The Video News Release
How do you communicate the benefits of your product to an extremely reluctant audience? This was the challenge issued to The Hoffman Agency by think3 ( www.think3.com), an innovative, upstart design software company based in Santa Clara, Calif. think3 called on Hoffman to help debunk the myth among mechanical engineers and designers that 3-D design software is difficult to learn and use. Here's how the Hoffman team used video to deliver the message.

think3 CEO Joe Costello had received an unsolicited e-mail from an engineer in Kansas whose 8-year-old son Aaron had used the company's video game tutorial, "The Monkey Wrench Conspiracy," to learn 3-D design skills. He had mastered the think3 program and was designing lunar rovers a la Star Wars. The Kansas engineer's brief tale scored highly on human interest, but more than that, it communicated a very important message about think3's design software. Even an 8-year-old could learn how to use it!

Hoffman's veteran news producer set to work, packaging the story into a broadcast-quality, "ready-to-air" segment and pitched it to her producer contacts. The result? See for yourself. And the reach? The think3 story saw nationwide airtime on networks and technology shows from San Francisco to Miami.

Story-driven B-roll
Hoffman's broadcast services played an integral role in another important public relations campaign for think3 - a $50,000 "Name the Company" contest aimed at building anticipation for the official company launch. The Hoffman Agency produced a story-driven b-roll to help generate news coverage about the naming-contest. The b-roll featured screen shots from the Internet contest, a 3-D design technology demo, an interview with the CEO, corporate shots and footage of the CEO communicating with the contest winner. Key messages and images from the b-roll turned up repeatedly in the resulting news coverage seen on several of the targeted TV stations in the Bay Area.

Corporate B-roll
The video shoot for think3's naming contest served a double purpose. Recognizing that think3 would also greatly benefit from an "evergreen" corporate b-roll, The Hoffman Agency production crew also captured the baseline visuals needed to tell the think3 corporate story. Signage, building exteriors, Web site, product shots and demos, CEO and employees - all of these elements can now be used by the media to support future think3 news and interviews. And because television journalists rely so heavily on good visuals, they are even more likely to cover think3's news now that they have video to support the story.

The Marketing Video
After renaming his company, think3 CEO Joe Costello was ready to unveil its new 3-D design software. Highly regarded for his business acumen and bold moves, Costello's goal was to capture the imagination of 2-D designers and shake up a market that had been relatively stagnant for more than a decade. A press conference was scheduled - with the primary goal being to instantly communicate the freedom of expression, creativity and engineering precision inherently available via think3's 3-D technology. Enter the idea of featuring customer Erik Buell, chairman and CTO of Buell Motorcycle Company, at the press conference. With design innovation and dramatic styling, the hallmark of the Harley-Davidson division, Buell's testimonial was viewed as the perfect validation of think3's design software capability. However, less than two weeks before the press event, Buell notified think3 that he would be unable to participate in person. think3 turned to The Hoffman Agency for a solution.

The Hoffman Agency was able to successfully solve the dilemma with an exciting (explosive!), eye-grabbing video that truly set the stage for the press conference. In addition to playing a pivotal role at think3's launch event, the think3 Buell video also became an instrumental tool in subsequent presentations. The company reported positive feedback at industry events, customer events and one-on-ones with financial analysts and the press. The tape was also used in Joe Costello's keynote speech at Daratech and at the company's launch events in Asia Pacific

For more information about Hoffman's Broadcast Services, contact:
Sheri Baer, Mass Media Director
The Hoffman Agency
(408) 975-3035 or sbaer@hoffman.com

More about The Hoffman Agency
The Hoffman Agency has been advising high-tech companies since 1987 and is recognized for its leadership in high-tech PR. The company's strengths are in strategic counsel, creative tactics and traditional media relations - all designed to make the connections your company needs to tell its stories in the most compelling ways possible.