Sony is aiming to empower regional vloggers with equipment designed to inspire creativity.
Sony has spearheaded a successful mentorship programme for content creators, visualisers and aspiring storytellers in the Middle East.
Aspiring vloggers and content creators undergo a three-month mentorship with powerhouse industry players as mentors, who are known social media influencers in the region.
Using Sony Vlog Camera ZV-1 and GP-VPT2BT Grip, participants shoot creative videos with their final projects featured on Sony’s social media channels and Alpha Universe MEA. As part of the mentorship programme, they also get access to exclusive online workshops to improve their photography, videography and editing skills. Winners get to do a commissioned project with Sony and win recognition as pioneer members of Sony Collective.
Vlogging has grown rapidly in the Middle East and Africa, with leading content creators (or influencers) leverage the power of social media and stunning visuals to grow their audiences and drive engagement.
Sony also has packaged ‘bento boxes’ for regional talent to delight content creators. The boxes comprise a creative vlogging kit packed with a ZV-1 camera, GP-VPT2BT Grip, extra battery, memory card and dead cat mic.
The company said that these initiatives from Sony reflect its commitment to support the growing community, not only with the required camera technology but also with a platform to showcase their works to the world.
As a platform, video has the ability to combine elements of all content types, be it text, sound, images, or movement. Even as the demand of the communications world evolves, video blogging or vlogging as it is commonly known, has emerged as one of the world’s most consumed content forms.
While Facebook has over 8bn video views per day, social videos generate 1,200% more shares than text and image content combined. In fact, mobile video consumption rises by 100% every year and viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in text. According to a recent report, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic this year, which is 15 times higher than it was in 2017.
On social media platforms such as Vimeo and YouTube, people view over 1bn hours of video every day. As social media becomes increasingly become vlogger-centric, audiences are seeking bite-sized video content.
