Commercial Videos
Often, when it comes to the commercials we view on screen, we’re not exactly that excited and interested to be inundated with products we may never use. To hear about services we have no need for.
We’re busy people with busy lives. Who wants to hear more about the world’s latest hoover when you have a perfectly good vacuum that does the job? No, what you want is to get back to binge watching that new TV series while you have the time. You want to relax, to enjoy yourself – the best car insurance price can wait for another day, right now is Me-time with a capital M.
Part of that comes from the way commercials are pointed towards you and I as a consumer, we are actively being sold something. On occasion we have no choice but to wait for an advert to end before we can get on with whatever we are doing. Remember when you could simply skip all adverts on all platforms?
On Youtube, on mobile platforms, on streaming services – people applauded the evolution, for a brief moment it seemed like a great thing that you would no longer have to sit through advertisements, like when watching oh so primitive television.
Of course, the world keeps turning and companies want to market their products effectively. So now you have to pay good money on streaming services and platforms like Youtube to keep your viewing experience relatively advert free, yet you will still run into commercials occasionally.
But why the avoidance?
This is where animated commercial videos come in. Frankly most advertising is not even for you and an encumbrance on day to day life. Sapping valuable brain power and the ever-decreasing attention span – the attention span that can be pointed towards doing your taxes, fixing up your house, sleeping or playing computer games.
He’s playing ‘Ikea Wardrobe Maker 3000’
Animated Commercial Videos
Advertisements can get in the way, but that is changing, just as how we behave online and in the real world is changing. Animated commercial videos are adapting and changing with the times. Just like regular advertising, animated commercial videos are used to promote a brand, a service, a product or company. They can be used to increase brand awareness, sales conversions, to launch a product – whatever your needs are.
So far, animated commercial videos sound exactly the same as standard advertising, right?
They’re not though, they’re much better, much more effective. See the difference between standard advertising and animated commercials is that people actually want to watch animated commercials, not skip ahead. They are enjoyable, funny, easy to digest, they offer value to the viewer. Really, animated commercial videos are more in line with artistic expression, they tell a story, a visually stunning and interesting story. That’s why you watch them without the usually slimy feeling that you are being marketed to.
Don’t get me wrong, you are still being marketed to – but you are getting something fun and interesting to look at in exchange for your time. So, I’ve put together a list of 5 fantastic animated commercial videos that demonstrate the unique appeal that this form of advertising has to offer.
1. Honda – Paper
First up is the 2015 automotive giant Honda’s beautiful commercial ‘’Paper’’. Remember as a young child being captivated by the simplicity of a flipbook story? Maybe you even tried to create your own one using stick figures. It really is a simple way of telling a story, simpler than using words even.
Honda takes the flipbook idea to the extreme and uses it to illustrate the story of Honda’s evolution over a 60-year period. Imagine telling the Honda head executives that their new advert will have cars on winding mountain roads with giant octopuses and speed boats – but all from the safety of a coffee table.
This advert is clever and interesting from the start, it hooks you in fast because it’s unlike most adverts you typically see. This is crucial to good animated commercial videos – they stoke your curiosity. At nearly 2 minutes it’s longer than most adverts, but when it looks this good you don’t even notice.
The advert isn’t really for anything in the typical sense, they’re not directly selling a new Honda Accord. It’s pure brand awareness, you’d be hard pressed to find a person who has not heard of Honda – and of course they know that.
This advert is to remind of who they are as a brand and where they’ve come from – it being animated strengthens this sense of nostalgia. What does nostalgia mean to a brands market – it means trust.
A special nod of appreciation is due for the sound design which heightens imagination throughout.
2. Sherwin Williams – Where will color take you?
Sherwin Williams is a fortune 500 paint and decorating company established over 150 years ago – you’ll likely only use that information again if it helps answer a question at a table quiz. But take a look at the advert above. Have you ever had to paint a room or redecorate a house? It can be fun at the start to choose the colors you like and match them up with furniture.
But then you are stuck deciding between a neutral beige tone with a hint of lavender and a slightly more neutral tone of beige with a dollop of jasmine. Suddenly you are seeing fifty different shades of brown while staring into your cup of coffee.
The rainbow has seven colors, one of those paint swatch books has 70 different shades of beige. In this animated commercial they’ve used paint swatch books – something which can become a bit of a pain to look at – to create a fully-fledged safari experience.
From the blades of grass to a lion’s mane, everything is made of swatches and slight differences in color tone. It works well because it takes a good premise and runs with it – the world is made up of different color tones, we have every single one you are looking for, from flamingo wing pink, to zebra stripe black. Literally any color you can imagine, Sherwin Williams has it, your imagination can run wild – just as the animals in the advert do.
3. Chipotle – Back the Start
Chipotle is an American food company known for their healthy burritos made from real ingredients – an inexpensive alternative to typical fast food. This advert uses childlike imagery to tell a story about the use of proper farming practices and how a farmer changes his ways for the greater good of our waistlines.
This animated commercial video is simple, notice how we don’t know what the advert is for until the last quarter of the video, it’s simply a story that we are witnessing. That’s what makes it easy for it to pull us along. Where is it going? What is it about? We become curious; the song is vaguely familiar but not quite what we’re used to.
By the crescendo of the advert, we’ve become illuminated – it’s for Chipotle, the song has been played round the world for years. By then the commercial has done its job. It has achieved this by looking visually interesting and weaving an easily understandable narrative. That’s another advantage of utilizing animated commercial videos. Animations, on the whole, span language and cultural barriers.
It’s important to note that a company like Burger King would not have the same effectiveness with a similar advert as the food they make is known to be unhealthy. Chipotle is renowned for creating a nutritious product so the advert reflects the brand, they know their audience and are speaking to them directly.
4. Heinz Beans Advert
Now, I don’t know about you and your culinary tastes, but where I come from beans are an afterthought. They are not fine dining, nor extravagance, they’re positively ordinary in every way, a relatively inexpensive way of satisfying one’s hunger. Perhaps in France they call beans on toast “légumineuses aux toast” and you can eat them while classical music plays to add to the sophistication.
No matter how you try to frame this simple snack which comes from a can, they’re still just beans. But this animated commercial video from food giant Heinz is truly something to behold. They’ve created a mini-movie to demonstrate the versatile product sizes that they offer. Think of how this is actually not that interesting of a topic, and yet they know that consumers appreciate choice and not the one size fits all approach.
So, they created a sort of love story, as well as a story of personal success for the protagonist. It works on a lot of levels, there is a nostalgic element, and the feeling that beans are a part of normal life that people of all ages can enjoy, which of course they are.
The animation brings this fun little story to life in a poignant fashion that is easily accessible to all. It has a similar feeling and look to the renowned animated hit ‘’Up’’, a style which is really pleasing to watch on a screen.
Now I know what you’re thinking, beans for dinner, right?
5. New Mcdonalds App
The last animated commercial video in our list comes from a company you definitely heard of. Depending on where you live in the world, you may be only a few miles from one of their outlets at any given moment. They are ubiquitous. Established. Renowned. Fattening- okay that’s not important. What is important is that this fast-food giant has chosen a relatively simple 2D animation to market their product to customers.
It works well, doesn’t it?
This advert is for the Singapore market specifically and demonstrates how their new app operates. That’s one of the advantages of using animated adverts. It makes it really straight forward to explain what can be new or complicated ideas in an easy to understand manner. I think that’s why companies like Mcdonalds are using more and more animations and particularly 2D animations. There really is no need for big complicated video shoots.
This advert is perhaps not as interesting or fun as others on the list. What it does illustrate is that the biggest businesses in the world are making use of animation. It also illustrates that simplicity is a virtue, simple strong colors and animation can work very well for a product or service. There is no need to be overly fancy when it’s not required. Large companies sometimes forget that simpler advertisements are easily remembered.
That’s why I included it on this list, it shows what you can do with a 2D animation and also where advertising is heading.
Conclusion
So, that’s my top 5 run down of visually stunning animated commercial videos. What the videos on this list demonstrate is how an animated video can be compelling, interesting, memorable, funny, effective and even poignant. These videos show how animated advertisements are more versatile than live shoots. They are light-hearted and enjoyable to watch.
These are ideas which would be costly and practically impossible to create in the real world. But with a little imagination they can be brought to life, in full color and surround sound glory via the medium of animation.
Our Goal
Perhaps you are interested in growing your business or getting a little help with marketing a new product? An animated video might be exactly the tool that will take you to the next level. Here at Animation Explainers, we are experts in creating effective, professional and memorable videos for companies of all sizes.
We’ve worked every type of business you can think of, from government bodies to newly formed startups. With the help of an animated video you can grow your business and increase brand awareness. In the digital age it’s important to keep up to date and on trend so that your message can reach your audience.
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