I finally finished something I have always wanted to do – created the animated Tom Petrocelli. Animation combines graphics  video, and audio to create an engaging audience experience. For quite a while, I’ve wanted to experiment with business communications using animation.

Relying on long form written pieces to speak and, especially, market to a target audience is long gone. The pace of work is much too fast for knowledge workers to have time to sit and read a 7 or 10 page white paper. Instead, they want media that communicates critical information quickly and in an attention catching manner. The alternative is a deep dive that provides deep learning that they specifically allocate time to. Nothing in between will attract the type of attention the modern marketing professional needs.

Short animation is a great example of engaging content. It provides quick information, combines multiple modalities, and is emotionally appealing, hearkening back to a simpler time in our lives when we could sit around and watch cartoons.

I will admit that animated Tom Petrocelli is crude – I’m not an artist – but it is amazing how good the experience can be using simple online tools. You can find animated Tom Petrocelli on this site by clicking on “Welcome and Introductions” and choosing “Animated Tom Petrocelli“. You can also follow the four links I’ve embedded here in this blog post.