Category Archives: Branding

The Power of Motion Graphic Videos in Marketing

Videos are intuitive, natural and come second-nature to viewers

Why not take advantage of one of our essential senses – vision. Having a visualized form of data that is presented in a narrative manner allows your audience to easily comprehend quite a bit of information in a short amount of time. Most videos, animated or not, that combine interesting content, striking imagery and upbeat music greatly enhance one’s understanding and retention of complicated information.

Motion graphic videos demonstrate complicated ideas quickly.

Presenting clear, comprehensive information is a critical piece of successful content marketing. Captivating motion graphic videos can cut through the overwhelming amount of hodgepodge and make the content definitely digestible. According to Statistic Brain, in 2000, the average person’s attention span was 12 seconds, while it is down to 8 seconds in 2013.  That’s a staggering 33% decrease in one year. Now, let’s put that into perspective. If the average video length is 2.7 minutes, will your audience spare the time to watch it in 2014? Internet users want their content now and will not wait around to read pages upon pages of information about a product or service they need. With the popular six-second Vine videos and Instagram’s 15-second videos, this generation of Internet users will surely demand a lot in a very short timeframe. So, make sure you hook them in the very beginning.

Complex data, numerous facts and figures are easily digestible through motion graphic videos.

Our brains can only process a certain amount of large numbers and information at a given time. This is where visual aids come in to play. Motion graphic videos, like OpenText’s, allow viewers to easily understand information by breaking it down into a more comprehensive presentation or narrative. An interesting combination of text, images, music and sometimes, a voiceover, will focus your audience’s attention on significant facts and data instead of forcing them to read several lines of text.

Videos can heighten product and service awareness up to 40% and increase “shareability”.

According to Hubspot, 40% of people will respond better to visual information than plain text. Just one month after the introduction of Facebook timeline for brands, visual content – photos and videos – saw a 65% increase in engagement. In the current age of responsive design and everyone having a mobile device that can connect to the Internet, it’s important to give your audience easier accessibility to view and share videos from any page on a website. You may also need an SEO company like Victorious to help your videos rank on the web to get before your potential customers.

By placing your video on reliable outlets, you have the ability to reach over a billion unique users and visitors each month.

YouTube is the obvious choice for spreading video content. With over a billion unique users and visitors each month, you can guarantee that someone who is interested in your message will see your content on any tech device you can think of. There are also big viewer numbers involved when you share your content on social giant Facebook. According to ComScore, Facebook had 87,005 unique video viewers in the month of April, coming in second only to Google. Even AOL and Yahoo had higher numbers than the motion graphic video-heavy site, Vimeo.

Don’t forget the new tools and non-standard platforms to spread your content.

The founders of YouTube have created MixBit, a new format that allows you to combine your 16 second clips and remix them with any other video in the MixBit community to make one short video. This is an interesting platform to see how your video’s segmented sections can enhance other people’s videos. If any of the videos reach the elusive viral stardom, your piece could be a part of the show.

Pinterest is also an interesting platform to share and pin your motion graphic videos. Not many people know that you can actually pin videos from YouTube and Vimeo, so take advantage of those avenues to spread and share your content.

Motion graphic videos can create memorable stories that will generate buzz for your brand.

When planning out a motion graphic video, it is important to have a detailed and well-thought out storyboard to set the foundation for the unique visual elements your project team will produce. When the story has a captivating narrative, engaging content and useful information, you can ensure that your audience will enjoy and better comprehend your product or service.

See some of the best animated infographic videos of the world

Check out some of the animated infographic work we’ve done for our clients.

Check out some of the motion graphic videos we’ve done for our clients – Pilot Flying J, Carpathia, Half-Off DepotProNova, ABT Molecular Imaging, VMWare and Transilience HD

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5 ways to avoid creating the dreaded 3 Word Slogan.

We see it everywhere – company slogans that were made after long hours of thumbing through the thesaurus looking for similar words. They even make a point (All the pun intented) to add a period after each word. A successful advertising and marketing campaign consist of several working parts that leave potential customers wanting more. You need a hook, a signifier and a differentiator.  Musicians use great catchy beats and rhythms; blockbuster movies use mesmerizing special effects and great companies develop influential messages. Let’s face it, if any company wants to make a lasting impression to build brand recognition and loyal customers, there are some simple ways to achieve that goal. Here are a few thoughts to consider to avoid the trap of using Three. Word. Slogans.

1. Don’t. Be. Boring.

One of the best branding practices is to create captivating, intriguing and even controversial messaging. If you create slogans that only uses adjectives and does not evoke any actual thought and real emotions, you automatically fail to make an impact on your customers. Make them excited. Make them daydream even for a minute. Make them imagine using your product or service.  If you can get them to do any of that, you already got them interested.

2. Engage. Your. Customer.

Now that you got them interested, are you initiating an active response? Are you enabling your viewer to connect and perform an action that will lead to a sale? Do you make your links and website domains clear?  Does your ad have a clear enough message? If not, then you should re-write  and re-think about your messaging to get them to re-consider why they should be in your store to buy your products and use your services. You have to capture their ideals, connect with their morals and their significant emotions to connect with them.

3. Just. Be. Honest.

People can sniff out a fraud easier these days. We have the technology to look up everything online and get reviews from people who have genuine experiences from powerful brands. If you’re great at one thing, you should focus on that strength and tell the world. People become repeat customers when they have great experiences with honest brands. It would be a challenge for any company to get customers when their reputation relies having a sub-par product or service. So don’t hide behind a lazy 3-word slogan. Tell your unique story by explaining what you do best.

On the comical side, see what some overly honest made up slogans look like with your favorite brands – http://honestslogans.com

4. Inspire. Every. Customer.

Now, let’s be clear for one second. The type of slogans I’m referring to are the ones combining 3 adjectives that are lazily put together to directly describe an image, a deed or a setting. The type of slogans that tries to paint a picture by simply using the most common descriptive words. What if Nike, decided to go a different route than using their now world famous “Just Do It” slogan? What if they agreed, that their best message would be “Run. Walk. Jump” ? I can guarantee that they would’ve lost millions in shoe sales from that point on because of how poor and unconvincing that statement is.  So, let’s dive into an example on how a big existing brands utilize a 3-word slogan and how we can make it better.

Cracker Barrell Old Country Store

CrackerBarrellGiftCard

So here we have a popular Southern Country-Themed restaurant chain that has, you guessed it,  food, shopping and some rocking chairs for relaxation while waiting for your name to be called in for a table. Not too sure about you, but my idea of relaxing is laying on a hammock or sprawled on a sofa watching Netflix. I believe this was the perfect opportunity for Cracker Barrel to draft up a slogan that would appeal to interstate travelers and people familiar with the South in a way that is more personal. Why not something along the lines of, “Experience the South whichever direction you’re headed”   This way, you engage and leave a meaningful message to travelers and viewers.

5. Create. Memorable. Messages.

Successful brands are the ones that have loyal customers that have a unique and sometimes indescribable connection to them. Be it their the quality of their products, the level of customer service or sometimes we can tie it in to the “cool” factor. For something to be memorable, it has to be timeless. It has to uphold a powerful message strong enough to be used over and over and over again.

Examples of some of the most memorable brand slogans in the world that doesn’t use 3. Single. Words.
  1. Disneyland – “The Happiest Place On Earth.”
  2. M&Ms – “Melts In Your Mouth, Not In Your Hands.”
  3. BMW – “The Ultimate Driving Machine.”
  4. VISA – “It’s Everywhere You Want to Be.”
  5. IBM – “Solutions For A Small Planet.”
  6. Burger King – “Have It Your Way.”
  7. American Express – “Don’t Leave Home Without It.”
  8. Redbull – “It Gives You Wings.”
  9. Energizer – “It Keeps Going And Going And Going.”
  10. Deere & Company – “Nothing Runs Like A Deere.”

So there you have it,  a couple of ideas to think about the next time you are creating slogans for a new identity, an advertisement or a marketing campaign. You have to strongly believe in your message and use it appropriately. It’s a difficult undertaking, but, if you can make your customers remember your brand by your meaningful slogans on top of your exceptional product and service, then that is a worthwhile endeavor.

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