Five Great Principles From Five Great Brands That Wisely Invested In Video
Videos are instruments of persuasion.
Video should be made to engage a specific audience (Key Persona™) and persuade (Key Persuasion™) that audience to respond in a very specific way. But persuade them in what way? That’s the $100,000 question. Without the answer to that question, we simply don’t know where to aim this powerful instrument. And if we don’t know what we’re aiming at, how can we tell if we hit it?
There are three mains ways to persuade people. We can persuade them to think, feel, or do. (Sure there might be some crossover, but it’s best to aim at only one and get the rest, rather than than try to hit all of them and get none.) This is why we ask, “Will this video get our Key Persona (target audience) to think, feel, or do something?” It’s that simple. Not necessarily easy, but simple.
Below are five examples of five brands who enaged with VeracityColab, trusted our process, followed our system, and won big! They were also very disciplined, showing restraint to only aim at one Key Persuasion™ per video. That’s mainly why the videos below have seen such great results. One Key Persona™. One Key Persuasion™.
Below are five takeaways that will help you and your team make your next video project a profitable investment!
Design to Captivate
Intuit - Money 2020
We might all dream about having a room filled with an audience that fits our Key Persona™, hanging on our every word and engaging wholeheartedly. But that’s only half the battle. What do you say or do once you have them sitting right in front of you, captive for several minutes?
Too often, brands invest A LOT to have access to a room full of their perfect prospects but never invest enough to captivate that audience. But that’s not the case with Intuit. They get it.
At the Money 2020 conference in 2018, TurboTax’s GM, Dan Wernikoff, and VP of Product Management, Varun Krishna, presented their new app, Turbo. They presented to a live audience in Las Vegas and on Facebook Live during the session. If they could capture the attention of this perfectly curated audience, Turbo would leap into the foreground of the global Fintech discussion. The stakes were too high to do an ordinary presentation or punt to a generic video.
So, they invested in a 10-minute presentation that included interactive animation choreographed with Dan and Varun’s live content.
The results were instant and palpable. An engaged room. An engaged Facebook Live audience. And in the months that followed, Intuit’s stock rose, giving the Turbo team the confidence to proceed as planned. The investment paid off. Why? Because they went all-in on with beautiful, on-brand design and the right captivating content for the moment. Intuit knew their audience. They knew this sophisticated group of Fintech professionals wouldn’t settle for anything less than the best. They also knew that the quality of the presentation would directly equate to the trust built during that one brief session.
Trust can be won or lost in minutes and Intuit used their interactive video content to win trust and catapult a new brand. Talk about Return on Investment.
Embrace The Cliché
Life Happens - Live On
Life Happens is a wonderful brand that knows its audience and knows the life insurance industry like nobody else. Recently they made the decision to invest in a video that pursued one Key Persuasion™: Make people FEEL the effect of life insurance on their family. Mission accomplished. But don’t take our word for it. Read a few of the comments:
In just two weeks, this video gained over 550k views with over 1500 shares on Facebook alone. So why did their investment pay off so well? There are two main reasons. First, they exhibited self-control, committing to a single Key Persuasion™, to persuade one target audience to feel one thing. So, we focused all aspects of the video into that one Key Persuasion™. That kind of self-control is the foundation for powerful video content. Second, they weren’t afraid to “embrace the cliché.” They understood that people have negative feelings about the death of a loved one. They understood that a majority of their audience has positive feelings about taking care of their family.
By embracing the cliché, they were able to tell an in-depth emotional story very quickly. No need for backstory. No need for lots of color commentary. Just a jab at the nerves they already knew were exposed based on common human emotions. The one-two punch of self-control and embracing the cliché resulted in an incredible return on investment. After a successful run across social media, this commercial aired nationally as a PSA.
Magnify Your Mission
simplehuman - A Peek Under the Lid
You may have heard of simplehuman. Perhaps you even have one of their products in your home. Their mission is to design everyday products to help people be more efficient at home. But how can this help build trust or help sell products? Well, if you Magnify your Mission using video - considering your mission is noble and helpful - it can accomplish both of those things.
Since simplehuman knows their audience extremely well, they know they like nice things, appreciate beautiful design and clever functionality. So when simplehuman decided to invest in a video, we suggested they share their mission through the people behind the magic of their products. This way the mission would come through without hitting you over the head with it, and come across authentically from the mouths of the people who actually create the products.
We then agreed to commit to ONE Key Persuasion™. In this case: “persuade their audience to THINK that the simplehuman engineers personally serve each buyer.” This video successfully Magnified the Mission because it persuaded their audience that even the “stuffy” engineers are personally doing this for every product owner. If you own a simplehuman trash can, you watch this video and think “Everyone at simplehuman cares about me and my home!” And they do! That’s why a video investment like this one pays off. It’s magnifying what’s true and people like that.
Make Your Audience the Hero
Thermo Fisher - Amplifly Awareness
Many people make videos that don’t perform well because they talk about themselves too much.
The Thermo Fisher team understands that their customer is the hero and Thermo Fisher is the guide. “But…” they thought “...what’s a way that we can drive this point home with video?” Since the campaign for Amplifly was already in play, the concept of a flight attendant guiding their “hero” through first class was birthed.
The marketing team at Thermo Fisher Scientific knows their audience really well. Most of us, when we think of scientists in lab coats, think of words like “predictable,” “boring,” or “stuffy,” But Thermo Fisher knows that’s not the case! They use words like “ambitious,” “hungry,” “fun,” and “competitive.” So we knew this concept would excite them when we presented it.
So, why did this video perform so well? Because the Thermo Fisher team decided to persuade their audience with clever humor - instead of just another product video. This helped replace the typical “sciency” affiliation with products of this kind, with more of a relational connection. The Key Persuasion™ focused solely on making the Key Persona FEEL that Thermo Fisher products were built to deliver a first class experience. Most “science” companies will attempt to get technical no matter what, thus watering down the relational impact of a video like this. Not Thermo Fisher. They get it. They leaned into this fun, “first class” journey, indirectly branding the Amplifly program as THE first class experience for PCR products in their industry.
Most brands with a niche target audience aren’t willing to invest in videos that specifically focus on one Key Persuasion™. But the ones who do, see a massive return, creating remarkable video content that hits the bullseye every time.
Provide “Painkillers”
AGC - Mountaingate
Mountain Gate Country Club is nestled in the hills of Los Angeles. It’s a beautiful oasis amidst concrete and noise. The golfers in the area typically have to drive to other clubs farther away to experience the tranquility a golf course normally provides. That’s the pain.
When American Golf Corporation (AGC), the owner of Mountain Gate, decided to invest in video, it was clear that the average golf course advertisement wouldn’t do. They needed a “painkiller.”
The choice was made to focus specifically on the pain of the Key Persona™. They have money. They like golf. They like luxury and convenience. But the pain is that they don’t have any of those things close by - or so they thought. So, instead of telling them about another golf course, AGC commissioned us to write a poetic script, strategically solving each pain point with each verse.
The specific goal of this video series was to get prospective members to come in for a tour. The project included a direct response TV Ad and a longer video walkthrough on a custom landing page. The Key Persuasion™ was to persuade the audience to DO one thing - go to the landing page. And boy did they ever! Within three months of deploying the ad, Mountain Gate Country Club saw a 500% increase in membership sales. Not only did the videos perform, but the results were profound.
If you have an audience with a specific pain, invest in a “Painkiller Video.” There’s no faster way to see a return on your video investment.
Here’s a quick summary of the above. Remember, videos are instruments of persuasion. When you connect your Key Persuasion™ with your Key Persona™ and employe the principles below, your videos will have great impact. So…
Design to captivate
Embrace the cliché
Magnify your mission
Make your audience the hero
Produce “Painkillers”
Implementing the above will ensure greater ROI on every single video you make.
And, when you’re ready to start your next video, click HERE to connect with us. We can help you speak to your audience, get laser-focused on your Key Persuasion™, and give you the confidence to invest in Video That Works.