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 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.

Welcome to the Weekly Video Round-Up!

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

VIDEO PROFILE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Young and Free Alberta

Young and Free Alberta is a website powered by Servus Credit Union, which targets young Albertans and provides tips and financial information specifically for this age group. The organization recognized that young people were not well served by the financial industry, and sought to change the dynamic of the relationship by creating a platform that addresses young people directly, on financial issues that matter to them.  Using Social Media applications such as Facebook, Twitter and the Young and Free blog, not to push information but to facilitate conversation with their audience, Young and Free gain a greater understanding of what they want to know about.  Young and Free then produces a regular web series called Living Young and Free Show that tackles these concerns and creates scenarios that solve regular financial problems. The production quality may not be that great, but the authentic young hosts and subject matter is right on target for the audience as it addresses issues that are normally intimidating, in a way that is approachable and understandable for young viewers.

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Don’t Wake Up In A Ditch

The plot of this video is simple; if you don’t have Direct TV bad things happen to you.  Scare tactics rarely work in advertising but this one is pretty convincing.

29 Ways to Stay Creative

Brought to you by Get out of the Box, a non-profit organization that motivates and mentors youth. A very creative video itself, we like the simple imagery and inspiring message.

Smart Thief

This video totally takes you by surprise in what appears to be regular security camera footage of a robbery, but actually turns out to be an ad from LG. They barely give it away at the end with the LG sign in the window.

Welcome to the Weekly Video Round-Up!

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

VIDEO PROFILE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Lululemon – Sh*t Yogis Say

YouTube has exploded with various copycat versions of the viral video Sh*t Girls Say and Lululemon wisely jumped on the bandwagon by producing a Yoga version. The spot has just over 500,000 views on YouTube, and has gained the Canadian brand national recognition in just over a week. While the intention may have just been to poke fun at the yoga community, the viral ad was well-timed and executed and completely unexpected from a brand’s usual advertising techniques of promoting a healthy and peaceful lifestyle. Lululemon has proved how well in tune they are to social trends and wisely took advantage to gain exposure for the brand.

SUCCESSFUL VIDEOS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Google India – Tanjore

Another great ad from Google, this one tells the story of a real-life businessman from India and how he used the internet (and Google, obviously) to breathe life into an ancient art form and grow his business.

Doritos – Crash the Superbowl

Doritos has launched another challenge for fans to create the next Superbowl ad for the brand. This is a great campaign as it engages fans, and with every commercial entry the brands gets a little more free advertising.

History of the Modern Calendar

Ever wonder how the calendar evolved over the centuries? This video explains it all in just under 4 minutes. If only History lessons could be this short!

Welcome to the Weekly Video Round-Up!

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

VIDEO PROFILE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

The Big Reveal

Encana created this video as an introduction to their new and improved website. Wanting to stay away from the more reserved ‘talking head’ approach, Encana envisioned something a little more fun, that would reflect the dynamic and engaging layout of the website. The video is a unique approach to a website reveal, using real Encana employees and community members to describe the new features and the functions of the site. To build the hype, Encana released a short trailer weeks before to promote the launch, with the tagline ‘ Redesigned with you in mind.’ Encana was effectively able to promote their new website and had some fun in the process while giving viewers a glimpse of their personality and the culture of the organization.

SUCCESSFUL VIDEOS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Santa’s Assistant

Ever wonder how Santa is able to deliver all those presents in one night? Well, now we know. He uses the Siri assistant on his iPhone. With 3.7 billion appointments, there’s no wonder he needs an assistant.

Luck is an Attitude

The Martini brand released this ad which teaches the lesson that luck does not happen by chance, but is seized instead. When all else fails, a little liquid courage may make things easier.

Snow Woes

By showing a compilation of winter driving fails, TomTom is able to hammer home the point of safe driving and careful planning needed in winter driving conditions.