Types of Promotional Video
A promotional videos main purpose is simply to promote though, the means of how it achieves this can vary due to variables such as its contents or the genre it follows. The most common type of video that people often think of for promotion is an advertisement. Things such as a simple TV or radio advert with a cheesy jingle are often very successful because they are incredibly catchy and will without a doubt be stuck in your head all day whether the audience like it or not. Promotional vides however, are often more stylised and thought out, aiming to go deeper than the generic advertisement that audiences are constantly absorbing and instead promote in a way that feels more personal to the viewer. In these cases, brands often develop a promotional video that is at the heart of its core values therefore making it seem more appealing to audiences by making the the sales aspect appear subliminal.
There are 6 different types of Promotional Video:
1. Production launch/Marketing
2. Promote key messages/values
3. Internal communications
4. Internal/External training
5. Show reels
1. Marketing - This promotional video is an advertisement for the world's leading subscription service for TV and Film, Netflix. Within the first 5 seconds of the video we see an establishing shot of a TV screen with the TV show House of Cards playing as well as Ricky Gervais mentioning the name of the brand in the line 'you know when you're watching your favourite Netflix show'. This allows the video to get straight to the point of advertisement by making the audience aware of the product from the very beginning and because Netflix is already popular among a large audience it appeals directly to its target audience as they will be able to recognise these visual cues. By having Ricky Gervais star in the ad it also adds an entertainment element because he is known for his controversial comedy so whether audiences like him or not he is sure to encourage a reaction from the viewer. This means that the viewer is more likely to want to share their opinion on the ad therefore it is likely to be distributed to a wider audience as wider discussion means more engagement.
2. Promote key messages/values - The 2013 Dove advertisement, You're more beautiful than you think caused a lot of discussion amongst its audience and some even claimed that it single handedly challenged the advertisement of the beauty industry. Nothing about this video comes across like a conventional advertisement as there is a huge focus on the women who star in the video and their story of self-acceptance. The messages/values in the very clear, women are beautiful and they should feel that way. It almost comes across as a form of feminist advertising as the focus is entirely on their female audience and you get the feeling that Dove want their audience to feel as though they are understood and that they have women's best interests at heart. Through this very personal style of video Dove are asking their audience to trust them as a brand to support women and that they are not alone, everyone has their own story and that's ok. I think this video is particularly clever because instead of showing women unreal expectations of what they should aspire to look like they are instead showing women as they already are and telling them that they are good enough the way that they are and they should love themselves. The women within the video are from different age groups which reinforces the fact that age isn't beauty and therefore it appeals to their entire target audience which is predominantly women. To make this video appear personal Dove have focused on the dialogue of the women to make it follow like a story, its easy for the viewer to absorb and is intriguing because it doesn't follow the conventions of mainstream advertising so viewers are not aware that they are viewing a form of advertisement until the very last few seconds meaning that they have time to sit with what they are have just seen and then associate it with Dove as a brand which makes it successful in promoting their key messages and values.
Bibliography: https://promo.com/blog/what-is-a-promotional-video
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