Brand videos have the power to garner good conversions for your business with the only condition of being executed correctly. According to the State of Video Marketing 2021 report by Wyzowl, “More than 80 percent of people admit that they’ve been convinced to purchase a product or service by watching a brand’s video.”
Unlike promoting a product or service blatantly in video ads, brand videos concentrate on delivering quality content related to the core values of your business to a niche audience. The most successful brand videos possess a fine balance of product offering or service mentions with entertainment.
To aid you direct your next creative concept, we’ve curated five brand videos that are worth emulating according to their creative approach to content. These brand videos introduce a unique entertainment factor on the table and put amazing content above blatant sales pitches. Let’s go!
1. Google’s “Home Alone Again”
No matter if you’re a big movie buff or simply a casual holiday viewer, you might have most definitely seen or heard about the 1990 holiday comedy classic Home Alone featuring Macaulay Culkin. The movie presents Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old child who ends up spending Christmas all alone in his Chicago-suburb home after his family goes on a holiday forgetting him behind.
In 2018, Google resurfaced this classic bringing back Culkin as an older version of his character Kevin McCallister for their brand video — almost 30 big years after the release of the original film. The video involved a techy spin on the original Home Alone storyline where Kevin was shown utilizing Google Assistant while at home by himself.
It was a hotbed of pure nostalgia for many viewers. The simple fact that a lot of people still love and remember Home Alone is what made this brand video shine. Google also made a careful attempt to reshoot scenes, in the same manner, they appeared in the original movie. It would have been easier to show Culkin in a brand new modern home using Google Assistant, but instead, they opted to stay true to the film’s long-standing legacy. This displayed the respect Google had for the source material making itself appear as a more relatable brand.
Whether you’re trying to use a pop culture reference like Google did or simply including an old product, nostalgia is an amazing way to connect with viewers, your audience will recognize and bond with it. Consider your audience’s age range and try working in a pop culture reference that will instantly make them recognize and connect to your brand video.
Tip
Tap into reminiscence. The positive emotions triggered by these memories will leave your viewers feeling warm and fuzzy.
2. Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches”
Dove tugged at the heartstrings of the viewers with their 2013 brand video called “Real Beauty Sketches.” It featured FBI-trained forensic artist Gil Zamora creating two portraits of women — one based on the subject’s description of oneself and the other on a stranger’s description. The results were hugely different.
The portraits which were based on a stranger’s observations turned out to be more accurate as well as more beautiful depictions of the women. Whereas, the pictures based on the women’s perspectives were way less flattering.
There’s an exposure to the video that renders it seeming emotionally compelling and raw. The idea behind Dove’s brand video was to show people that “you’re far beautiful than you think.” A lot of people could relate to this feeling of insecurity. While creating your brand video, try to focus on themes that you feel will emotionally resonate with your viewers. The goal is to ensure that the emotional element you choose to concentrate on feels more authentic and less or not at all exploitive.
“Real Beauty Sketches” also feels more like a short, well-crafted film independent of the Dove brand. There are no set rules around your brand video to be packaged in a definite way to resonate with your audience. It’s good to experiment with topics and highlight beautiful stories around your brand values, just the way Dove did with redefining beauty.
Tip
Don’t hesitate to explore real issues in your industry and try to connect with your audience authentically.
3. Match’s “Match Made in Hell”
In 2020, Match introduces dank humor to the forefront with their brand video about Satan, and the year 2020 which was personified as a young woman, going on a romantic date and falling in love. They go on weird activities like sitting in an empty arena while Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” plays in the background or hoarding toilet paper.
What makes the fun element in the video is the fact that 2020 is regarded as a terrible year by most people universally. Match tried pushing comic boundaries to come up with a brand video that humorously concludes 2020 in a nutshell.
Apart from being funny, Match’s video was timely and relevant. The video was launched when 2020 was coming to an end, and people worldwide reflected on what bad a year it was. Introducing brand videos focused on current news can gain your viewers’ interest since those events are currently in conversation and fresh on their minds.
Keep a grip on the pulse of current news to create brand video ideas. Don’t take the efforts of hopping from trend to trend with your videos, rather pay close attention to the collective global consciousness on the news and social media.
Tip
Stay relevant and timely by being updated about the recent trends in your industry. And, consider how events occurring worldwide might align with your brand.
4. Zendesk’s “I Made Dinner”
Being a customer service software company, Zendesk came up with its 2016 brand video to display the complex nature of relationships through a funny dinner-based skit involving a deep-sea diver and an astronaut.
Initially, an astronaut conversing with a deep-sea diver feels awkwardly off-brand for Zendesk. But, on the inside, it actually works because it illustrates the complicated relationships and communication issues, which are the common pain points for people working in customer service.
As such, the astronauts and the deep-sea divers have nothing in common with Zendesk, but the relationship aspect does. Simply because your brand is involved with a SaaS product doesn’t mean the brand video has to take place at a business meeting or in an office. You can be extra creative by focusing on a key facet that your product or service solves and show it to the viewers interestingly and unexpectedly.
You do not need to limit yourself to a single brand video. “I Made Dinner” is a part of Zendesk’s “Relationships Are Complicated” short series of multiple 15-second clips presenting the same characters in different scenarios. You can create more opportunities for your audience to see your brand through multiple videos. If the audience likes what they see in one video, they are likely to click on others in the series and engage with more of your content.
5. Dissolve’s “This Is a Generic Brand Video”
Dissolve, a stock footage and photography company took a new approach in their 2014 brand video by integrating some stock footage into their comic video. It presents various stock footage while a narrator tells the audience that they’re looking at generic content.
Dissolve’s video proved that they aren’t particularly serious about themselves as a brand. They weren’t hesitant of addressing the fact that they are into creating stock footage for brands, and the video successfully manages to be pretty funny with no actual business context.
Dissolve worked into another clever element in their brand video by shooting it with their stock footage. A sneaky way of showing off their biggest offering without explicitly stating it. Video is a perfect medium to show the value of your product or service by having the visuals speak for themselves.
Just like Dissolve, never be afraid of poking fun at your brand. Doing so displays that your brand has a human side. Not to mention, the audience is more likely to be receptive to your brand if you can succeed in making them laugh.
Tip
Don’t take yourself way too seriously. “Brand” doesn’t need to shout ‘boring’! Try exploring ways to include a little fun and humor in your concept.
Boost your content’s creativity by creating in-house videos
Adopting creativity is an important part of making brand videos, especially if you want them to shine through the crowd. Ensure having a strong sense of your brand values and an in-depth understanding of your audience. And then, let the ideas flow by taking inspiration from the brand videos mentioned above!
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Mark Wonderlin is the visionary founder of Mosaic Media Films. He is passionate about crafting creative business videos that captivate and convert. Mark and his team stand out by creating visually stunning videos and ensuring they align seamlessly with the client’s broader marketing objectives.