A lot of corporate videos look alike, so it’s important for brands to find unique ways to communicate their message through video. Exhibit A: This video for Johnnie Walker Whiskey, starring Robert Carlyle. The ad agency and filmmakers did something completely different and the result is pretty captivating. After you watch the video, scroll down and reflect on the following points:
- What is your story? Notice that the Johnnie Walker video doesn’t contain a rundown of facts about the process of making the whiskey. It doesn’t rely on talking heads from the company boasting about how unique they are. It doesn’t show any customers testifying to how great the product is. This video simply tells a story. And notice how the story is founded on the people behind the company. Your business is more than brick-and-mortar. It’s more than the product. It’s more than the process. It’s about the people – both those who work for the company, and those whom the company serves. Focus your story on people and you will have the start of something pretty amazing.
- What is your core message? This entire video can be summed up with the following tag, “Keep Walking.” As you think about producing a video for your company, think about the one central message you want to communicate. Everything else should be built around that.
- What is your plan? The ad agency and filmmakers behind this video didn’t just run out with a camera and shoot this thing as soon as they received approval from the client. They spent an incredible amount of time in pre-production, planning every step and every beat. They knew exactly what was to happen before they even arrived on location. You may not be attempting anything as ambitious as this Johnnie Walker advert, but that doesn’t mean you should neglect this important stage of the production.
- What about going to the left, rather than to the right? This video could have easily taken the path of many corporate and promotional videos – footage from the distillery, footage from pubs, on-camera interviews, historical photos, etc. However, they went against the norm and created a visual experience completely different from what you might expect. They used an old road in the Scottish highlands with a few strategically-placed props and that’s it. As you think about producing a video for your brand, what approach can you take that’s completely different and unexpected?
