May 9, 2021

Fat Club - Issue #3

Hi there,

Big news this week! The Film and TV industry can return to work. There’s new rules, and temperature checks, but agencies, crews and freelancers up and down the country are chomping at the bit to get back out there and create exceptional, socially distanced content.

This is good news for folk getting a bit bored with the same old lockdown content. We’ve been watching carefully to see how brands have responded. Spoiler: it’s pretty boring. In fact, for the most part, we’d go as far as saying it’s a terrible use of marketing budget.

But what we end up with is an interesting research subject. Armed with the same production restrictions and similar narratives, how have brands produced such different content? And who are our heroes and villains? Let’s take a look.

EXAMPLE 1

Story: “Thank you to our colleagues and customers”

Morrisons produced an ad thanking their customers.

A Little Update

But Sainsbury’s delivered the same message in a completely magnetic way

A thank you to all our colleagues | Sainsbury's | Thank You

EXAMPLE 2

Story: “We’re in this together”

Here’s possibly the most generic ad we’ve ever seen from HSBC

Together we adapt

And here’s how Maltesers flipped the same storyline and made joyful, funny and relatable

Maltesers - Isolation Life: Big Night Out 30s

How did Sainsbury’s and Maltesers get it so right?

Here’s a takedown of Morrisons and HSBC, a lot of love for Sainsbos and Maltesers, and some bits for you to think about when you’re commissioning branded content.

Write for the right medium

Video has the power to carry more feeling and connection than any other medium, but not all brands grasp this opportunity at the early stages of content development. Instead, video ideas are born out of the same marketing DNA as an email, a white paper, a blog post.

It genuinely feels like Morrisons and HSBC wrote an email from their CEO and decided to turn it into a video.

On the flip side, Sainsbury’s and Maltesers let video do it’s a unique thing. With space to breathe, tone, rhythm and playfulness come to the fore, and the brand experience becomes magnetic.

Say no to “should”

Covid content is tricky business, it’s serious after all right? Brands should be serious.

We should probably use some sombre piano music, we should probably write lines like “we’re all in this together”, and we should probably avoid anything too bold or creative.

The problem with this, is that when brands follow the creative path of least resistance, the content misses the potential to connect with a viewer at all. This is why this video exists.

Instead, Maltesers made space for humour, and Sainsbury’s delivered energy and pace, zagging against the zig and creating brand standout and a welcome distraction in a landscape of samey samey content.

Leave room for the viewer

Both Sainsbury’s and Maltesers said very little in the way of messaging, and in their boldness, they invited the viewer into their world and gave us the freedom to spend time there.

When branded content is heavily structured and saturated with strategic messages then there is no room left for the viewer to take an active role.

Brands that get out of the way and let feeling and tone be stronger than language and messaging have unlocked the superpower of video. When brands step out of the way, the viewer writes the lines for them in their head and forms positive brand associations.

THAT’S WELL GOOD MATE

Here’s a bunch of stuff we’ve loved this week…

This video captures the bizarre emptiness of Facebook clickbait videos perfectly

This old advert for “Cash converters” has a timeless loveliness to it

Whereas this video for Monopoly should be printed out frame by frame and burned in a big bonfire

Here’s a game, have a watch of this and try and guess what it’s selling. THE ANSWER IS FREEDOM.

You’re all stuck inside, so here’s a simple use of video, the “outside simulator”

This newsletter is compiled by Kate & Neil.

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Kate & Neil

When we've got something great to say, we write a newsletter for brand teams. We curate the best of video, creativity and insights to inspire and delight.

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