By Paul Silcox
With the cost of producing professional looking brand film now affordable to even the smallest of businesses and an undeniable power to deliver considerable ROI, video looks set to remain one of the fastest growing digital marketing mediums out there.
But let’s slow things down for a second. It can be easy to get carried away when presented with huge watch numbers, however, there are thousands of other businesses out there also pursuing video strategies.
So, how do you stand out from the crowd?
Well, I’ve got two words for you – motion graphics. Encompassing everything from 3D to stop motion animation, motion graphics are a diverse and incredibly effective form of video marketing that can help to your video content really stand out from the crowd.
The Advantages of Motion Graphics over Live Video
I want to explore some of the reasons animation stands out as such a powerful and engaging medium, when compared to more traditional ‘live’ filming. Below are six advantages that are hard to argue with.
1. Boosts Brand Recall
The visually engaging and stylised nature of motion graphics is inherently engaging, which makes it easier for your audience to remember your brand and your message. Your audience might not convert in that moment, but if you can utilise animation to leave enough of an impression, they will likely come back for more. Recent stats show that if your audience enjoys your video adverts, brand association will be boosted by as much as 139% and purchasing intent by more than 95%.
2. Emotionally Engaging
Have you ever found yourself trying not to bawl your eyes out at a Pixar film? How about when Andy gives his toys away in Toy Story 3. Or when Sully says goodbye to Boo in Monsters Inc? What about the opening montage scene in Up? We’re not crying, you’re crying. OK, we’re all crying. In a nutshell, then, animation has the power to move and tug at our heartstrings just as much as any live action film.
3. Increased Control over Style
Motion graphics give you a massive amount of control over the style of your film in ways that live-action videos simply can’t touch. This allows you to control the way your story and messaging comes across in a far more effective way. Whether through clever transitions or bright and brash colour pallets, you can really use motion graphics to stamp your brand image and style into people’s consciousness.
4. Grab Attention
The fast-paced nature of the digital landscape has resulted in the dramatic reduction of our attention spans. When a long-form article just isn’t going to work, you need to utilise the benefits of a snappier, attention-grabbing medium. What’s more, a few frames of animated video can easily communicate the equivalent of an entire paragraph of text through the deft use of imagery, narration and on-screen text.
5. Responsive, Multi-Device Content
Consumer content consumption behaviour is changing. We’re all shifting our attention from desktops and laptops to the convenience and usability of tablets and smartphones. In fact around 90% of us watch video content on our mobile devices. One of the benefits of creating animated video is that it can be played on any device, which creates all sorts of opportunities for you to reach your target audience wherever they are and at any time of day.
6. Imagination is your only Limit
Motion graphics give you total creative control of your brand film in every sense. Without the need to worry about the constraints of cast, sets or even the laws of physics, the possibilities of what you can do in an animated film are literally endless. So while conventional filmmaking will always be constrained by budget when it comes to working with lots of extras, or filming in exotic or dangerous locations, animators can create all this from the comfort of their computer.
Conclusion
You want to stand out for the right reasons and so it’s really important that you don’t fall into the trap of creating generic content that could have been produced by countless other brands. This is true, even of animation so make sure you take the time to develop your own style that resonates with your values, vision and narrative. Getting it right with motion graphics means ensuring that your video content represents your brand and is instantly recognisable as yours.
Create a great look and feel with your animated brand videos, full of beautiful vistas, intriguing environments and captivating characters, and you can bring it to life over and over again, helping you establish a lasting and far-reaching brand identity.
About the author
Paul Silcox is the creative mind behind Ocula Motion Graphics. An energetic and creative Bristol motion graphics and 3D animation company, with a passion and a talent for amazing visual design Ocula has been creating inspirational visual design since 2007. You can connect with Paul and Ocula on Twitter or Instagram or check out their spectacular work on their YouTube and Vimeo channels.
