Style Is Just As Important As Your Content
October 27th, 2011 by Brian Baumley
What Kind Of Image Are You Projecting In Your Corporate Video?
You have a message. You’ve decided that you want to use video to communicate it. After considering your audience and what will appeal most to them, you now have a very important decision to make. What will be the most effective style of video to communicate this message? These days, just about the only limitation impacting what a video can look and feel like is budget. It can be funny, sad, emotional and nostalgic. It can be driven by music, dialogue, animation and narration. Whatever style and tone you choose for your video, think about how it helps to carry your message.
We’ve found some great corporate video that pulls from many various style techniques. It’s hard to fit any of these into one specific genre, so we’ve simply included the video and some commentary on why we think each is special.
PwC
This video from PricewaterhouseCoopers leaves all the dialogue to Harry Nilsson’s great “Everybody’s Talkin’.” We see flashes of video from around the world, following PwC workers and those impacted by them. People are working, laughing, learning and enjoying life. Throughout the video, flashes of the PwC logo are seen swirling about, suggesting that all of these experiences are made possible by the company that can provide “a relationship you’ll value.” It’s a bit long, at 3:40 minutes, but that’s what good songs and compelling imagery are for.
DiGi
Communications service provider DiGi’s corporate video forgoes traditional video, opting instead for story-telling through animation. This will be a familiar style for anyone that’s seen their fair share of TV advertising over the past few years. Still, it is engaging and compelling. You’ll see that there are many, many messages communicated throughout the three minute run time. It doesn’t hurt that here also is a terrific song that plays as you read about all the reasons why DiGi is “always the smarter choice.” Note that it’s a song you probably haven’t heard before, but it’s got a nice melody, a nice message and isn’t annoying at all to listen to. But since it’s unfamiliar, it’s probably not distracting either. If you haven’t picked up on the trend yet, note that good songs played in their entirety can help keep andaudience’s attention longer. In this case, more than three minutes.
AMG
AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group make their message about sustainable metal technology interesting through story-telling and compelling video that was shot at six locations across three countries. Throughout the video, AMG emphasizes its long history in the space, talking about accomplishments and showing black and white photos of early work being done by the company. Employees also get a voice, and they’re shown working toward a greater cause and market innovation. Finally, we see, what it’s all for: airplanes, buildings, bridges, everyday products. This video is more than four minutes long – our attention is held through captivating images, interesting information and a good story.
Barclay’s Capital
Barclays Capital kills two birds with one stone (recruiting and industry leadership) and grabs our attention with this video that is a bit out of character for the traditionally conservative financial services industry. By using humor, the viewer is surprised and compelled to watch from one shot to the next as strange things happen to the actors. Goes to show that you don’t always need to communicate in the traditional tone that your audience is used to hearing you or your competitors use. This video is timed perfectly: one minute. After all, there’s only so long you can watch people falling through floors and ceilings before you’re ready to move on.
Pay close attention when you’re watching these and other videos. And you’ll start to see some of the same tried and proven techniques used over and over again. The best part is that you don’t always need a huge budget to pull them off. How can you put these techniques to work for your next project?
