4 Ways to Use Branded Video Content

Video is a highly effective and engaging form of visual communication, and there are so many different ways to use them to reach your audiences. From live-action to animation in motion graphics, explainer videos to GIFs, the impact of a moving story unfolding before your audience’s eyes is an unparalleled experience. Just as we love our favorite TV shows and movies, our favorite branded video content can leave a lasting impact. It might even inspire repeat views! 

Here are 4 ways to turn your audience into your biggest fans by embracing motion graphics and other video content in your internal and external communications.

An emotive video is intended primarily to elicit an emotion in the viewer. While the first emotions to come to mind might be sadness (say, in a video about people experiencing homelessness), or anger (perhaps a video about injustices on a global scale), emotive videos can also aim to delight, inspire, and make people happy.

The GeekWire Awards are an annual celebration of tech achievements and tech companies in the greater Seattle area. The event commonly begins with an intro video to signal the transition from networking and chatter to the main awards ceremony. The 2016 GeekWire Awards were an opportunity to generate an emotive video that would build nostalgia, relatability (harkening to the intro sequence to the HBO series Silicon Valley), and humor. The resulting video relies on engaging animation and a driving score to push the storyline, as no voiceover or onscreen script is used. 

Emotive videos are ideal choices for nonprofits, health-care causes, and other organizations delivering a message of compassion and empathy. They’re also well-suited to social media pushes and widespread shares, since connectedness to others is something that 78% of consumers want brands to foster. However, they can easily be a good fit for other goals.

The goal of branded explainer video content is to describe a concept, a process, a product, or a service. When discussing a product or service, branded explainer video content doesn’t typically employ a “hard sell” approach. The goal is instead to demonstrate what you know about a subject and help share that knowledge with the audience. If you’re focused on generating a direct sale from the video, versus gaining long-term interest and establishing yourself as a thought leader, you want a promotional video, which is described below.

Swiss Re wanted to show insurance companies how they could market life insurance to customers. While the end result of earning the business of those insurance companies would be a nice-to-have, it was more important for them to show their knowledge and explain the benefits of life insurance in a way that companies could use to pass on to their own customers. 

With a highly detailed illustration and animation approach, the Swiss Re video primarily aims to capture attention and explain detailed concepts.

Promotional videos are driven by the goal of selling a product or service. They typically describe details and benefits of the commodity at hand. When PG Cruises needed new ways to attract audiences to take a cruise, they turned to our agency for branded video content that would promote the luxuries available to passengers aboard their cruises. 

A mix of live-action footage from their cruises was combined with illustrated and animated components to describe other benefits and details. They knew this content would help their core sales teams as well as their travel affiliates. 

Use promotional videos when you want viewers to know what makes your service or product stand out from the rest. This can give you an advantage over competitors who simply talk about their benefits, rather than showing them. An experienced branded video content agency can help guide you in the right direction.

Short-form animated videos are popular choices for sharing across social media. Often referred to as GIFs, they may actually be in MP4 or other video formats, depending on your use case. Usually no more than 5–10 seconds each, these brief animations loop automatically to view as many times as desired before moving on.

Riddell and Carbon partnered up to develop a revolutionary sports helmet. It aimed to be more breathable, and safer than existing models. Using a series of short-form animated videos, they were able to show the process of 3D-printing the materials and assembling the full helmet.

If you’re explaining steps to a process, details of a complex concept, drawing attention to a new product or idea, or a variety of other reasons, short-form animated videos may be a great choice to tell your story.

A strong agency for producing successful branded video content will have a unique set of skills. Beyond hiring freelance talent or being infographic experts, this team will understand both storytelling and visual communication intimately. They’ll ideally have a tight-knit in-house team used to collaborating with one another to generate amazing ideas and successful projects. They should focus on quality of service just as much as the quality of their product, too. 

To get moving on your next branded video or other visual content marketing, the right animation agency is truly the best first step.