This is the week of the 55th Annual CLIO Awards. The CLIO Awards is the world’s most recognized international awards competition for advertising, design, digital and communications. The full show hosted by Whoopi Goldberg happens on Wednesday, October 1st, but awards are rolling out all week.
Of the video/film awards already dished out, brand storytelling plays a starring role. Gone are the days of straight product advertising. Brands are producing content that tells engaging stories to create a feeling with their audience rather than an offering. The branding is extremely subtle so the emotions evoked can take center stage.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Chipotle Mexican Grill’s “The Scarecrow”
This beautifully wrought little story manages the gold standard of making the product the hero. It’s entertaining and high quality.
Guiness, “Sappeurs Documentary”
Winning the gold for long-form film, you could almost miss the tie-in to the Guiness brand. There is a subtle logo that appears at the beginning, but it all comes together for me at the end with the brilliant ending line: “These extraordinary men remind us that in life you can always choose who you are.” Love.
New Zealand Transport Company, “Mistakes”
Showing that you don’t always have to have a big budget to make a big impact, this short film answers the question of what would happen if you stopped time right before an accident. What would you say to the other person? Chills.
Apple, “Misunderstood”
My favorite ad from the holidays last year–I’m happy to see it take home a CLIO Gold. The product (and it’s newly launched features) is so cleverly and unobtrusively woven into a great story that it plays the perfect supporting cast to the boy who is the hero of the day.
While you may not have an Apple sized budget or be incorporating videos, commercials or films into your overall marketing strategy, the storytelling element is what makes all of this so powerful. How can you create a feeling around your brand? How can you create a story that moves people? Your product solves a problem, which in itself evokes emotion, tell that story. Human emotions are what drive most purchasing decisions, even B2B ones. Happy Friday!
Photo provided by CLIO Awards