Promotional videos are marketing and sales tools designed to introduce or educate consumers about particular products, causes, or organisations. Generally, a promotional video is structured to be precise, direct, and to last anywhere between fifteen seconds to multiple hours, depending on the form in which the video is being hosted. For example, television advertisements often last between fifteen seconds to one minute, whereas online advertisements and ones stored on physical media can last from a few seconds to multiple hours. All promotional videos are usually designed to capture and hold the attention of viewers in order to make the key points necessary to generate additional interest. As a marketing tool, promotional videos are often provided to prospective customers free of charge. While in the past, marketing videos were often provided in the form of VHS tapes or on television, videos promoting various goods and services are usually still provided on television or as DVDs.
It is important to note that promotional videos can also be utilised conferences or exhibitions with great effect. By setting up a wide screen at an exhibit booth, it is possible to use a computer with the ability to play the promotional video, and software to keep the device playing on a continuous loop. This creates a visual point of interest for people attending said conferences or exhibitions, and could possibly prompt them to visit the booths, so that they may ultimately learn more about the products offered to them.
Non-profit organisations sometimes make use of promotional videos. Since it is possible to produce these videos for very little money today, it is possible to distribute them among potential patrons who may become sources of consistent financial support. As in a business setting, the non-profit organisations can also present the promotional videos on continuous loops at types of public gatherings, with the aim to hopefully connect with people who would be interested in supporting the work of said organisations.
Many promotional videos can also be utilised to great effect with online networking sites today. Uploading the videos to particular websites, before supplying links to the videos to interested parties makes the process of sharing the tool with a wider audience. It is not unusual for websites to provide viewers with a simple way of sharing the links with other people that they believe would be interested in seeing the videos as well. Such an added benefit helps to increase the visibility of the videos, and thus further advance the messages contained within.
Corporate videos refer to any type of non-advertisement based video content created for and commissioned by businesses, companies, corporations, or organisations. Today, the vast majority of corporate video content is hosted online, and is published on the companies' website website pages, as well as distributed through social media or email marketing.
Generally, corporate video content is targeted towards the company’s core selling demographics or internal employees. Corporate video production is frequently the responsibility of a marketing director or corporate communications manager. Examples of corporate video include corporate overview videos, staff training and safety videos, promotional/brand films, investor relations and shareholder videos, market updates, product videos, executive proposal videos, and customer testimonial videos.
As video becomes a more integral part of companies' communication strategies, often companies will release corporate videos with press release announcements, newsletters and other forms of communication in order to bolster the message reach and effectiveness.
The time and scale of each corporate video production can vary greatly based on complexity and messaging. Some corporate videos may use only minimal crew and basic equipment, whilst others elect for higher quality content, and contract with corporate video production specialists whose core focus is on creating business-to-business corporate video content.
Video content has become a significant ranking factor for search engine optimisation from search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. As a result, more companies are electing to create corporate video content for their websites.
On average, the corporate video production process will frequently involve five stages. The first stage is project initiation, budgeting, and creation of statement of work. What follows is the pre-production stage in which planning may include script writing, storyboard creating, casting, location scouting, and scheduling. Next, video production commences, usually including location filming with camera crews and directors, which may also involve other elements, such as actors and presenters. Once finished, post-production and video editing begins, which means that the filmed (live action) footage is edited together, possibly including recording audio voice-overs, adding graphics, composing music scores or soundtracks, and including 2D/3D animation sequences with the finished video. To finish, the last stage consists of the final delivery and website integration.
Production launch and marketing promotional videos inform audiences about new products and services that have since been launched into the market. Their aim is to highlight the products' or services' key features by explaining their purpose and how they benefit customers. Such videos may perform this by including footage showing people using the products or services in appealing ways, or through celebrity endorsement in which celebrities explain the advantage of the products or services. The videos are designed to show the audience how the products or services are innovative, as well as how they are superior to other choices on the market, explaining their key aspects in fascinating ways through use of live action video and animation.
A famous example of a production launch and marketing promotional video is the Gorilla advertisement, released on behalf of Cadbury, in 2007, to promote Cadbury Dairy Milk-brand chocolate. The advert consists of a simple, ninety-second tracking shot across a music studio, with Phil Collins' song In the Air Tonight playing in the background, whilst a large gorilla sitting at a drum kit plays along with the track's famous drum fill. By almost immediately presenting the text 'a GLASS and a HALF FULL PRODUCTION', the advert is already informing the viewers of what product or service is being promoted, since other Cadbury advertisements have featured the same text. Twenty seconds into the video, the chorus to Collins' song begins to play, as the whole of the gorilla's face is revealed, showing the creature breathing deeply. At this point, the viewers are aware of the frivolous attitude that the advert possess, as it clearly does not want to be taken seriously. In this case, the visuals appeal strongly to young children, whilst the music may relate to adults of many ages. It is important to remember that Cadbury chocolate is a universal product that does not cater specifically to any one particular group of people. Therefore, the advert is designed to be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of their age, gender, nationality, ethnicity, income, or any other background feature. Nevertheless, it can be stated although the advert most definitely appeals to all ages, it focuses somewhat more on children, due to the nature of the video. It appears to borrow a lot of techniques from viral Internet videos, usually watched by millennials, as it is almost anarchic in its disregard for rules aimed at common promotional videos of the same type. Its randomness and unpredictability makes it humorous, along with it having absolutely nothing to link itself to chocolate, which gives it a memorable quality. Despite this, the video still manages to convey its message, mainly through the fact that the background colour is the shade of purple that can famously be associated with Cadbury in circumstances of advertising. Therefore, although their Dairy Milk chocolate bar is presented at the very end of the video, one may argue that the main promotion is for the concept of the Cadbury brand, especially since the bar is their most simple as well as their most beloved.
Promotion of key messages and ideas promotional videos educate and inform the audience about particular causes, topics or subjects. They are usually designed to help viewers gain an understanding of issues that they or others may be facing. Often used by charities to persuade the audience to donate money for certain causes, they can also be based on drugs, alcohol, and crime awareness, as well as other topics, such as animals, education, and the environment. The videos are usually short in length, lasting between two and five minutes in total. In some ways, they are like short documentaries, whilst still often being very engaging and informative for the viewers.
A powerfully emotive example of a promotion of key messages and ideas promotional video is the Turtle Journey advertisement, created by Greenpeace and Aardman Animations, in 2020, to persuade people to sign a petition calling for a global network of ocean sanctuaries to protect the homes of sea turtles. Most of the video is based around the stop motion genre (more specifically, claymation), and features a family of clay turtles returning home from visiting other members. Once they reach their house, a giant wall of lights approaches rapidly, destroying the environment, and separating the children and father from their mother. As the children and father cry to viewers, text appears to explain the purpose of the advert, before showing an image of many turtles protesting against the destruction of the ocean. Before considering the technical conveyances, it is essential to contemplate the specific style of visuals used. As many people know, almost all pieces produced by Aardman Animations have a distinctive and immediately recognisable visual style to them, brought about by the manipulation of clay. In 1972, the studio was founded, and in 1977, one of their most beloved franchises - Morph - was launched, appearing on several UK television programmes, meaning that the older generation of viewers for the advert may easily recognise the talent behind the work. On the other hand, due to other Aardman Animation franchises (such as Wallace and Gromit, and Shaun the Sheep), younger people may also feel the need to act on the advert's message, as they are more likely to trust the creators of entertainment that they have enjoyed, and can be loved by all ages. In terms of narrative, from the very start, the animated world within the video, despite supposedly existing at the bottom of the ocean, is presented as society above the surface. Not only do seashells function as cars, and currents as busy roads, but the turtles are portrayed together as an average family, peacefully travelling home after a long day spent with other members. This character portrayal helps to resonate with the viewers, as they can much more easily imagine how devastating it would be for them if their homes were destroyed, and they were separated from their families. Additionally, near the end of the video, the viewers hear the line 'We can't change the past, but we can demand a better future', hoping to convince people to act as soon as possible, by stating that together, 'we' have the ability to protect the ocean life, thereby changing the world for the greater good.
Internal communications promotional videos, rather than being designed for the viewing experiences of clients, are generally created by businesses to show to their own staff. They are generally used to promote new ideas and concepts to employees, often regarding certain products and services that they are involved with. This information may be provided by business specialists, including suppliers who may have been called to provide vital information of certain products or services, or industry experts who could have been hired to share details on the latest trends in order to help the recipient companies outdistance competitors.
A comical example of an internal communications promotional video is one released in 2017 by EasyJet to entertain the company's flight attendants through the use of humour. The video in question is a spoof, designed merely to make innocent fun of the target audience's profession, but can still be classed as a video of internal communication. By making and presenting this piece, the viewers are not only amused, but shown that the company that they work for has a good sense of humour, possible improving relationships between each type of employee. In addition, although the video does not convey any kind of important information, its use of comedy keeps the audience engaged, which may help persuade them to listen all the way through future promotional videos of the internal communications nature. The video also seems to follow common standards of political correctness, as it contains an equal amount of actors in the form of a woman, a (supposedly) heterosexual man, and a (supposedly) homosexual man, which despite being a small detail, can help impress certain viewers by making them feel proud to work for EasyJet. In terms of the background music and overall tone of the video, it has the impression of being peaceful and accommodating as well as sedate. This not only makes the comical aspects somewhat more pronounced, but links to the customer service that the flight attendants are hired to provide. Since one of the workers' main roles is to assist and calm passengers, in addition to making them feel welcome, the video conveys this same attitude to better connect with the viewers and their profession. Regarding conveyance of brand, the video features great usage of multiple shades of bright orange seen in the form of triangular shapes on both the actors' uniforms, and the text backgrounds. In this case, this shade can be associated with EasyJet so that the viewers will have a greater chance of accurately knowing whether or not the videos that they watch are indeed created from within their company.
Internal/external training promotional videos, shown only by businesses to their employees, are created to teach said staff aspects related to their professions, such as particular skills or ways of working. Internal training videos are created and presented by people (usually from the human resources departments) within businesses to show to others who work within the same ones. The topics handled by such videos include health and safety, risk assessment, pre-planning of certain scenarios, equipment usage, communication with customers, and many others. On the other hand, external training videos are conducted by specialists outside of the companies receiving them, in order to provide outside views on such topics.
A humorous example of a internal/external training promotional video is one released in 2016 by Burger King to launch the company's Grilled Dogs product to staff, and depicting American rapper, Snoop Dogg presenting the new menu item. In the video, the concept of Grilled Dogs is shown, before the rapper roughly explains the ingredients used to create the product, as Burger King employees work around him. This evident instance of celebrity endorsement keeps the target audience, which is obviously Burger King kitchen employees, engaged as well as amused. Unlike many other promotional videos of this kind, the one in question is not at all tedious, long-winded, or overloaded with information. In addition, not only does the video cause the viewers to have slightly more admiration for their profession, but also for their company, as it will have taken a significant amount of effort that can be deemed unnecessary, in order to hire an extremely high profile celebrity to star in a simple training promotional video. Such a practice is often done for production launch and marketing promotional videos, in order to persuade greater numbers of ordinary viewers to purchase the product or service being advertised. However, by including a famous celebrity in a short training video only meant to shown to a limited number of employees, Burger King emits the impression that it cares for its workers' welfare much more strongly than other companies. Whomever responsible for creating a training video meant to launch the Grilled Dogs product, could have easily saved themselves a great amount of time and effort by designing a much simpler video that delivers the intended message, but does not engage the viewers at all. Nevertheless, they created a video that most likely made its viewers feel special, and would be remembered by them for a very long time. Still, it is important to know that in terms of information provided, the video is not at all technical, and can actually be considered rather vague. Although due to this, one could regard the video as being poorly grounded, it is most likely that employees were professionally shown in person how to make Grilled Dogs, either before or after being shown the video. Additionally, this imprecision can be justified due to Snoop Dogg's rather relaxed way of speaking in public. On the subject of the rapper's personal preferences, the video's music and editing is reminiscent of his style of music. An example of this is the soft background music in the form of a small rhythm that can be associated with hip hop songs written in the 1980s and 90s, complimenting Snoop Dogg's presence nicely.
Showreel promotional videos are used for a variety of reasons, mainly revolving around the idea of promoting businesses themselves. Each video often consists of an array of clips showcasing the skillfulness of the corresponding business, and what it is capable of. The clips used will almost always be of the businesses' most highly credited accolades, meaning that most showreels will include work that has been done for their products and services, as well as for other corporate companies and clients. Not only does this show the range of connections that each business has, but also how clear and effective their insight into the industry is.
A detailed example of a showreel promotional video is the one released in 2020 for the presentation of designs by Weta Workshop. Ever since its foundation in 1987, the company has produced props for many high-grossing, blockbuster films, including those within the franchises of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Other installments consist of Heavenly Creatures (1994), The Last Samurai (2003), Hellboy (2004), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), 30 Days of Night (2007), District 9 (2009), Avatar (2009), Daybreakers (2010), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Elysium (2013), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Krampus (2015), Ghost in the Shell (2017), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), The Great Wall (2017), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and many others. The video includes footage of props being designed and created, as well as showing how they were used in their respective films. Regarding target audience, the video mainly aims itself at people who have a passion for the planning and construction of physical props used within films. By showing short clips of professionals actually planning and producing the physical designs, the fascination of the viewers is amplified, as is their want to be participants in such a craft. However, the piece may also be highly appealing to both average and advanced film supporters, since the inclusion of film scenes depicting the use of such props, helps viewers to relate to the experience on a more personal level. Due to the fact that many of the films featured may have had impact on the lives of the viewers, the people are much more likely to strongly admire and respect the work of Weta Workshop. In terms of structure, to loosely separate the types of designs produced into categories, the video uses large, bold words that are simple yet powerful, placed before each new grouping of designs. Since there are no complex sentences featured anywhere but at the very end of the video, it strengthens the impact of the imagery, as the main source of engagement from the viewer is the forceful and eye-catching visuals of the films. Lastly, the video's incorporation of the initial designing of the featured props, performed through the use of computers, helps not only to promote the expertise and technology of Weta Studios, but the overall advancements made within technology - especially in categories such as 3D modelling and printing, along with other kinds.
Event coverage promotional videos consist of advertisements specifically designed for events, such as concerts, parades, festivals, galas, seminars, conferences, and workshops. The intention of such videos is to capture the feel and atmosphere of the events covered, perhaps by presenting segments of key features, interviewing those attending, and detailing upcoming events. In general, the filming and release of these videos can be carried out before the events occur, during, or even after, so as to inform audiences of any future events.
A futuristic example of an event coverage promotional video is a particular one released in 2018 by Epic Games for the presentation of innovative advancements made to the game engine known as Unreal Engine. Since the engine was originally developed in 1998, it has been used to power many popular video games, including the Unreal franchise, along with other titles such as Deus Ex (2000), Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (2002), Gears of War (2006), BioShock (2007), Mass Effect (2007), Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009), Borderlands (2009), Dishonored (2012), Spec Ops: The Line (2012), DmC: Devil May Cry (2013), Outlast (2013), Thief (2014), Dead by Daylight (2016), Fortnite Battle Royale (2017), Vampyr (2018), We Happy Few (2018), and many more. The video is of a venue held in Stockholm, and roughly demonstrates the engine's Build event. Since the footage is related to the presentation of such a complex entity, it has a rather precise target audience in mind. One may state that the audience suitable for this video is 'gamers' in general, but it would seem that since the video gaming industry has become immensely favoured, many ordinary 'gamers' will not care to learn about the full extent of the technology behind the titles that they play. Therefore, it becomes apparent that the specific target audience for this video is those who either work in video game development, wish to in the future, or at least simply have a strong passion for learning about the subject at hand. Overall, a large portion of the video is of interview segments taken with multiple people who work in the development of video games, such as computer engineers and business directors. This technique enables the viewers to show great attention, as, based on the names and job descriptions of the interviewees, those watching will know to appreciate and believe the information being spoken by those who have prominent expertise in the subject at hand. Furthermore, the video also includes footage of the technology being used effectively, which gives the viewers a much greater impression of the features of Unreal Engine. Unfortunately, one problem that the video has is its rapid pace through use of editing. Due to the speed in which the content is presented, the viewers may find it difficult to focus on certain parts, and successfully process all of the details heard in time. Nevertheless, this video is merely an event coverage piece, meaning that any viewers who are interested to know more about the information provided at the venue, could most likely watch full videos of each separate interview or presentation.
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