We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nick Pomeroy. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nick below.

Nick, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

It’s no secret that traditional media and advertising have struggled to keep up with the extraordinary evolution of social media and the endless flood of DIY content that has infiltrated all our lives. Major brands are now forced to fight for your attention against every other competitor out there, alongside 24/7 news, memes and all your highschool friend’s new baby pictures.

The democratization of content – being able to share your thoughts and experiences to a global audience, should have made the world a smarter and more empathetic place. But in practice, we know that it has just made everything way more confusing, and to top it all off; we are now constantly bombarded with janky commercials.

Budgets for high-production TV commercials that might have included a big stunt or a catchy jingle, or glossy magazine campaigns featuring A-list stars, have been abandoned in favor of cheap and fast influencer marketing. From a corporate POV, the economics are alluring: TikTok, Instagram and YouTube can achieve hits on a scale that dwarf the numbers yielded with traditional advertising. This number is multiplied again when contracting influencers who already have hefty fanbases. And the views, territories and demographics are easy to verify and look great in an internal spreadsheet – meaning everyone wins, right?

Well, not really. There are two major problems with this new approach: These videos suck… and everyone knows it!

The general population consumes so much social media, that even the casual user (scrolling on Instagram whilst their favorite TV series plays in the background), has become an expert at spotting bad branded-content. Having personally worked in commercial video for more than a decade and edited for a long list of the most recognisable brands out there; I have experienced a whole spectrum of how branded content can be executed. Here are a few guidelines that can make for better collabs:

One recurring pitfall I’ve noticed is when brands force influencers to recite a promotional script, and then bemoan the acting chops of these young vloggers and TikTokers when it feels clunky. This is totally missing the point. Followers usually have such a strong parasocial relationship with the creators that they choose to subscribe to, as soon as they realise they’re hearing a press release, they switch off.

Instead, the most important approach when collaborating with creators is to simply let them do what they do best. You should work to organically incorporate your product or message into the type of content their followers already know and love.

Another major irk with low-effort advertising content is that it is just boring and uninspiring – leaving the viewer feeling short-changed after giving it their attention. So even if your reel doesn’t have a budget, it should still be creative and take the audience somewhere they weren’t expecting. Viewers are much more likely to rewatch or share a clip about an exciting day out, or one that ends with an unexpected punchline, than a sad video filmed entirely in your bathroom mirror.

Finally, I’d say brands worry too much that their product should only exist in an alternate reality where everyone is happy and everything is completely perfect. This feeling of fakeness sticks out like sore thumb on social media, and so dropping in just enough IRL relatability is something the audience will find funny and resonate with.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Born in London, I originally started taking photos of friends at house parties and out on the streets; eventually (accidentally) breaking into London’s indie music circuit getting to shoot portraits of local bands. This led to experimentation with video making on low-budget music videos. There was no money involved and I was also trying to pretend that I wasn’t learning everything on the job, so it was a stressful time – but after a few projects I found I had pretty good intuition when it came to the edit. Being able to control the story of what we’d shot, surprise the viewer or make them feel something, innately appealed to me.

I’ve been working as a professional editor for 10 years and feel like I’ve done a bit of everything; now specializing in commercial, comedy, unscripted and social media content. Highlights include editing really creative projects and video campaigns for iconic brands like Levis, Converse, Adidas, Nike, Diesel, Beats, Steve Madden, Dr Marten’s and Sennheiser. As well as cutting videos for some of my heroes in entertainment; including working with the hit UK sitcom People just do nothing and Amelia Dimoldenberg of Chicken Shop Date.

Being invited to move from London to LA in 2019 to manage a team of US editors was also an extremely exciting opportunity, and despite the ups and downs of covid, lockdown and the industry strikes, I’m happy to say that I’m still here (getting sunburnt) and continuing to work with amazingly talented creatives.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

This may seem counter-intuitive, but sometimes creating a series of videos is way more impactful than just creating one big blockbuster commercial. Some of the most successful projects I have worked on have been episodic series that are sponsored by a brand, but the content has a purpose of its own: such as tutorials for things like cooking, DIY and styling; or platforming young creatives, artists and athletes.

A series has a longer lifespan than a one-off video and therefore can generate significantly more views and attention; sowing the seeds for a returning fanbase who are more invested in your brand and more actively involved within the community of like-minded customers.

Goodwill for your brand can easily be generated by using resources to uplift exciting young creators, their art and their mission. I edited a series for Adidas about some of the most innovative women in London. We created a hectic sneakerhead game show for eBay. For Steve Madden we shot a series of intimate interviews with creatives in the LGBTQIA+ community, and with Tommy Hilfiger we cut tutorials with upcycling legend Nicole Mclaughlin. It’s all about finding a match that makes sense and showing off the talent in their element.

If you don’t have the time or the means to create a series and are focusing on a one-off shoot. Your online reach can still benefit from creating an online ecosystem around it. A hugely popular genre of content these days is about “making content” and so by documenting the ideation and design surrounding the product, the creative process in planning the commercial, and the BTS from the video shoot itself, you end up with much more content to publish over a longer period of time. To make this go even further, you can experiment with telling the story of this project through different media such as stills, graphics, reels or interviews. Sometimes the backstory and the BTS is as charming and interesting as the main event.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Having been brainwashed by tv and movies throughout my childhood; I think what really drives my work, no matter which medium, is it always comes back to dramatic storytelling. This is especially relevant today, as I believe there is definitely a sweet-spot to be found between traditional media and social media – Your TikTok doesn’t need to look like a million-dollar movie, but if it feels like a movie, it will get people’s attention.

As social media and streaming services continue to be saturated, and weird AI content starts to creep in, it’s tempting to get lazy and start knocking out generic videos just to keep up. But I hope in the long run, the stories that help, educate and inspire people, will still rise to the top.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pomeroyedit.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thicc_pomeroy/