Brand videos: 5 examples to get inspired

Here on our blog, we’re addressing the topic of video brands with a whole series of articles. We started with a few questions.  The first, basic one: what is brand video? 

This is the answer, very succinctly: brand videos are often quite short in duration, with the primary objective of conveying the values and identity of a brand. Therefore, they are not designed to sell specific products or services. 

The second question: are brand video and branded video content synonymous? 

No. Beware of being misled by linguistic similarities! Brand video and branded video are two types of content that, in some ways, stand at opposite poles. Brand videos, in fact, are all focused on the story of the brand itself, its mission, its vision. In branded video content, on the other hand, the brand appears very sidelined, on the sidelines, in some cases always even disappearing. 

The third, decisive question: what are the goals of producing branded video? 

The main goal is very clear: brand awareness, thus the recognition and appeal of a brand. Of course, it’s not a matter of “vanity.” Awareness is the first step on a path that leads, on the one hand, to the sale of products and services, and on the other, to loyalty and advocacy, with the ultimate goal of turning one’s customers into the first and most reliable testimonials. 

Finally, the fourth and final question we have tried to answer in this round of articles is the following: what are the best practices for producing effective brand videos? 

Let’s be clear, there is no universally valid miracle recipe. But there are some cornerstones that can and should be fixed, specifically: 

• Offer value to those who watch your videos with quality storytelling that aims for authenticity as well as empathy. 
• Always adopt an omnichannel perspective, aiming to optimize your videos according to different devices and platforms, paying attention to technical limitations and stylistic customs. 
• Aim for personalization, because the effectiveness of any message always depends on the recipients. 

Now, then, what is missing?  One more step toward concreteness.  

Therefore, we will tell you about 5 highly successful brand video examples. These are models from which you can draw inspiration, for any type of business. The secret to the effectiveness of each of these examples has to do with certain specific aspects. And it is these that we will focus on in this post. 

The first of our brand video examples is a campaign created by Starbucks.

In this video, the first thing that jumps out at you is the extreme quality of the production, on all fronts, from the effectiveness of the script, to those of the animations, to the audio choices. This is an indispensable preliminary feature.

But that’s not what we want to focus on. Instead, we want to highlight a very interesting idea: a narrative technique that is certainly not unheard of, but proves particularly effective in this case. We’re referring to the choice of starting at the end of the narrative (a choice emphasized by the typography “The end,” but also by the first jingle in the video).

It’s nothing particularly new or innovative; in fact, it’s a rather classic storytelling technique, one that is useful in keeping the viewer’s attention, triggering the question, “how did we get here?” In the case of this brand video, however, suspense is not the point.

Instead, it’s the opportunity to tell “what’s behind” each Starbucks product and what comes before. In other words, it shows the whole process that culminates in the single coffee a customer orders in a Starbucks store. The goal?

To reinforce trust and aim for a deep connection with the target audience by telling a story rooted in the basics and authenticity. 

When the theme is brand videos, we can’t go without mentioning Coca-Cola, which is perhaps the brand that most of all, and for the longest time, has put awareness at the center of its campaigns. Let’s see how it worked in its “A coke is a coke” campaign, launched during the 2019 Super Bowl.

In a sense, the dynamic here is opposite and complementary to that of the Starbucks commercial we analyzed earlier. With Starbucks, it was about telling the story behind the product. In the Coca-Cola commercial, the product almost disappears, and what matters is what revolves around it: the people and the values that they share with the brand.

The idea is that Coca-Cola is for everyone…everyone with their own diversity, which is not judged, but welcomed in an inclusive way. It’s a very simple message, and one that is especially relevant today.

It’s no coincidence that the brand that has made recognition the center of its business has moved decisively to personalization in recent years, thus on getting closer and closer to its customers. 

The most striking example, which we have already mentioned, is that of the “Share a Coke” campaign, from 2011. In doing so, the brand opened a path that has become fundamental in today’s marketing, that of an increasingly intimate and tailored dialog with the individuals who make up its target audience.

Now we come to another brand that has made awareness the center of its success and its strategies: AirBnb. In this video, the primary goal is very clear: engagement.

Here’s a very interesting fact: AirBnb experiences have to do with physical places and human contact. But to get all of this across in a commercial, they have chosen to focus on animation or rather, to be even more precise: an 85-square-meter miniature reproducing different settings, within which the viewer begins his or her “journey” by following railroad tracks.

The effect is high quality and highly effective. Instead of showing a specific place or places that a person might wish to visit, the narrative aims at evoking a sense of adventure, on the one hand, and of home and familiarity on the other. “Welcome home,” not surprisingly, is written on a banner hanging in the video’s concluding setting.

Let’s move to a completely different atmosphere and tackle a brand video that has a very specific target audience: that of new mothers.

It’s made by Dove, one of the leading brands in the hygiene products market. Be careful, though: the focus here is not on selling a specific product (otherwise, we would not even be in the realm of brand videos). But what’s even more interesting is that, on the surface, the video doesn’t even put the brand in the foreground, and it appears only in the opening and closing screens (as well as in shots where specific products are featured).

What, then, is the key point of this type of communication? It’s not brand awareness, but the effectiveness that comes from being useful to the viewer. At the center of the narrative is a doula (a woman who cares for the mental and physical well-being of new mothers and babies) who provides practical advice for a baby’s first bath.

In short: the Dove video shows how a video can be educational, taking advantage of the great popularity (especially on YouTube) of video tutorials. In this way, Dove positions itself as a brand that offers valuable and authoritative advice in an authentic and—at first glance—disinterested way.

Here we come to the last of our examples and to another key element of effectiveness.

How do you convey a sense of trust to your target audience? There is not just one way, but one of the most effective ways has been to show customer case studies. 

That’s exactly what happens in this video made by Slack, the well-known enterprise collaboration software launched in 2014 and acquired by Salesforce for $27.7 billion in 2020. In particular, Sandwich Video Inc. tells how Slack’s tools have been useful for their business. Why does this video work so well?

First, because at the core is a challenge, a problem that finds its own solution. The results are conveyed with clarity and simplicity. In addition, the video functions as a real demo of the tools that the software offers. Last but most important: testimonials from outside the brand always elicit a sense of trust because they are perceived as more disinterested. Those watching the video, therefore, tend to identify with them and their own issues.

The bottom line: it’s all about brand recognition, sure but, increasingly, what matters is the ability the brand has to get closer to people.