Brand Video: 10 Examples, 10 Types & 6 Tips to Inspire You

These days, video is an increasingly valuable part of most brands’ advertising and marketing efforts. Whether you’re doing a video for content marketing, customer education, or overall PR, brand video is increasingly important for building relationships with existing customers and acquiring new ones. However, not all branded videos are created equal. In this article, we’ll talk about several types of brand videos, and examine some examples. Finally, I’ll give a few tips to help you decide what to write about, and how to do it.

What Are Brand Videos?

In a nutshell, brand videos help introduce your brands. They are best when designed to build awareness around your business to attract potential customers. This is true whether you’re telling people how to use your product (including recipes and similar for food brands), describing the pain points your products solve, or simply building rapport with fun branded content.

Brand videos also allow you to tell your unique story. For instance, some brands were founded because of a problem that one person, or a group of people, experienced. Certain brands of reusable face masks are an example: Before the year 2020, we didn’t need those things and, as a rule, they would’ve been considered novelty items at best. Other companies might have roots in a social cause, a quest for quality, or something else. With these videos, you can tell the brand’s story.

Finally, brand videos showcase your brand personality. For instance, some brands are known for being quirky and will let this show through in their videos. This is especially true for modern brands, like tech startups. Likewise, some brands like Coca-Cola have a “personality” of fun and family but don’t necessarily show that much of a sense of humor. Whatever personality your brand takes on, feel free to showcase it here.

Why Do Brand Videos Work?

Most of us know that brand videos are very effective. But, many people aren’t sure how these videos deliver value. In a nutshell, they allow you to provide an ideal first impression for website visitors, social media followers, or email subscribers. And we all know how first impressions are very influential when it comes time to buy.

In addition, brand videos allow you to differentiate your brand from your competitors. You can do this through personality, an expression of values, and discussing how your product is different or better than the alternatives. From this, we can see that when done right they compel viewers to engage through your call to action at the end.

Further Reading: The 13 Powerful Benefits of Video Marketing That Demand Your Attention

10 Types of Brand Videos

Not everything in this world is created equal, and brand videos are no exception. While none of these video types are inferior, they do have different objectives. In addition, you’ll find that some of these are great for specific campaigns, while others are more general purpose. What they all have in common, however, is that they showcase your company and its products.

Your Company

First, you can make videos about your company itself. For this brand video type, you aren’t really focused on products so much as what kind of company you are, and what you value. This gives you a way to stand out without presenting information that your competition is likely to contradict.

1. Company Story

This type of brand video is perfect for your company website. In a few minutes, a “company story” video will introduce your brand to anyone who visits, in a minute or two. Be sure to include some basics, like what makes your company awesome and what it has to offer the everyday customer. This way, people will quickly see that your company is one they want to do business with.

Further Reading: How to Make a Company Introduction Video

2. Brand Profile

Naturally, many companies have several different brands. In most cases, these brands are related, such as with companies that have a budget, and regular, and luxury brands within the same industry. This is common for fashion, consumer products, and similar industries. With a brand profile video, you can introduce each brand and tell people how it’s unique. Not only do you want to make a great impression, but it helps consumers decide between your company’s brands.

Your Product

Likewise, you can make a brand video about your product or line of products. Depending on the size and scope of your company, there can be a lot of these. Like the brand profile, these videos can help potential customers choose the best product for them.

3. Product Videos

This is a kind of brand video that introduces a product to your audience. For instance, you might tell people about the size range of men’s pants or discuss what makes those shoes special. In this case, your video is mostly descriptive, rather than telling people how to use something.

4. Explainer Video

On the other hand, an explainer video tells potential customers how your product can be used, or how it’s important. Computer equipment could be a good example here: there are a lot of accessories that are optional yet can make a computer user’s life much easier in some cases. So, a keyboard and mouse combination kit for a laptop can make working on one more ergonomic, or a mobile hotspot can help deal with situations where Wi-Fi isn’t secure.

Further Reading: How To Make an Explainer Video That Sells: Your Complete Guide

5. How-To / Demo / Training Videos

Many customers can benefit from this kind of brand video, and it’s a broad category. If your product is something that’s relatively complicated to use, then you should consider making one. By training your customers, you’ll not only reduce the volume of customer service calls, but you’ll also build brand loyalty. As a bonus, you’ll help people decide if your product is the best one for them.

Your Customers

Next, some brand video types let you showcase your customers. This can be done in several ways, but each of them involves talking about ways your product or service improves your customers’ lives or addresses their pain points.

6. Testimonial

Testimonials have been around ever since modern advertising. But that doesn’t mean that we must limit them to print advertisements and still banner ads. Instead, you can make a brand video that features a customer testimonial. It’s a great way to format branded YouTube Shorts, TikToks, or Reels.

Further Reading: The Power of Customer Reviews in Marketing Videos

7. Interviews

These are a lot like testimonials, except that you sit with the customer and ask questions. Then, the interview is published. Choose this option for long-form video and advertising campaigns. You can even extract parts of interviews and turn them into short testimonial videos or transcribe them for blog posts.

8. Case Study

Most of us think of case studies as a text-based whitepaper or something similar. However, you can do these as a brand video, too. In this case, you’ll interview the client, while also talking about your brand and how it helped them. Since it’s a case study, remember to include actual numbers.

Experiential Videos

Despite world events over the last couple of years, experiential videos are still great for your brand. In fact, many of these brand videos leverage recorded segments of Zoom sessions, among other things. And as our world returns to more normal communication, experiential videos will become a more common brand video type again.

9. Event Videos

If your brand attended a trade show or did a seminar recently, consider making an event video. You can leverage technology to make these brand videos from both in-person and virtual events. As a rule, the idea is to let other people experience the excitement that they would’ve missed if they had attended. In addition, you also get a great way to pass on information.

10. Behind The Scenes

Want to make a brand video that shows off your employees or operations? You can, with a behind-the-scenes video. Here, you’ll shoot footage of what goes on at your business every day. Then, create clips that really show what your company, and its workforce, are like. These videos are great for advertising, but they’re just as good for recruiting: putting a more human face on your company helps people visualize themselves working there.

Further Reading: What I Have Learned From Creating a YouTube Reality Show

10 Examples of Impactful Brand Videos

It’s great to talk about the types of brand videos out there, but something else to consider some examples. After you see these examples, you’ll understand how each kind of brand video can shine and fulfill your objectives.

Google

This clever video shows how much the Google brand is firmly embedded in our recent history. It’s hard to imagine life without Google, right? Now THAT is the sign of a successful brand video!

Dove Soap

A training video that adds value and doesn’t directly sell their products. Here, a doula is teaching new moms how to give their babies their first bath. Sure, Dove sells soap. But other than pictures of their products being used during the bath, you don’t see salesy stuff.

Zendesk

A customer testimonial that is authentic as if it were a customer’s, not a Zendesk, video. The customer talks about their business challenges and how Zendesk solves them in a global economy. Besides general terms, the customer also gives specific numbers to demonstrate impact.

Coca Cola

It’s hard to define what type of video this is, other than that it is mistakenly a Coca-Cola video that focuses on the story and the good feelings it brings without describing the product whatsoever. No spoken words are necessary to get the point across. Which is that Coca-Cola helps get a party started and keep it going.

LEGO

Talk about an epic behind-the-scenes video! Any Lego fan – or Star Wars fan – would DIE to see this video, and therefore want to play the game that is being shown! Better yet, with the Lego-centered graphics, you get a real sense of storytelling and imagination of a child (or child at heart).

Slack

You could say this is an example of a Brand Profile video in that Slack is clearly – and cleverly – aligning itself with the future of work being remote – at least it was at the time! And, the simple graphics and real person conversations make the whole concept easy to understand. Slack is one of those programs that helped make working from home easier. And it shows.

Match

A great example of a product video that sells the experience and potential of the Match service in a hilarious way! Not only is this one funny, but it plays on the anxieties and frustrations of the worst year many of us have ever experienced. Then, it invites people to do better with Match.

Dissolve

A hilarious parody of on-brand videos that actually makes no sense until the end – you’ll have to watch the whole thing to figure this one out! In one sense, the video jumps from one concept to another. But then, it all ties together by demonstrating how you can use the Dissolve product.

Code.org

How about a case study delivered by the President of the United States? Instead of trying to tell your own story, let influencers tell it for you! Of course, Biden was the Vice President at the time of filming, but it was published in 2021. The implication is that the truth hasn’t changed in several years.

Bark

This video shows how to tell your company history in a way that is authentic, full of happy customers, and instantly makes a fan of the company out of anyone who is a fan of dogs. After all, Bark is all about the furry members of “upper management,” and the humans that won’t live life without them.  The video builds a connection, even as it sells products.

6 Tips to Create Effective Brand Videos

You can talk about the brand video types until everyone is tired of hearing about them. But how can you make a killer video that will help you get the point across as well as the examples we just looked at? Let’s look at some top tips.

1. Think About The Audience First

No matter what kind of brand video you make, it’s important that the video makes a connection with, or is appropriate for, your audience. While many tutorials or trainings will be dry, adding some appropriate humor might help keep people interested. Likewise, think about whether or not your audience would be offended by the things you say. While there are a few situations where you can’t make everyone happy, this is unusual.

Likewise, think about how you can present your message to make it compelling. For instance, right now almost everyone is talking about “sustainability” and other buzzwords. Think about whether or not a buzzword is appropriate for your audience, or if you should skip it this time.

2. Align The Video with Your Brand’s Values

Next, make sure that your brand video will be aligned with your brand’s values. For instance, there are a lot of these videos that showcase corporate responsibility, especially in industries where employers generally have a bad reputation. Companies like Wal-Mart often do “happy employee” videos. Likewise, companies that have a values-based mission should always be careful to highlight this in their vids, as appropriate.

3. Add a Watermark

For best results, always add a watermark. These are usually things like logos, at least if you have a professional brand. To add a watermark, you usually only have to check a box in your average video editor, at least once you’ve created it. And if you’re using the company or brand logo, your watermark is only a few clicks away.

Why is this important? Simply put, watermarks identify your footage. So if someone decides to “borrow” a clip, the overall video will still carry your brand. Think of it as a type of content identification.

4. Create Branded Intros & Outros

Like a watermark, your branded video should also include branded intros and outros. These don’t have to be complicated: you could just start with something that includes your logo and a video title. However, if you do a lot of these videos, you’ll soon want to develop something a little bit more elaborate.

Sound complicated? It isn’t! Most video editing programs have a tool that help you make an intro or outro. Alternately, if you have a video studio or marketing agency, ask them to make one. Those professionals have a fair amount of experience, and they probably have some footage they can use.

5. Stick with Brand Colors and Fonts

As with anything you use in marketing, it’s always critical to ensure that your branding is consistent. For a brand video, this means using the same brand colors and fonts as you use everywhere else. As with other things at the video editing stage, the software you’re using probably already has these options preloaded. Or, if you’re just starting out, you can upload those specifications quickly and easily.

6. If Using People, Utilize Your Customers or Employees for Authenticity

Nothing is worse than fake these days. And in the eyes of most potential customers, actors are fake. To make your brand video as authentic as possible, use the actual customers rather than people reading their answers if those people are willing to do it that way. Likewise, “behind the scenes” videos are great when they use real employees. Just make sure they’re on board.

Conclusion

There are a lot of brand video options these days, each of which will help you impress potential customers, educate product users, and tell your brand story. The wide variety of options means that there’s a perfect video type for every occasion, and for every message. Try a few of these out and see how video can deliver for your brand.

Hero photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash