4 Brands that are Rocking Micro-Video
Reading articles at the start of the new year about marketing trends revealed one thing – micro-video is supposed to be huge this year. In 2013, services like Vine and Instagram Video grew exponentially and brands saw a unique opportunity to tap into a highly visual audience. By the end of 2013, most of the biggest brands on the planet had a Vine or Instagram account (General Electric, TacoBell, Volkswagen, Gap, to name a few).
The beauty of micro-video is simple – viewers are not asked to wait minutes (unlike YouTube videos) to see something funny, entertaining, educational, or informative. Vine videos are just six seconds long and Instagram videos are between 3 and 15 seconds. Only the most daring and valuable videos make the viral rounds and due to the social nature of Vine and services like it, anybody can achieve tens of thousands of views – even brands.
The growth of Vine and Instagram video membership and consumption has led to some brands rocking these services more than others. Let‘s take a look at 4 brands that are rocking micro-video.
Topshop are one of the most creative users of Instagram Video. The retailer focuses on showing off their products and also a more personal and funny side of the brand, with 15 second videos such as a girl skateboarding through traffic, apparently doing do so to get to Topshop before it closes. If you own an ecommerce business and want to get in on the micro-video hype with fun videos, Topshop is a great place to look for inspiration.
3. ASOS on Vine
Fashion retailer ASOS have an excellent Instagram and Vine presence (although, their Vine account is hard to find unless you click on a link from Twitter). The brands best work happens on Vine. The company took the strange decision to publish an unglamorous un-boxing video not long ago but asked customers to make their own. The result? Lots of excitement about shopping online. ASOS have also been using Snapchat lately, sending out discount codes to customers that can only be viewed once with the video lasting 10 seconds. The best way to increase demand is to limit supply…
Cadbury are big social media users, and micro-video is a platform they are increasingly using. Their Vine account is filled with interesting videos, such as how to whip up a simple Creme Egg hot chocolate and bake a Creme Egg rocky road dessert. The majority of videos on the Cadbury Vine account are cooking ideas for their products. The company do use Instagram Video, but not as much as Vine, and Cadbury have racked up thousands of followers who tune in to see the latest recipes.
The BBC might not be the most obvious choice for a brand that is rocking micro-video, but their ‘Instafax’ experiment on Instagram is a great example of how this marketing channel can be used by broadcasters. The Instafax service sees the BBC publish three 15-second videos every day. It first started out as a month long experiment, but Instafax still exists months on. NowThis News first attempted this type of service in 2012, but the BBC‘s efforts are sweeter.