Corporate video has been around for a long time. Not nearly as long as other types of marketing and advertising, but since the beginning of the digital age, brands have created videos to share their identity and provide a visual experience for their consumers. These could be in the form of a corporate event video, how-to video or even an interview with company executives and leadership. We’ve all stumbled across them accidentally on YouTube – usually identified by their exhaustive length and unnecessarily confusing message.
Years ago, we wrote about the death of the corporate video, which, had the industry not adapted, would’ve spelled the end of many production companies. Enter branded content and business films. Before I get too far along, these are both terms you’ve probably heard before and may not have entirely understood. To make things simple, they’re both forms of corporate video. But Rylee-hold on, let me finish. Yes, they’re both forms of corporate video, but their style is much, much different. Realistically, if a piece of video content is backed, created and produced by a brand and contains their logo, it’s a corporate video. Everything beyond that is merely a technicality.
All in all, whether a piece of content is considered a corporate video is absolutely meaningless. However, it’s important to note that when dealing with many industry professionals, you could be expected to know the different styles of corporate video, like I mentioned before.
Enter branded content. This style is designed to create more of an “emotional” connection to a viewer that leaves a lasting impression and is generally more enjoyable than a hard-sell commercial. These are virtually short documentaries meant to tell a story that directly relates to the brand that conjured them, in hopes that viewers will be able to relate to the brand more than they could before. These types of videos often cater to your emotions, and in doing so, create an invisible connection to the brand. When you think of that brand again, you’re going to remember that feeling, because emotions are more memorable than a can of pop, a pair of shoes, or a fancy car can ever be.
After reading about branded content, it may be hard to believe that some brands choose to go a different way. They seem like they’d be extremely successful, right? They are – in fact, they’re much more successful than traditional corporate video, but they don’t work for every brand. Branded content comes into play when a business is developed, has a strong following and is working on improving its overall image – something that startups or non CPG/tech companies may not yet have.
Enter business films, a variation of traditional corporate video that is designed with the purpose of conveying trust and revealing a face behind a logo. Business films are very popular in service-based companies, where the product you’re selling is (almost) entirely intangible. However, just because they’re similar to older style corporate video doesn’t mean they have to be boring or uneventful. Business films give founders and executives the opportunity to share the story behind their company – their values, their goals, the service they provide – anything that humanizes them allows for emotional connection or relation to the viewer.
All in all, both styles of vides can be extremely effective if used in the right way, and at the right time. Local video production agencies can determine whether a video is right for you, what style works best, and how to distribute your content based on the needs of your audience to make sure your business film or piece of branded content performs better than you could’ve ever imagined.
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