Are marketing videos a secret strategy? Probably not. But you can certainly gain from using them in your marketing. The inspiring social video examples we will use in this article display some great hidden truths that teach us a great deal.
The secret of all effective advertising is not the creation of new and tricky words and pictures, but one of putting familiar words and pictures into new relationships.
– Leo Burnett
Products that are remarkable get talked about.
–Seth Godin
Remarkable is a word many marketers are familiar with. Especially those that are fans of Seth Godin. Seth has written a lot about remarkable branding design.
Remarkable … it’s something businesses around the world are trying to be.
But remember, being noticed is not the same thing as being remarkable. Seth Godin talks about how running down the street naked will get you noticed, but it won’t accomplish much. It’s easy to pull off a stunt, but it’s not useful.
You don’t need to do crazy things to grab attention. And certainly not to be remarkable. You don’t want to border the line of insane and outlandish.
In his book, Purple Cow, Seth talks about how remarkability lies on the edges. The biggest, fastest, slowest, richest, easiest, most difficult. It doesn’t usually matter which edge, it matters more than you’re at (or beyond) the edge.
Here is the thing: don’t follow in the footsteps of other businesses. If you do, you’ll find that your marketing is boring.
Marketing isn’t about fitting in; it’s about standing out and making a difference.
Being innovative drives remarkable design, doesn’t it?
I don’t know about you, but it’s hard to ignore businesses that are pushing the envelope, getting their name out in the open … being innovative.
Before we continue, let me ask you a question.
What works best for video marketing design in your business? We would love to hear what it was. Would you do us a favor and post it in the comments section below? It would be greatly appreciated by us and our readers.
The ultimate goal of all the points I list below is this: eliminate the fluff from your marketing strategy and focus only on the things that work.
Let’s examine the following marketing videos to see what they can teach us:
Social video … The Lego Movie
“The Lego Movie” was simultaneously a work of art and an advertisement. It created a touching, enthralling story, and enhanced the value of the Lego brand all the while improving Lego’s bottom line.
What can we learn from this surprising and remarkable success? “The Lego Movie” gracefully integrated a compelling, human narrative with a brand and product message.
In our media-saturated world, people are becoming increasingly better at blocking out interruption advertisements, whether consciously, through services like AdBlock and TiVo, or unconsciously, due to banner blindness.
To cope with consumers’ decreasing attention span and growing impatience, brands need to stop interrupting them with brash self-promotions.
Instead, they need to engage consumers and entertain them while educating them on how their products and brand can foster a better experience.
Any good marketer will tell you that to make a sale, you don’t sell the product. Instead, you sell the emotion that the product creates.
To achieve this, you must focus on crystallizing and communicating the brand essence. Great sales center on the why rather than the “what” or the “how.”
What we learned
In the case of “The Lego Movie,” Lin Pictures focused on the values of creativity, youth, self-discovery, and courage. Only once these values had been established as the North Star did the Lego products enter the equation.
Seanne Winslow, the executive producer of “The Lego Movie,” explains that “when we created ‘The Lego Movie,’ our goal was not to create a movie about Lego, but to create a great movie that used Lego as the medium of communication.”
The idea was the core. The product was only the medium.
Inspiring social video examples … Dove’s Choose Beautiful
Dove does it again with this remarkable marketing video. There is no denying Dove is adept at crafting stories and encouraging its community to participate in those stories.
By focusing less on their product and more on their mission, Dove has been successful in creating emotional viral videos that have helped them stay top-of-mind.
What we learned
Think about tying your marketing to a larger mission to cultivate a loyal following. According to data from Gallup, customers who are more loyal and emotionally attached to brands bring in 23% more revenue, so take advantage of this by committing to marketing that makes them feel recognized and important.
AT&T Commercial
Check out this short AT&T video/commercial. It is only 30 seconds. Can you spot its secret of success?
What we learned
Personalization is central to its success. You can never go wrong with this in your strategy.
Social video marketing … Homeward Bound
This emotional account of Saroo Brierley’s journey to trace back his original roots after a tragic separation from his family is nothing short of powerful.
By inserting its product into a story of loss, love, and restoration, Google Earth was successful in positioning its capabilities as undeniably life changing — but it doesn’t feel too showy.
The video makes you feel that Google Earth isn’t out to make money, but rather they are out to build a service to improve the lives of their users.
What we learned
Appeal to emotion. Emotion is an incredibly powerful driver that can influence the way people act and respond to your product or service.
Best video marketing campaign … Intel’s “Look Inside”
Tell the story of how you’re doing more with your products. Like how Intel built the first 3D printing lab in Sudan and taught local medical staff to print and affix their own prosthetics. Breathtaking.
What we learned
It never hurts to find a great cause to create the emotion you are looking for.
Purina Friskies’ “Dear Kitten”
We’ve heard it over and over: stories are easy to consume and share and can have a pretty remarkable impact on marketing success. And we’re not sure we’ll ever find a better storyteller than this cat.
What we learned
Stories are a fantastic way to spread your message. Look for unique ways to tell the story, like with this cat.
BMW hidden truths
These two BMW marketing videos do display some great hidden truths.
Have you seen these BMW videos? Watch them both here … each is only 60 seconds. We will then examine each video and what contributes to their strengths and weaknesses and their ability to influence or persuade.
How many times do you hear “I want my video to go viral”? To make this happen you have to create content that is pretty innovative, exciting, and cool so that your audience will want to share. Well here’s the kind of video that ticks all those boxes.
BMW Canada has released these videos which have been viewed over 7 million times (at the time of writing). The first one was the most popular and it became the number one worldwide auto video on YouTube after just 2 days.
The title of the first video makes you think that you’ll be seeing BMW cars taking on concrete walls and losing.
The videos are pretty clever and keep you on the edge of your chair as you watch them.
What we learned
In marketing or advertising, you need to create information that your customers find interesting and worth talking about and remembering.
These videos certainly achieve this goal, don’t you think?
Social video … Guinness empty chair
This Guinness marketing video demonstrates that Guinness marketing has certainly noticed the integrative value of story and video.
“Empty Chair,” tells the story of a bartender who leaves a pint of Guinness at an empty table every night amongst birthday celebrations and sports team’s victories.
No one sits at the table, and the woman shoots a dirty look to anyone she catches eyeing one of the empty chairs.
Related: An Update to Starbucks Creative Ideas and Innovation
Without fail, the frosted glass is there each and every night. It’s a powerful image that serves as a sign of hope for the bartender.
But we aren’t exactly sure who the beer is for until the very end. Everything comes together when a soldier finally returns home to claim his Guinness.
The spot finishes with the tagline:
“The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character.”
What we learned
Awesome and powerful ending. Save your best for the closing.
Bank branding video
Have you seen the remarkable branding video design from this Spanish bank? The video was created to celebrate the 130th anniversary of Banco de Sabadell, which is in a city in Catalonia, Spain. It is a very simple story.
A little girl puts a coin in the troubadour’s hat. He then starts playing Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. Then the magic begins. If you haven’t seen it, watch it now, it is only 5 minutes and it will inspire you.
What we learned
Never hesitate or dare to do something different.
JetBlue
JetBlue launched a brilliant new ad campaign called “Air on the Side of Humanity”. Have you seen it? You might want to check it out. It is one of my all-time favorite marketing videos.
They ingeniously use pigeons as a transposed metaphor for frequent flyers that are challenged by business travel and crowded flights.
Believe me, I can relate. The spot shows crowded skies full of pigeons while an off-camera narrator says “the reality of flying is not very pretty”. It’s a royal headache and a major inconvenience.
They show crowded jostled pigeons on a building ledge lined up single file facing the camera while the narrator says, “They pack you in there, you hardly have any space for yourself. Hey, I’m a big guy and I need some room to breathe”.
As the narrator continues talking about the future situation being bleak the camera focuses on a man’s legs sitting on a park bench throwing crumbs to pigeons on the sidewalk as the narrator says,
“They throw you crumbs and act as if it’s a 5-course meal”.
Next, they show a lonely pigeon on a busy pedestrian sidewalk as people walk around ignoring a confused bird as the narrator says, “I feel completely ignored”. Then the narrator asks the question, “There’s gotta be a way to fly with a little respect, you know?”
Then they cut to a different voiceover announcer which says, “Enjoy JetBlue’s award-winning service, free unlimited snacks, and the most legroom in coach.” An awesome way to engage customers with their value propositions, isn’t it?
What we learned
What I love about this engagement approach is that it takes a customer experience perspective that no doubt was derived from deep customer insights.
As a frequent flyer myself I was able to relate to the spot on multiple levels. How about you? Does the brand connect with you emotionally?
Volvo Trucks’ “Epic Split”
Is there really a better way to showcase the precision steering of Volvo’s trucks than have Jean-Claude Van Damme do the splits between two 18-wheelers moving at roughly 20 mph while Enya plays in the background? None that we could think of. What about you?
What we learned
Always take advantage of the visualization effects that a video promotes.
The bottom line
After watching these marketing video examples, there is little doubt about the growing significance of marketing videos to gain and hold attention and convert customers. What do you think?
Need some help in capturing more customers from your social media marketing or advertising? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with your customers?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to innovating your social media strategy?
Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on social media marketing and advertising from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Adapting to Major Changes in the Social Media Climate
An Update to Starbucks Creative Ideas and Innovation
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Social Video: 11 Inspiring Examples and What They Teach Us