Welcome to the Weekly Video Round-Up!

Every week we take a look at how companies are using video to communicate with customers, employees and investors.

Behind The Scenes At Starbucks

In an effort to showcase the internal operations of the brand, Starbucks created a series of ‘behind the scenes’ type videos to show what it’s like to work for the company. The videos follow employees from different departments and get their perspective on the day-to-day operations. Not only does it give a first hand look at what it’s like to work for a big name like Starbucks, but it also shows the strong culture and work environment. Instead of simply reading about the company and what they have to offer, viewers can see, hear and feel it from current leaders and team members.

By giving an inside look to potential candidates, Starbucks is able to cover all the typical questions job seekers have and allow outsiders to decide for themselves if they are a fit for the organization. A good recruitment video covers the most crucial questions job seekers have about why they should apply for your organization. Once job seekers understand what it means to work and be successful at your company, those who do not possess the relevant skills or see themselves as a cultural fit will be dissuaded from applying. As a result, they’ll effectively weed themselves out (saving you the trouble of doing it later).

Kraft Milkbite Mel

Kraft’s Milkbite is introduced by Mel, an anxious and confused character, in a spot that is a hilarious take on the normally ‘peppy’ mascots that accompany brands.

Collapsing Towers

Promoting wind power isn’t exactly the ’sexiest’ of subjects but this spot does such a great job of speaking to the subject using only stock footage and a bit of animation. Brilliant!

ADD – Parking Spot

We’re quite impressed with how this simple time-lapse brings awareness to people with disabilities and leaves a lasting impression of the cause.

Welcome to the Weekly Video Round-Up!

Every week we take a look at how companies are using video to communicate with customers, employees and investors.

Sunshine Village Gets Social

For many people, holidays are one of the biggest purchases of the year, and it’s a decision that takes time and research. Stats show that at least 80% of travelers research their trips online, and 46% of personal travelers are watching travel related videos, versus 36% two years ago. There is no shortage of travel blogs and review sites on the internet, which makes it easy for any trip-planner to access information and compare destinations.

As a popular ski destination among travelers and locals, Sunshine Village puts a heavy emphasis on their online presence to ensure they stay connected to their new and returning customers. Along with lift ticket and hotel deals, Sunshine also puts recent photos and video on the homepage to give a glimpse of current conditions, terrain and user uploaded content. This is an excellent selling feature for the ski resort, as it encourages sharing and facilitates conversation and interaction amongst users. These features also eliminate the need for visitors to refer to other sites for videos and photos, keeping traffic and potential visitors on the Sunshine site.

Audi – Snowy Weather

In this video, Audi aims to show that almost everyone hates winter, except the Quattro.

Best Buy Innovation

Best Buy hit a branding home run with this spot, featuring some of mobile technology’s biggest innovators and positioning their services amongst the forward-thinking group.

Day Made of Glass 2

Corning just released the second part of their virtual hit ‘A Day Made of Glass’. This video is an extension of the same day featured in the first video, and the effects are just as amazing.

Welcome to the Weekly Video Round-Up!

Every week we take a look at how companies are using video to communicate with customers, employees and investors.

Twitter Wants You!

In an effort to show you how great it is to work at the mega-company, a few employees took it upon themselves to create the ‘best and worst recruiting video of all time.’ The project spawned from Twitter’s Hack Week, a seven day challenge where employees of Twitter step away from their day-to-day duties and come up with ways to enhance the services of the company. These projects can range from developing new services or features to literally hacking the Twitter system in order to improve processes.

Stepping away from the normally tech-focused endeavors of Hack Week, the team responsible for this spot wished to create something that was a little more fun which would promote the recruitment side of the company. While intentionally bad, the video still manages to cover all the perks and benefits Twitter employees enjoy, and accurately reflects the fun and easy-going culture. With over 600,000 views on YouTube in a week, the video is officially a hit, and knowing it was created not as an advertisement, but purely out of fun makes it even better.

Acura – Seinfeld

In typical Superbowl fashion, Acura pulled out the big guns with their commercial for the big game by enlisting the help of Jerry himself and a surprise appearance by Jay Leno. Wonder how much that cost?

First Bank

Going in a totally different direction, First Bank decided to blow all of their Superbowl budget on dead air to allow you a much needed bathroom break during the game. With all the competing stunts during breaks, this spot is pretty refreshing, literally.

Budweiser – Flash Fans

This commercial is bound to give any die-hard hockey fan goosebumps, as we watch every player’s dream of making it to the big game become a reality. We’re sure this will become a fan favorite in no time.

Welcome to the Weekly Video Round-Up!

Every week we take a look at how companies are using video to communicate with customers, employees and investors.

Calgary Herald TV

A recent comScore report stated that over the last 12 months, videos published online by newspapers were watched over 720 million times. The same report states that the newspaper industry had over 14,561,000 unique video viewers online, and averaged 952,000 daily unique viewers, with the average newspaper viewer watching 3.9 videos online. As the numbers show, video has made a significant impact on the way the newspaper industry is delivering stories, and how readers choose to access the news. While stories are still largely delivered in print, papers have recognized that changing technologies have also changed the way people prefer to access information, and have expanded their delivery methods to online and video content to better serve their audience and avoid extinction.

The Calgary Herald recently added a video section to their website, that is organized similar to their sections in the paper, each containing video of news stories that are featured on the site and in print. With the addition of this video section, the Herald is able to add visual and audio components to their stories, creating a greater connection to the story and enhanced experience for the reader. Not to mention, watching a clip on the story can be much faster than reading it, which is an important thing as people tend to move quickly online and lose focus after a short amount of time. Even in a time where print newspapers are declining, the Herald manages to maintain readership by offering different mediums to get information, and accommodate the needs and preferences of their audience.

Lurpack Butter

Lurpack Butter was actually able to successfully market themselves to the generally health-conscious masses with this ad by associating their ‘lightest’ butter with healthier meals. The fun close-ups and colorful scenes are both aesthetically pleasing and mouth-watering.

Nike Kobe System

Poking fun at motivational speaking, Kobe Bryant speaks to a crowd of A-listers at the top of their game and urges them to ‘go over the top’. The formula seems simple enough, buy the shoes and you’re on the way to success. You can thank Kobe later.

Family Guy- Wheat Thins

In this spot, Wheat Thins is trying to appeal to the younger generation by enlisting the help of Brian and Stewie from Family Guy. Using the TV shows trademark of repetition, they managed to create a script entirely out of the brand’s name.

Welcome to the Weekly Video Round-Up!

Every week we provide a look at how companies are using video to communicate with customers, employees and investors.

VIDEO PROFILE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

The Red Bull Lifestyle

Branded Entertainment integrates a brand with an entertainment property to create an association between the brand and property. This strategy allows companies to maintain brand awareness within an advertising adverse population, by engaging and entertaining audiences as opposed to hitting them over the head with pure sales tactics.

Red Bull has taken this strategy and perfected it by directly associating the energy drink with the adrenaline craving habits of it’s target market through online video. Watching athletes perform death-defying stunts, viewers quickly forget they are engaging with the brand, despite seeing the logo slapped on every piece of equipment and uniform. Their strategy embraces cross platform story telling, participation and audience engagement and ensures that engagement is at the heart of every initiative. The good news is that Branded Entertainment success is within reach for all companies and it’s not just a fit for B2C businesses.

Communicators need to shift their thinking from strictly advertising and sales to creating content that is valuable and drives a social response from audiences. Content does not have to be strictly entertainment based, but can be informative as well. Creating a web series or documentary-style videos centered on your brand are variations of Branded Entertainment. It all depends on the audience and what influences them, and producing a story that resonates and creates a connection to the brand.

Red Bull TV: Click Here

SUCCESSFUL VIDEOS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Live Fast

The clothing brand Affliction is trying to reclaim it’s hardcore image through this spot titled ‘Truly Live’.  Packed full of motorcycles, tattoos and fighting, it certainly reminds you what it means to ‘live fast’.

Every Presentation, Ever

This video is a perfect summary of every presentation ever given or attended. Produced by Growing Leaders Inc., the video aims to show common communication fails that can be avoided with the organization’s services.

Whistler Blackcomb XXS

This video shows an amazing tilt-shift view of the popular ski resort. This day in the life style video is a great way to show all the awesome amenities of the destination.