Stephan Vogel, Ogilvy & Mather Germany’s chief creative officer quotes,

“Nothing is more efficient than creative advertising. Creative advertising is more memorable, longer lasting, works with less media spending, and builds a fan community…faster.”

Creativity is the base of advertising and branding and what better medium to propel this creativity than video? Many businesses have started using video advertising creatives to create a buzz for their products and brand. Video tends to drive more engagement and the numbers below from a recent 2020 survey by Wyzowl says it all.

• 95% of marketers say that video has helped user understanding of product and services 
• 89% of marketers say that it gives good ROI. 
• 84% of consumers purchase a product or service by watching brands’ videos. 
• 92% of marketers believe video is an important part of digital strategy.

Brands are facing immense competition to make themselves heard and are opting for creative video marketing to rise. So what does it take to gain attention? Let’s say, choosing influencers for marketing, video advertising campaigns or teaming up with entertainment franchises like Game of Thrones to rise above the noise. 

We indeed see many ads per day but how many do we recall by night? The odds are you might not recall even four ads seen in the week. People don’t read or see ads of what the brand is selling. They are interested to read or see stories of people that have the same challenges as they do. This is why the visual guide below explains why video advertising is the best advertising choice and businesses should consider incorporating it.

Power of Video in Creative Advertising

The beginning of the age of video advertising has created a paradigm shift for marketers. As per Forbes, video ads account for more than 35% of total ad spending online.

Different types of websites – social media platforms, news organizations, company pages, all are employing video content for their voracious audience consumption. Social media platforms prioritize videos over other forms of content as videos help to build trust and engagement. Therefore, all these trends make it important to nail your online video presence. 

Snapchat leads to be one of the fastest-growing social media platforms based on its video stories and Instagram successfully introduced a similar feature ”Insta Stories”.

YouTube suggests users use over 1 billion hours of video on the site every day in 2017.

Online Video is predicted to make up 80% of all internet traffic by 2020.

Video Ads are not as Short always and connects through Creative, Personalized Video

Consumers prefer to watch a 15-sec video considering images than read a block with text. However, the most popular video ad length is 30 seconds, and data suggest people are willing to watch a bit longer videos.

For instance, OYO, one of the world’s largest hotel chains, released a series of ad ‘Raho Mast campaign’ inspired by real-life stories. 

Some are more than a minute long but all of them convey the same message that staying in a low-priced hotel room doesn’t require compromise on quality.

With this video ad campaign, the brand is striking a chord with consumers by providing the best hospitality solution with their standardized and comfortable stay at value for money. The advantage of an extended format is that advertisers get time to explain stories and pull consumers into it.

A digital video advertising strategy should involve mixing and matching different length pieces 

15-30 seconds is the optimal length for a video ad, as it allows you to strike a balance between creating a relevant narrative and providing a short attention span.

User-Generated Content Builds Brand awareness

Brands are building creative advertisements that give you real buyers experience and perspective and it blends with the marketing strategy as well. 

In an Adweek survey, 76% of respondents find UGC more influential than content created by the brand directly.

 To help you encourage your own video marketing efforts, here are 26 Crazy and Creative Video Advertisements Examples on social media

Facebook Ads: 

Facebook Ads are engaging and get views if they are well made and too good to be ignored. The best Facebook Ad helps brands connect with new consumers every day.

1. Hello Fresh: Orange Cashew Chicken-Stir Fry

Meal kit delivery service Hello Fresh regularly advertises cooking videos just like the above that walks through an Orange Cashew Chicken Stir-fry recipe. These recipes are impulsively watched by the audience and Facebook users are accustomed to seeing their feed.

https://www.facebook.com/HelloFreshus/videos/vl.1025847054221655/1940931509268024/?type=1

Takeaway: 

Native Facebook ad matches the style and tone of the platform and is primarily for Facebook users. Facebook users are watching more than 8 billion native video ads every day and these videos are longer than 30 mins giving users a feel of organic content than a mere ad. 

This proves the old adage true, People don’t watch ads, they watch things they are interested in.

Twitter research shows 43% of users would fully watch a video ad if it has interesting content.

2. Knorr: Love at First Taste

https://www.facebook.com/dnts2018/videos/1013912421977658/

The brand is passionate to inspire the new millennial foodies and How? By launching a  compelling ad campaign centered around people’s personal experiences about flavor, taste, and food. Knorr’s global research report stated that people are more attracted to people who enjoy a similar flavor profile. 

The brand conducted a social experiment by having strangers met for the first time over a mutually enjoyable meal .with a twist – they must feed each other and not themselves. In a way, the brand tried to tap the thirst on social media for videos including food, romance, and real-life circumstances.

The brand also partnered with a food community Tasty to spread the video. Also, people were directed to a mini-site that asks questions about your favorite type of food, before putting you to 12 flavor profiles

Takeaway:

In the first three weeks, the video received 100 million views. Creative marketing is at its finest where they building an emotional connection with their customer by trying to understand their personal flavor and setting up on date not because of the way they looked but because of their favorite flavors in common.

3. Always

 

The brand took a risk with this documentary-style video. The risk was well handled with the four-minute-long video which is a lifetime on the Facebook Newsfeed.

Takeaway: 

Advertisers need more time to explain a new or complex product in the following areas:

• The uniqueness of the product to solve the problem
• How different it is from other products
• Reasons and proof of why the new product would work.

The video gets a tick in all three areas and it does with irreverent humor that keeps the viewers entertained and hooked throughout. The video starts with a joke right away – a useful tactic to attract viewers early on.

5. Samsung

 

Samsung poked some fun at the dedicated fan following that Apple has gathered over the years by highlighting what they consider an unwarranted mentality of a certain sect of fans.

Takeaway:

The one-minute video is an apt length for Facebook, to hold the viewer’s attention. The video highlights competitor’s pain points, and their advantages in an effective way, all tied up with humor. A hard-core Apple fan who would never consider leaving Apple for  Samsung can also appreciate the boldness of the video ad is making.

Instagram Ads: 

Seeing the best Instagram video ads, it will inspire you to create or boost your own campaign.

6. Underarmour

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpFQ7OrAO4A/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

]Two athletes hanging from hot-air balloons, doing tricks with a soccer ball is creative and crazy. The brand partnered with GoPro for this ad is a win-win situation for both. It is filmed with a GoPro and you can feel the thrill and excitement.

Takeaway:

The ad is a great and adventurous concept that grabs your attention.

7. Feetup

https://www.instagram.com/p/BojfmbODE3s/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

This video is simple and shows their product in action. There is nothing fancy about the advertisement but innovatively showing their product by targeting a passionate yoga learning audience.

Takeaway:

The ad shows what the consumer is interested to see about the product and might be facing a similar challenge. For instance, the video shows the visual demonstration by the FeetUp trainer. Many yogis can recognize the headstands and identify how the product will be helpful to improve the practice.

8. Get Freshly

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrtOLs-DApR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The caption of the video ad is so apt and everyone can relate “Too busy to eat healthy?” The ad is effective and quickly shows videos on how easy it is to eat smart with Freshly.

Takeaway: 

The ad gives a glimpse of all the meal options which are helpful and easy for consumers and ends up with a Call to Action(CTA) of an attractive promo code.

9. Wolf and Shepherd

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmKRFonjqO3/?utm_source=ig_embed

The brand owner had put their dress shoes to a test by wearing the pair of shoes and running with the bulls. This sounds crazy but creative marketing is at its best.

Takeaway:

The brand uses its product to an extreme level to give a reality check about their product to the audience with a  dramatic demonstration. This surely won hearts and helped the brand to be above the pack.

10. Eczema Honey

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl-_jvED8E1/?utm_source=ig_embed

 

The bright colors that pop up in the background are eye-catchy and stand out. It has followed a 2step advertising strategy: – on one hand, the color in the background will grab attention and using 5-starred customer reviews builds credibility.

YouTube Ads:

YouTube ads are best for branding and engagement. It is one of the best options for cost-effective campaigns. 

With 2 million users, the platform has immense capacity to help brands find new audiences and establish a following. Soon, Google is soon going to launch Youtube Shorts an answer to Tik Tok. Tough competition lying ahead.

11. Grammarly: Words to Travel the World

Grammarly has built its social strategy around YouTube video ads. They are a chrome extension that scans your writing and rectifies your grammatical error and suggests how to make it better.

Their majority of traffic comes from video ads and is a user of Trueview ads.

Takeaway:

Google claims brands that run TrueView ads see a 500% engagement boost compared to their other YouTube content. True View ads a brand is paying for are from a more interested audience who is likely to get converted.

However, recently Google announced to stop serving unskippable 30 seconds ad to users and instead push 6-second bumpers and 20-second ad units.

12.GoPro: Fireman Saves Kitten

 

This isn’t a typical GoPro’s user-generated ad but shows its brand as adventurous and extreme. They repurpose many of their user-generated videos and put up on their channel that shows stuff like surfing or jumping out of planes. However, this video is different and deserves a round of applause where a firefighter is saving a kitten from a fire. This ad is beyond the athlete persona and helps to reach a wider audience keeping the heroism theme intact.

Takeaway:

Don’t hesitate to push the boundaries of your brand’s image. Experiment with different ad formats and topics to reach a wider audience and build your brand’s personality.

13. Code.org.: What Most Schools Don’t Teach

The faces in the marketing video are known and famous. The piece opens with a quote from Steve Jobs followed by an introduction by Bill Gates

Code.org is a non-profit organization that promotes computer science in schools across the country. It is a great example of influencer marketing and faces made the piece popular. The faces are the owners of renowned software companies and are sharing stories of their humble beginnings in the field.

Takeaway:

Sometimes, the field you are working in can be intimidating to the people from outside. world’s However, to grow your audience, you need to level it. 

14. American’s Greetings: World’s Toughest Job

https://youtu.be/HB3xM93rXbY

An excellent example of emotion-driven marketing created by Mullen and Cardstore by American Greetings. The content is free of sales and product placements. A creative advertisement using the faux interview to throw some light on the day-to-day mom’s routine everywhere, it is difficult for the viewers to walk away from the video without appreciation. At the close of the video, small witty talk to get your mom a Mother’s day card.

Takeaway: 

Remember to show the plot with unexpected twists and turns to keep your audience engaged throughout the content.

15. Alibaba: To the Greatness of Small

The multinational e-commerce platform is based in China. The global footprint of the brand is similar to Amazon’s. it made a heartfelt and emotional statement of Loyalty to Team Kenya during the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.

The message at the end of the video is the creative marketing finest of all. It shows greatness comes from small places and the comparison is drawn here is just like a young athlete having Olympic goals, all amazing brands start with an ambitious founder.

Takeaway:

Sometimes the inspiring and powerful messages are more relatable to the smallest audiences.  Be around and vigilant about your actions and you will impress everyone else.

Linkedin Ads

Video advertising is one of the most famous ad formats on LinkedIn. According to LinkedIn, the most successful video ad campaigns are less than 15 seconds.

16. Salesforce

This corporate ad is a 30-second clip that gives a brief introduction about their products and services. The interaction between the animated characters and the human being is in sync and harmonious. Salesforce has done a great job with this advertising piece.

17. WeWork

One of the best video advertising ads on LinkedIn. This corporate ad is powerful in its visual content and is below the recommended time span of 15 seconds. A simple, appealing, and short ad. It is easy to process and engaging.

18. Slack

A great example of creative marketing. The ad is impressive because of its creative way to offer a job position. It shows a couple of interviews with its existing employees and the way they bring the most out of their job. The company expresses its values in a great manner and shows the electrifying work atmosphere and happy employees which gives you an instant desire to work at Slack. 

Though the advertisement is fun but a bit longer.

19. Adecco:

Two words to describe the corporate ad- hilarious and funny. In this creative advertisement, the recruiting company Adecco have compiled the best and worst CV’s received by their client and is worth the minute to watch it. In fact, it can leave you craving for the video to be longer.

The brand should have had a better CTA but its creativity is at its peak generating brand awareness and engagement.

20. Amazon Web Services

Another great simple, straight, and short video by Amazon Web Services. The best part of the video ad shows the audience’s real-life application of the technology ‘AWS’ for EDM artists. It is easy to comprehend, practical, and less technical which makes it easy to process. The CTA is also clear.

TikTok Ad Campaigns

According to HubSpot’s social media team, the video-based social app TikTok is “leaking” with brand opportunities. Recently it launched an advertising process for brands. 

21. Chipotle:

Chipotle, a popular Mexican restaurant chain has over 55,000 TikTok fans. They publish an array of posts using music, memes, and other references to highlight their menu.

The above video marks the one-year celebration of TikTok using hashtag #oneyearofTikTok  showing tortilla chips set around a bowl of guac with the Adele song, “Someone Like You”. As the sound bite features Adele’s audience singing back to her, it feels as if the chips are actually singing to the guac –  a perfect blend of creativity and video marketing.

22. San Diego Zoo: 

San Diego Zoo’s TikTok account is a treat to all animal lovers. The zoo has over 50,000 fans who are enjoying the zoo’s simple strategy to post videos of animals with fun music.

Like this one -How would one not enjoy and follow them after seeing the video of lounging meerkat?

If this is not enough to fall in love with these cute animals, check this duet created by the zoo with other friendly animal accounts, like the Monterey Aquarium.

This is a perfect example of a cross-promotion of two similar brands using TikTok features. Because of the zoo’s tagging strategy, this video ad would be seen by zoo and aquarium followers. 

23. NBC’s Stay Tuned 

After the success of Stay tuned originally for Snapchat News Show,  produced by NBC to target Gen Z, the network started making content for TikTok. The account has nearly one million followers and offers a mix of behind-the-scenes videos, quick news bites on pop culture, and weird events.

In the following example, the reporter surveys on top fast-food chains.

In the next example, the host explains complicated AI news in a short amount of time and in a funny way. 

Stay Tuned has had huge success on Snapchat and is not repurposing the content or putting the same content for Tik Tok. It creates specific content for each platform which proves that it can give you big wins for brand awareness and engagement. This strategy can help publishers, bloggers, academics or others who post about news, interesting topics, or studies on different platforms.

Snapchat Ads

Don’t believe the press- Snapchat has a big fan following and is blowing up. They have highly engaged and over 210 million Daily users. Snapchat is rising quickly in creative marketing as the Snaps are fun, engaging, and creative.

24. Shein

 

A global fashion brand operating in 224 countries delivers stylish and in vogue apparel to women and men. They partnered for clothing advertisements with Snapchat to create an immersive full-screen ad experience to target Gen Z and millennials.

Takeaway:

They created a short-form video to showcase their products front and center to attract Snapchatters to swipe up. The brand also used Snapchat ads to highlight their product lines to engage the audiences with fashion interest. The clever headline, creative images drove curiosity among Snapchatters to tap Story in Discovery feed.

They also used Snapchat’s optimization tools- Audience Insights and Goal-based bidding. This helped them reach the relevant audience who were likely to convert and achieve a 50% lower cost per purchase compared to other platforms. This video marketing strategy is highly effective and achieves a 20% ROI.

 25. FitBod

This mobile app uses machine learning to customize your workout goal and guides you to reach your fitness goals. The aim is to create Snapchat ads to reach a new audience that would not only download the app but spend time on the platform.

Takeaway:

To achieve the goal of acquiring new users at the lowest CPC and CAC, it ran APP-install campaigns. It also used a combination of predefined and lookalike audience targeting to reach Snapchatters who are most likely to engage. Each snap ad followed a creative practice of CTA to prompt Snapchatters to Swipe up and download.

This resulted in a 54% lower CPA than other platforms and a 31% lower CPA than their average CPA goal.

26. BMW

This is an excellent example of creative video advertising where the launch of BMW X2 wanted to change the way people discover cars by turning the world into a showroom. BMW’s AR Trial lens helps Snapchatters to take X2 for a ride from their phones. A unique experience, isn’t it?

Takeaway:

One of the first advertisers to use Snap Ads that deeply connected to a World Lens in order to swipe up by users to unlock the lens.

The lens provides a different feel to experience the car. This creative video marketing campaign was running in 7 countries worldwide. The BMW X2 lens witnessed an average of 54 seconds of playtime.

To create excitement for x2 and maintain the levels, Snapchatters Gold color feature was turned on to drive awareness of the car color. This allowed lenses to change the color of the face to gold. There were 1 in 4 shared or saved x2 lens and 40 million impressions of the face lens.

Where is Video going in 2019?

This infographic by Hubspot with uscreen, a VOD platform will explain:

Summing Up:

These stellar examples of video advertising grab the audience’s attention and keep them engaged. If you want to see the increase in audience engagement and ad-click through, you need to invest in an integrated video advertising campaign.

An excellent video ad campaign is within your reach and can be a driver for increased traffic and sales. It is a great way of storytelling and drives your performance. The visual content is here to stay. Buckle up to fully embrace the effectiveness of video ads. Social media platforms are the perfect place to meet prospects who can see engaging video content. 

Do you have any questions or wish to know more about video advertising trends and practices? Leave a comment below as we are happy to serve you.