Having worked with companies on all of these media and more, here's what our experience tells us:

Use video if you want to:

• tell a story about the human condition, to give an emotional punch
  
• show complex machinery or surgical equipment at work, producing results
  
• take viewers to places they can't get to or, better yet, places you wish them to be
  
• make the impossible possible with creative editing or animation
  

Use audio if you want to:

• cover complex issues more easily, speaking conversationally
  
• reach busy people who can listen while multitasking
  
• train internal sales team or guide orientation for new employees
  
• create news-style interviews that position your people as thought leaders
  

Use blogs if you want to:

• develop an easy, immediate Web publishing platform
  
• stimulate discussion among customers and prospects, to engage them on their needs and opinions
  
• expand a network of influencers in your profession or industry
  
• integrate a strategy for greater search engine visibility and conversation about your relevant issues
  

Some examples:

Corporate use of multimedia on the Web can generate real results. We produce an ongoing series of video case studies for our client SoftBrands, an enterprise software developer. Manufacturing plants provide great visuals, and getting SoftBrands users on film, talking about the positive changes the software has brought to thier companies, makes for some compelling stories. SoftBrands salespeople use the videos as super-charged sales collateral, and in one case, a case study video closed a deal almost on its own.

Audio is fast becoming the easiest medium to produce and distribute. The Burchfield Group, a consulting firm that helps companies save money on the prescription drug coverage they provide their employees, works in a complicated business. Using its own Pharmacy Benefits Podcast, the Burchfield Group has established thought-leadership on timely issues facing large companies and their drug benefit costs. Their efforts have led to being a resource for trade and mainstream business journalists and increased exposure to prospects and other important influencers.

Many prominent companies that have blogs -- including Southwest Airlines, General Motors and Dell Computers -- say their blogs are like 24-hour, 365-day focus groups. Blogs are a terrific way to get unvarnished feedback from the market. For the right corporate culture, this can lead to new products, services or improvements in customer service.