It’s YouTube Tuesday again… welcome back to three product or service videos and three mini marketing communications/branding critiques. Here goes:
1. This Video Made Me Cry
This is very moving. I cried… once when I found the video. And again when I was testing/publishing the blog post. Will you? I’m not sure why Facebook made this video. Generally companies don’t invest in communications unless they are solving or heading off a problem — or going after an opportunity. This video isn’t encouraging consumer usage. This video isn’t selling the Facebook ad platform. So what is going on here? It feels to me like Facebook is investing in their brand for the long term. Just like they are playing the long game with their tech platform, they are doing the same thing with what they will mean to people over time. Does Facebook want to be respected as a company that really matters for the long haul? This is exactly the sort of video companies like that make.
2. Thumbtack
This is a good example of how to tell a story and pitch a product without requiring a narrator or interviewing anyone on camera. There’s no reason not to have a narrator or interview people (we often like to at Rassak because it grounds the company by forging a connection between viewers and the real people who created the product) — it’s a style choice. This company went with that choice and did a good job. What I really like here is their choice of using screenshots of their product in a less-than-100%-literal way — and how well they’re integrated into the story/overlaid onto the video as part of the action. Look how the DJ gets his message on his phone — and responds — while DJ’ing. I can’t tell you how many companies would be afraid to abstract their user interface like this… they want literal. But literal does not always tell the best story. Thanks Matt Trifiro for the tip.
3. Korea Telecom
This video has something like three views–it might not even be a sanctioned video. It has the whiff of an ad agency concept that was not ultimately greenlit. I don’t know. Doesn’t matter. But…. why the hell am I including it? Because of how I found it. I found it while browsing around YouTube and it’s thumbnail (the little image that “promotes” the video) caught my eye. A building with legs jumping. That’s visually arresting. Visually arresting often gets short shrift online … but it matters — a lot. Getting attention is the one of the hardest tasks in our so-called “attention economy” .. and this video caught my attention without, apparently, even trying.
