The Best Video Techniques for Brands
Creative inspiration for tech companies who want to make content that stands out from the crowd.
Creative inspiration for brands who want to make content that stands out from the crowd.
Are you bored of dry corporate videos? Join the club! We think it’s time to re-evaluate how brands engage their audiences with their digital marketing and start taking more creative risks.
High quality video content can help to strengthen your brand image and position you as a market leader. What’s more, thinking outside of the box can help make your content rise above the noise and stand out against your competitors.
As a video agency, we are committed to making bold videos for our clients that stays true to their brand identity and core values. Here, we’ll share some of our favourite techniques for making compelling video content.
Tell a story
When your product or service offering is invisible, telling stories is an emotive and memorable way to connect with your target audience.
As an example, what makes this Zendesk commercial so successful is that they demonstrate how their customer service technology works through playing on the answer to “has your relationship seen any hard times?” in a therapy-interview set up. This clever set up communicates exactly how Zendesk can help businesses have better communication with their customers.
Make it cinematic
Adding cinematic detail is a simple way to make a strong impression with your viewers. The more visually pleasing your video is to watch, the more effectively you will communicate your key message.
Here’s a great example of a marketing video that employs cinematic filmmaking principles:
Whilst the content is important, upgrading talking head videos into cinematic interviews increases the emotional intensity and visual enjoyment of your video.
What works so well about this Code.org brand film is that the focus of the video is very much on the content and what’s being said – rather than the brand itself. We actually don’t see Code.org’s branding until the very end of the five minute film. Instead, this brand video lets leading technology experts discuss the benefits of coding and the impact it has had before we ever hear a call-to-action.
Capturing a cinematic interview most likely involves working with a Director of Photography who can use complex lighting, shot composition and different camera lenses to a high standard to create the desired visual.
Investing in cinematic content can make great evergreen content for your website too, helping increase how long users stay on your website.
Be natural
If you’re doing an interview video, making people feel comfortable on camera is something that needs the proper care and attention. Not everyone likes to be on camera, so we make sure all our directors and camera-people are trained in how to help the interview subjects feel at ease. We recommend watching a number of interview videos from your proposed video production company before committing, to make sure that their interviewees look natural on camera.
To get that extra level of finesse to your video, presenter coaching can be a great way to build confidence and help you deliver an authentic interview.
Keep it dynamic
Being more creative with how information is delivered can also be a great way to make your video different. Walking and talking shots can be an interesting alternative to a static interview or presentation.
Another way to make your video more visually interesting is to use creative cutaway shots. These are great for giving the audience more context about what’s being said.
Consider animation
Mixing animation with live action is an option if you’re looking to add vibrancy, extra meaning, or emphasise salient points. By adding an animated flair to videos, we can create eye-catching content that captures the viewer’s attention and prevents video content from ever becoming too dry.
This video for Snapchat was filmed in London, Mumbai and Amsterdam with our network of trusted filming partners at very short notice with a rapid post-production schedule. The different cities featured in this video, alongside the animated elements, make it clear to the viewer that the product is designed to bring people closer together.
Use snackable content
We get very excited about short form content that can be used in different ways to capture audience attention and deliver a message in just a matter of seconds.
Using videos that are about 30 seconds can also be a great way to direct traffic to specific landing pages.
Including snackable content on your social channels, LinkedIn, or for internal matters can be a striking way to communicate an important message about industry changes, promote something new, or simply use it as a tool to increase brand visibility.
Don’t get stuck in one style
We are big believers in creating varied content to keep your video marketing buoyant and exciting. We understand that companies often need many types of content for different reasons, so we suggest not trying to shoehorn all content into one style or type of video.
Our client Colt is an international technology company with 5,000 staff globally and we partner with them to deliver a wide range of content, from 2D animation, 3D animation, interviews, recruitment videos, promotional videos and learning and development content.
Each piece of content works hard to communicate the key message, but fits in with Colt’s brand image, values, and tone of voice.
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