Your brand is the way that the public perceives you and your business. Contrary to popular belief, brand identity is not decided upon by the business itself, but by the collective of consumers who view you and the things that you do.
So, as such – what is a brand awareness video? And why should you have one on the homepage of your site?
Let’s dive in.
If brand is the image that you carry in the public eye, and awareness is an understanding and acceptance of the existence of something, then a brand awareness video sounds like it would carry a decent amount of weight, doesn’t it?
One of these videos will be filmed by a professional – unfortunately this isn’t something that you can shoot on your own, unless you’re a pretty serious hobbyist who can make a passable brand film.
A good brand awareness video will present you and your company to the general public in the way that you want to be viewed, so it’s in your best interest to get your messaging correct – right off the hop.
Choose to work with a filmmaking company that creates professional looking content, and who suits your style and energy.
When a creative agency is putting together a brand awareness video, there are 3 key ingredients that need to be present.
1. Interviews
2. B roll
3. Pre-planned messaging
This isn’t Hollywood, and we aren’t actors. It’s the filmmaker’s job to bring out the honest and genuine energy that makes your business what it is. This is where the interview comes in handy.
If you’re working with a pro, you shouldn’t need to worry about any of this – but it’s still good to be aware of. The filmmaker will have a list of questions that they’ll be asking you in an interview.
The intention behind this segment is to build out a story that’ll act as a narrative for the brand film. They could ask you questions such as “How long have you been in business?”, “What’s your favourite part about being in business?”, “What’s the greatest challenge you’ve ever faced with a client, and how did you overcome it?” and the list goes on.
The interviewer should be treating this segment as a simple conversation – no pressure!
They’ll use professional microphones and a couple of camera angles. Because there’s 2 camera angles – the fluff can be cut out and make your talking points feel as organic as possible.
On top of that, there will also be opportunities to cut away from your talking head segment in the form of b roll.
If you aren’t familiar, b roll serves as filler clips that can be thrown over the main shots. In this case, the interview clips are the main shots.
B roll can include anything from clips of the places that you work, to employees doing their tasks or conversing with clients. It can be clips of the products that you create or the ones that you use to perform your services.
B roll can include anything whatsoever that pertains to your business. And it’s the filmmakers job to get to know you well enough to understand what b roll is necessary to tell your story.
Which brings us to our final ingredient in the successful brand awareness film. Pre-planned messaging.
As much as the filmmaker will do everything that they can to pull the right words out of you as the business owner, there are also going to be times where certain statements just can’t go unsaid.
In these situations, the filmmaker will use a teleprompter to get you to say specific messaging that needs to be in the brand awareness film.
These statements can come in the form of call to actions at the end of the film – as a summary – or even your company’s mission statement.
Regardless, these pre-planned messages are an important part of telling your company’s story, and if you’re working with a pro they’ll use these in one way or another.
When you’re choosing which company to work with on a brand awareness film, make sure to ask them about these topics and if they’ll be using them. In my experience, using these 3 ingredients is key to the success of your brand awareness film – and I hope that they won’t be overlooked by whoever you’re working with.
If you’re in the market for one of these films and you don’t have any industry connections, I’d love to meet you. We’ve been making these types of films for years, and we’d love for yours to be our next.
To Your Success,
Jay Ashcroft
Ashcroft Media Co.
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