Setting up a Marketing Media Suite

Creating the content you want as a marketer... can sometimes be challenging.

Perhaps it's headshot photography in a dark office plagued by flickering fluorescent ceiling lights that's the problem. Or, maybe you want to film a collection of new interviews but have neither the room nor the tools to do so.

It's not always easy explaining why these things matter, particularly to those holding the purse strings. Fortunately for me and my team, that's not been the case at Caspian One.

In recent months, me and the likes of Nicole Thompson , Peter Kiddle and the folks from SPACE - A Simul Group Company (along with many others!) - have been refurbishing our new office location, Telephone House. During this process, I made a cheeky request:

"Hey guys, what would be the chances of the marketing department getting a space for ourselves in this new office where we could produce high-quality media?"

Truthfully, with all the other priorities happening, I wasn't expecting a go-ahead response (at least, not initially). However, that's exactly what I got - I was told to "put together a wish list and let's see what we can do!".

As you may imagine, this sent me down something of a rabbit hole with many more questions raised to start with - than answered. How would I make this space work? What equipment did I actually need? How could I be budget conscious but still achieve great results? What could I do to ensure the investment I make now... is worth it long term?!

In this article, I'm going to talk you through what happened next.

I've included my full media suite shopping list, the logic behind these selections and a collection of resources I'd recommend for making the most of this gear!

If you have questions on anything that follows, feel free to DM me for details.

Lighting

The first thing I knew about the space (before the partitions had even been constructed!) - was that I'd have minimal natural light. For a media space, this is a dream come true. Natural light, quite often, is the enemy of consistent production, given the variance in light levels it creates.

I spent far more hours than I'd like (or I'm willing) to admit researching lighting options for small spaces. Of everything I reviewed, I found the videos by Ben Johnson on YouTube to be the most illuminating... yes, that was intentional.

You can find his channel at @benjohnsoncreative; I'd recommend videos such as 'How to position lights for YouTube videos'. The important thing to learn about is key lighting - you'll want a primary light, a filler light (to balance the primary) and a rim light (ideally above the subject).

I selected to purchase the Andoer Softbox Photography Lighting Kit on Amazon (3 sets) to act as primary, filler and rim. I then paired this set (which comes with bulbs) with an Aputure Accent B7C LED Smart Bulb, which I'll be using in my rim light to offer a full range of colour options... beyond just the warms and whites.

Finally, again to give more room colour options, I added a POPOLAT Smart LED floor lamp which I absolutely adore. The result is that I have complete control over light conditions in the room, with the ability to pre-plan exact lighting specifications that can be repeated time and again!

Photography

I always knew this was going to be the most critical selection. For years we'd relied on my personal DSLR and the occasional mobile device, but now, we needed the 'good stuff'.

There are a ton of good options out there; that's the first thing.

Secondly, I think the camera you select has to align with what you're looking to shoot and the results you need to achieve. In our case, we needed versatility. A camera that even a novice could pick up and gain great results from but - could also create fabulous content in all conditions (controlled and on location).

In the end, again, after many hours of YouTube doom scrolling (among others), I ended up selecting Sony's Vlog ZV-1.

Amazon Link

The Vlog is a firecracker of a camera. It's packed full of features and delivers premium 4k results. Plus, I quite like the folding LC display.

It did come out in 2020, so it's not the newest option on the market; however, for our needs, it ticked all the boxes. For a proper review, I recommend watching 'Is the Sony ZV-1 Vlogging camera worth buying in 2023?' by Gemini Connect.

I also paired the camera with a suitable SD card (I went for the SanDisk 256GB Extreme PRO SDXC card + RescuePRO Deluxe), along with a Victiv aluminium tripod.

Audio

When it came to audio, I knew we'd need to think beyond what the ZV-1 could offer. I wanted I solution that would enable me to record mostly voice, separate from the main video - so I could then make any necessary improvements in post-production.

I ended up turning to a trusted favourite, the Rode SmartLav+ lavalier microphone (2x), along with an SC3 adaptor.

Amazon Link

Quite simply, it's an easy Plug'n'Play option that works perfectly in a broad range of environments. To add to this, I also paired a separate digital voice recorder by GARMAY.

Other

Once I had my main equipment list together, I asked myself if there, "was anything else I could need?"

I considered the content I wanted to produce. For the most part, this would be interviews and people speaking to the camera, which potentially means scripts, which likely means wooden speakers thinking about what comes next... how could I avoid this?

Add to the list the Desview T2 Teleprompter - problem solved.

What else? Well, originally, I was given a different room during the early office planning stages. That room had a desk with screens, meaning a desktop mic would be ideal. I ended up moving spaces and not needing this - but if I had, I'd of selected a cardioid condenser option such as the Tonor TC40; that is, unless you can get your hands on a Shure SM7B.

I've focused on hardware in this article. For software and production, my marketing team uses Adobe Creative Suite (and the odd app) for editing. I won't go into the details of this here but feel free to message me for more information.

Conclusion

On July 7th, after weeks of anticipation, Hana Bevan and I finally got to test out the Media Suite and our wish list of equipment.

It was brilliant! There's still a great deal of learning to be done and testing, but we're incredibly happy with the direction we're headed in.

Ultimately though, the proof will be in the pudding.

Watch us as we progress; keep an eye on our company pages on LinkedIn ( Caspian One | Broadcast Media & Caspian One ), or follow us on Meta (Instagram / Facebook + TikTok coming soon) to see what we create in the next few months!