A Powerful Digital Marketing Tool
All Videos not Created Equal
By now, I’m sure you’ve heard countless reasons why video is the best form of media for digital marketing. You’ve likely been beaten down with sayings like these:
- Video is great for driving positive SEO results
- It leads to more conversions
- It inspires viewer emotions
- “A picture is worth 1,000 words, but a video has 24 pictures per second
We believe all of these points are true (but today, good quality equipment can capture way more than 24 pictures per second!). However, this information does very little to tell us how to make a great video. It also doesn’t tell us what TYPE of video is the most effective. Because of this, in future posts, we’ll continue to elaborate upon aspects that make great videos. We’ll start here with one of the most powerful video types for marketing and branding — Branded Narratives.
At WK Studios, we’ve produced all types of digital marketing videos, and have found different messages call for different video types. As a result, we’ve found Branded Narratives are unique in that they take viewers on a psychological journey. The goal is to elicit desired thoughts and emotions from its audience in such a way that guides their thought processes and behaviors to desired outcomes. For instance, videos can guide their viewers to buy products, donate to a cause, and remember a brand name or product, to name a few examples.
Branded Narrative — Video Storytelling
A Branded Narrative tells a story, and is essentially the same thing as storytelling but has a caveat. Branded Narratives tell a story with a specific brand or brands placed in the viewer’s mind. Stories have the power to fully engage viewers as few other options have. As a result, these digital marketing videos have the unique opportunity to expose their brand or product to viewers that are at this heightened level of engagement.
One aspect of Branded Narratives that make them so effective for marketing and/or branding is their versatility. Organizations with extremely different objectives can use Branded Narratives to meet their goals.
Branded Narratives in Action
One widely popular example of a Branded Narrative was created by True Move, a Thai phone company. The Wall Street Journal posted the digital marketing video to YouTube, seen here:
How to do it?
Still not completely understanding how to use stories to market your brand, product, or idea? Don’t worry, WK Studios will continue to post informative pieces to help explain the ins and outs of video and Branded Narratives. If you’d rather work with an industry expert directly, we also offer strategy consults, as well. Feel free to visit our site (https://wkstudios.com) for our contact information. However, we’ll leave you with a couple of simple scenarios that we came up with to help jumpstart your creative thought processes.
Scenario 1
A non-profit organization focused on helping inner-city children with unstable living situations can choose to hire someone to produce a video that compels viewers to give. In this situation, we strategically developed a Branded Narrative to place viewers in the midst of a young girl’s story. It begins as she walks home by herself down a dark dangerous street, with boarded windows on broken-down buildings. Then she enters a home with a passed out mother and a verbally abusive, drunk adult male. Through the eyes of this young girl, the viewer can feel empathy because of the gravity of her situation. This type of fictitious story about real-life situations will compel viewers to action through giving.
Scenario 2
A Fortune 500 automaker is spending a large sum of money on brand exposure. They choose to use a production company to create a short film for potential customers. They begin their short film in the driver seat of a luxury sports vehicle. In the driver seat is a handsome, middle-aged detective staking out some suspected sex traffickers. As the detective watches, the suspects drag several young girls out of a building and into a van. He soon realizes without any backup his life could be thrown into peril if he pursues the traffickers. However, those girls may never be seen again if he doesn’t. The detective chooses to disregard his own safety and chase down the traffickers in a nail-biting high-speed chase while simultaneously showcasing the vehicle’s speed, precision, and elegant style. As you can see, this tactic engages viewers in a roller coaster of emotions. When this happens, the viewers only care that they are enjoying a great story unfold. Meanwhile, the company has strategically placed its product, brand, and message throughout the video.
Trigger Desire with Branded Narrative Video
Above are very simple examples that barely scratch the surface of what is possible with Branded Narratives. Both of these videos have characters that the viewer feels some type of emotional attachment with, and problems to be solved. Scenario 1 leaves the problem unsolved so the viewer can be compelled to help solve it by giving. Scenario 2 takes viewers on a ride as the main character saves the day, all while the company’s product is being used to capture the bad guys. Hopefully, this has helped you understand the effectiveness of storytelling within the branding and digital marketing worlds. In future posts, we’ll explain how emotions and neurotransmitters in the brain can be targeted to solicit desired responses.
If you’re in the market a production company that you can trust, who has been making videos for over 10 years, feel free to reach out to us at WK Studios!
Website:
Vimeo Page