From The Blog

Beast wins a Bronze Lion at Cannes in Direct for Burger King’s “Whopper No Show”. We teamed up  with Chief Creative Officer Jorg Riommi  from Publicis for another Cannes Lions entry. Our previous work together includes, Multiple Sclerosis ‘Earthquake’, Voltaren ‘Commentator’ & Drink Driving ‘Girl’s Night Out’, all of which have been shortlisted at Cannes but failed to pick up the metal…We met up with Jorg and Creative Director Dan Farnciulesu,  in Bucharest to prepare for the latest outrageous piece of video marketing by Burger King. Their creative strategy is pioneered by their incredibly talented and yet really down to earth and genuinely nice guy, director of marketing, Fernando Machado. Here is  Fernando Machado on stage at Cannes Lions, talking about where the idea came from. Beast win Cannes Lions 2018 So how did the idea come about? The idea was born out of frustration. There is a very odd situation for Whopper fans who live in Romania. There is only one Burger King in Romania – and it’s at the airport beyond passport control. The implication of this is that, any whopper fans in Romania have to leave the country if they want to eat a whopper. Publicis Creative team, “So obviously we had to do something about it.” With such a concentrated group of frustrated and hungry creatives all held under one roof – the idea inevitable… Burger King made a partnership with Vola, Romania’s leading low cost airfare marketplace. Vola would announce cheap flight deals to Angry Romanian whopper fans. All the whopper fans had to do is book a flight, check in and trade in their boarding passes to get they whopper meals. And never have to leave the country. An advertising campaign was launched to give those dedicated and long under appreciated whopper fans the good news and of course we at Beast video production jumped in to the party to film the whole story. And grab our own whopper or two.

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We’ve seen more businesses start to create their own video content over the past year and although they’re on board with the why, many are still unsure of how to promote their content to an online audience. There are a few really important aspects you need to consider when it comes to video content strategy. Here they are and here’s why they are so important: Vision Being clear on your vision is imperative. Think about your objectives and what you want to come from your video content strategy. Do you want to increase awareness of your brand? Do you want to increase sales of your product? Do you want to promote brand love? Whatever it is that you are out to achieve, you need to make sure you are 100% crystal clear on it. If you aren’t, the messages you are broadcasting through your video content become blurry. If you aren’t clear on what you want, there is no way your audience is going to know and this is why it is imperative to have an overarching video content strategy to your campaign. All online content you create should link directly with your vision; all your content should be helping you to achieve your goal. A lack of clarity is dangerous when creating video content, if you are lacking in direction, your content won’t pack a punch. It won’t get watched, it won’t get shared, it won’t engage. Being clear on your vision will enable your audience to engage and it will make life easier for your production company UK to deliver effective content. Having a transparent vision will enable you to create a video content strategy with much more ease and you’ll be able to adhere to your strategy much more effectively. Get to know your audience Before you can create an effective video content strategy you need to do some research on your target audience. First, think about who your target audience are. What sort of age they are, which social media platforms they are using, how they like to see their content and what content they want to see. When you have the answers to these questions, you can start looking at your content strategy in greater depth. If you aren’t certain of your target audience thinking, about any form of strategy is going to be nigh on impossible, let alone creating actual content. If you don’t know who you are aiming your content at, all your hard work creating content will be to no avail. If you don’t know who your audience are, your content is never going to reach your target people in any meaningful way. If you don’t know what they want to see, how are you going to get them to engage with your brand? Knowing exactly who you want to target and the best way to do it is half the battle. Asses your current content Look at what is working well and what isn’t working so well. There is no point carrying on using the same old digital content if it isn’t having the effect you desire. If it isn’t working, then you need to change it and change it fast. But, if you hone in on some things that really are working for you, you can do more of the same. Also, looking at why these particular things work will give insight into the kinds of digital content you want to be creating going forward. If you can understand why something if effective, you can create more meaningful content. Reach out; ask people who have viewed your content if it worked for them and why. There is no harm in some constructive criticism and it might just bring to light something you hadn’t considered. Those who are already engaged with your brand will enjoy the opportunity to share their opinions with you. Even if its confirmation that what you are doing is right – it’s good to hear. Look outside your brand Look at other brands that are doing digital content well. If you can pinpoint some other brands who are getting the kind of engagement you want, look at their content. Do they have a professional production company UK and digital content agency behind their campaign? Get together and look at what they are doing differently to you, why is it working so well and how can you start achieving this with your digital content. Looking at content from other brands will be easier to criticise than your own; you could watch your own product video 100 times and still not see a glaring error. But looking at someone else’s work you can see the faults and the strengths. Then you can go through your own content and see how it fares up. Having recognised the good and the bad in someone else’s content, it will be easier to see the shortfalls in your own. Measure your success Make sure you have a way to measure whether you are achieving your goals and how well you are achieving them. If you want to get more Twitter followers, be specific and set yourself a target. Make it known that you want to get 1000 more followers in the next month, or you want to increase traffic to your site by 20%. It’s easier to work towards something when you have a clear target to hit. You wouldn’t send a salesperson out for a year’s work without telling them you want them to sell 10,000 units. If you are not hitting the goals, you can change something or reconsider the target you have set. But if you don’t know what you are working towards, you won’t know whether you are achieving or not. Having a video content strategy is really important. If you don’t have a clear-cut route to take and a structured way to get there, hitting your targets and achieving your goals is going to be really difficult. If you have something visible to work toward and to

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You know all about “How To Videos” right? Right?? Well, if you don’t then we at Beast Production Company UK are telling you that you need to know all about them. As an award-winning video production agency, London, we know all about the relevance of “How To” videos and what this type of online video production can mean for your business. What are “How To Videos”? “How To Videos”, are videos which do exactly what it says on the tin; it shows you how to do something in a video but without all of the trickery and clever editing of a TV commercials. They simply tell it how it is – and thats what the consumer craves – TRUTH! These videos can explain how to do any manner of things, such as how to cook something, how to put up a shelf or how to do your makeup. “How To Videos” have become increasingly popular. Many people find it much easier to learn how to do something if they are able to copy someone else doing it, and this is what sparked the explosion of this type of digital content. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have helped boost their popularity even more; with videos showing you how to make your own Christmas decorations and hairstyle hacks taking over our social media feeds. Top tips for creating “How To Videos”: Here are our 7 top tips for creating “How To videos”. It’s not simply a case of filming yourself making a house out of matchsticks and creating a video content production. Oh no, there’s way more to it than that! Keep it short and to the point. The second people see a video is 25 minutes long, they are clicking off of it. Try and keep any videos to a few minutes or less. Tell the viewer what the video is about within the first few frames. The viewer needs to know what the video is about and why they need to watch it ASAP. Include your call to action. You can include this at the beginning as well as at the end of the video. If you want them to navigate to your site after watching the video – you need to let them know. Keep your video content targeted and specific. You’re reaching out to a specific audience with your “How To” video, so make sure you’re giving the viewer what they want by providing the right information. Be sure to entertain. No one is going to want to watch a video where a disinterested voice-over artist is explaining how something is done, with as much personality as a paving slab. The video content comes across as being enthusiastic and excited about what is being talked about. Make sure you impress this upon your video content production company – we need personality! Background music is a must. If you’re going to have points in the video where no one will be talking, make sure there is some sort of background music – don’t make us sit in silence! Silence is a major turn off when it comes to videos, and you will soon have potential viewers scrolling past if the silence is too loud. Make it easy to understand. The worst thing you can do is make a viewer feel like they now know less than when they started watching the video. Think about your target audience, and don’t bamboozle people with technical language if they don’t speak it. How much should a “How To video” cost? Well, the short answer to that is not very much. But as these types of video grow in popularity so do the budgets. We recently produced over 500 videos for a drinks brand that wanted to show how to make all sorts of cocktails. Now you can imagine thats a lot of content, but the fact is if you are shooting close ups of drinks and want them to be appetizing, you have to have a nice looking cocktail, a professional cocktail maker, lighting, a camera that shoots high-speed, a funky edit, music and importantly color correction – you cant do this at home. So depending on your product and your content, these things can cost you as much or as little as you want. You could make on yourself, you could employ a semi-professional or you could make a professional job of it with a video content agency. It’s worth bearing in mind, that the less you spend, the less professional your video will look. Users are used to professional looking videos in this day and age. Let’s say a 30x 15 second video costs you £10,000. This might seem like a lot of cash for a short video, but there are some serious benefits to online video content, for your business and your users. How can a “How To video” benefit my business? Building trust. They give you a chance to enable your viewer to look inside your company and give them a chance to get to know your brand better. They give you the opportunity to put a face to the name – and this creates trust. You’re creating a long-term relationship with your viewer, and you’re letting them come to you, rather than bombarding with traditionally aggressive marketing techniques. It’s not just about the content, it’s what the provision of the content means for the person watching it. Return on investment. Everyone knows video gives you a good return on investment. It’s not the easiest option, it’s not the cheapest option, but it’s the most relevant option and investing in it pays off. More time than ever is spent scrolling through social media feeds and watching online video content. So, get yourself a piece of that action. Visibility. Videos increase the amount of time users spend on your site. The more time people spend on your site, the more exposure. The longer the exposure, the more trust, and trust equals search engines knowing the content on

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Who needs videos for Social Media? Well, incase you didn’t notice – Social media is now the top choice for big brands who want to have direct conversation with their consumers. So the answer is simple – EVERYONE – All brands need video production for Social Media platforms like Youtube, Instagram and Facebook. So just choose one from all of the production companies UK. So how does it work and what’s the best way to make the most of your video production for Social Media? There are different channels that you can use depending on which users you want to engage with. The most popular are of course Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Different channels give you different time parameters. Instagram gives you 60 seconds to market yourself. Viewers give you way less than that. You’ve got 5 seconds maximum to grab your audience’s attention using your video content production and thats where you need the expertise of a professional production company UK. Most viewers won’t even hang around that long to have their attention grabbed. You have 3 seconds, 4 at the most for some people. Within those first few seconds, you have to make an impact, you have to make them want to stick around for the remaining 56 seconds of video content. That might seem like an impossible task, but remember, you’re already half way there if these people are following you. You already have their attention, they are already engaged with your video content and they are already interested in what you have to say to them or show them. Your hardest task, is to get someone who isn’t following you to watch your video. Those are the people who give you 4 seconds of their time before they scroll on. It might not seem like it, but for someone to give you 1 minute of their life is a big thing. So, make it worthwhile for them. How are brands using video production for Instagram More and more brands are realising the power of using video content on their Social Media feeds and this means they need to think about video production for social channels like Instagram and Facebook. One big difference in terms of production is in the volume of output. These social ‘feeds’ are exactly that – channels that need to be fed. To retain your subscribers and attract new ones you have to be able to upload content several times a day, every day and without fail. And the content itself has to be valid, it has to be something that is of interest and created to a certain level of production value. As such brands are reaching out to small production companies to help in the creation and production of the huge volume of high quality video content that they need. Thousands of likes are recorded per second and millions of users are accessing Instagram for their digital content fix on a daily basis. Meaning Instagram is becoming THE platform to be engaging with your customers and consumers on. Brands are starting to realise the incredible marketing potential and shifting their marketing budgets from traditional avenues such as TV and Print and really making the most of social media channels like Instagram and Facebook. You need to be posting religiously and supplying content to your followers on a daily basis. But, slamming their feed with irrelevant and badly produced online content, isn’t an option. Adding a photo that has no relevance, just for the sake of it is a huge mistake, and uploading video video content because you have nothing else to share, will soon get your viewers hitting that unfollow button. You need to produce shareable video content that is made to a consistently high production value that is on theme, to keep your followers isn’t always easy. Creating all this digital content takes a lot of time and expertease. This is where you need a helping hand from a creative agency and professional video production company. There are plenty of video agencies to choose from so you just have to start researching and choose a suitable content production partner and video marketing agency to get your Instagram feed up to scratch. You need to get yourself some of that action because other brands and their digital content agencies are already beating you to it. Don’t just take our word for it; Here are some brands who are using a professional production company UK for their Social Media: Ben and Jerry’s smash it out of the park with their on point Instagram feed. Their video content is excellent and if you take a look at their feed, you will see why they have 750k followers. There are tonnes of recipe ideas and really simple video content, marketing their new flavours and what goes into them. Who even knew you could make bread pudding using a pint of their Phish Food ice cream? We certainly didn’t, but now we are desperate to get ourselves to the shop and recreate that deliciousness. Simplicity and vibrancy is key when it comes to this feed; none of the content is too busy and the recipes are so easy to follow. You can tell a tonne of work has gone into getting this right, and got it right they have. Jamie Oliver’s feed has a tonne of videos and a tonne of engagement from viewers. Doing what Jamie does best, he packs a tonne of personality into the 60 seconds he has, and you can’t help but enjoy it. Accompanied by delectable images of food, you are soon off searching for the full recipe on his site, booking a table at Jamie’s Italian and buying yourself an outdoor oven you definitely won’t use and need even less. His feed feels really personal, and you get glimpses of him going about his day, and glimpses of a tonne of other celebs as he tells his brand story. We just want to eat his entire feed,

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What is an Explainer video? You don’t need us to explain to you what an explainer video is do you? Oh, you do? Okay then! If you don’t know what an explainer video is, then we at Beast Production Company UK  are here to help – we wouldn’t want to keep you in the dark about the whole explainer video thing. Explainer videos are a really important in digital marketing these days, and they are an excellent arrow to have in your quiver of online digital content. They can benefit your business in a tonne of ways too; so, you might be biting our hands off to get you one, once you know what they are all about. Unsurprisingly, explainer videos explain things – that’s the nub and the gist of them, they do pretty much what they say on the tin! They are short digital marketing videos, which companies use to inform a consumer about an aspect of their business. They are often used to provide information about a product or a service a business offers, and are placed on a sites home page or on a product page. They are often animated, making them a really popular way to market your stuff and build up your video content portfolio online. They are popular with businesses and popular with consumers as well; they are a fun way to market a product and everyone loves a video, don’t they? Here’s one we made earlier: There are a few different types of explainer video, and the one which is the best fit for you, will depend on what you are marketing with your video production. Live action: these aren’t animated and are mostly used to market products or services that are people-oriented. Animated: these are often used when you don’t have a tangible product to market and they are the most popular. Whiteboard: animations are hand drawn, then rubbed out on a whiteboard. There are other types of explainer videos about, but these are the ones which are most popular, and the ones you are most likely to have seen. So, let’s have a quick look at why they are great options, and some of the limitations too. Live action: having real people in your videos can allow a viewer to experience an emotional connection, and we know that an emotional connection is what consumers want from us. You are stuck with “real world” when you create a live action explainer video, so you aren’t as able to jazz it up and enforce your point with animated magic. People are also expensive, so this isn’t a great option if you are on a super tight budget. Animated: If you do these properly, they are incredible and you can still create an emotional connection for your consumer, but if done wrong, they will just be another explainer video. You can be incredibly creative with these and you can really go to town on making them engaging and fun. They are easier to update and add to than live action ones, but again, animations are pretty pricey Whiteboard: these are excellent if you are on a budget. They are super cheap and they are really easy to create. They look nice and “clean” and they are an efficient and interesting way to get your point across. You can have a voice-over to add your human element and you are good to go.  Top tips for creating explainer videos: Keep them short: no one wants to spend hours watching a video, so keep it around the few minutes mark. Short and sweet is better than long and boring, right? Work on your script: you can have the coolest animation video, but if your script isn’t up to scratch, your video is going to get you nowhere fast. You should spend most of your time figuring out your script – you need to make sure you are covering everything and doing so in a fun and relevant way to your audience. Music/sound effect: don’t have moments of silence in your video. You will notice that explainer videos always have some music running in the background or some neat sound effects, even if you have a voiceover. Target audience: never forget your target audience throughout this process. You need to make sure you are appealing to them and aiming your content at them all the time. Don’t lose sight of the people you are doing this for. Call to action: what is a video without a call to action? Well, it’s not really anything! Make sure you tell people what you want them to do during your video. If you want them to click somewhere or visit a site, then you have to tell them!  How much should an explainer video cost? A great question, and one we unfortunately can’t give a simple answer to. They can cost you as much or as little as you want. But if you want the pros to sort you out an epic explainer video, then you are talking thousands rather than hundreds. This might seem like a lot, but we know these types of digital marketing content deliver the goods. If you are on a really tight budget, you can make a DIY explainer video, but this is going to take a big chunk out of your time if you are new to it. If you don’t know what you are doing, get yourself a video production company to help you out. How can an explainer video benefit my business? People are more likely to buy a product or use a service if they can watch a piece of video content on it. Fact. This shows how effective video can be for your business. Explainer videos help you connect with your potential customers and gives them total clarity on what you as a business are about. We know that videos generate interest and they generate shares on social media platforms. They are perfect for getting your name out there,

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Knowing your SAG from your APA is important in the video production industry, particularly if you are looking to make a go of it across the pond. Let’s take a look at the key differences between video production in the UK and video production in the USA. Starting with the unions and what that means for your video production company. In the USA, the organisation focusing on the support of actors and those in the media is larger and longer running than its equivalent in the UK. It’s been around for a long time and had a colourful and interesting history and has made landmark breakthroughs and has changed history. This isn’t quite the same as the UK version, but it does good work nonetheless in supporting its members. SAG-AFTRA This ogranisation brings together two American labour unions – Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. SAG-AFTRA represents about 160,000 professionals and entertainers in the USA. They work to negotiate the best wages, working conditions, benefits and opportunities and protect members against unauthorised use of their work. History Both the SAG and the AFTRA were formed in the 1930s, during turmoil. Before the advent of these, actors were working contracts they could not break, for producers who could tell you who to marry and which political opinions to hold. Some actors risked their careers to start the SAG and they began to make a difference to working hours and conditions. Actors continued to rebel against the power the producers and studios had over them. A huge number of lawsuits and actors fighting for what was right has resulted in the industry we know today. Where stars have their own productions companies and are no longer controlled by studios. Safety guidelines in line with new technologies have been issued to help reduce on-set accidents and it working to strengthen its market position. APA The APA is the Advertising Producers Association. They represent the interests of music, sound design, VFX, production companies, post production and companies making commercials in the UK. Their objective is to “create the best possible business environment for [their] members to operate in”. They provide advice on production and contracts, copyright and resolution of disputes. History It was formed in 1978 as the AFPA and in1982 it became the AFVPA and remained that way until 2002. It has gone from providing standard contracts and providing production advice to providing training, promoting their members and helping them market themselves and access new markets. Being a member of a union in the UK does not qualify you for a membership to a union in the USA. They are separate entities, and being a member of the APA won’t transfer to a membership so SAG-AFTRA if you choose to go to the USA. The only time at which you would qualify for a membership would be if you had been hired in the USA and transported by a union signatory production. So, if you are travelling to the US to work in video productions and you want to be a member or a union you will need to sign up. You don’t have to be a member of the Screen Actors Guild to apply for roles in the United States, nor do you need to be a member to be hired for these roles. You also do not need to be a member of SAG-AFTRA or any other union, to be granted a visa to work on a project in the United States. If you are looking to apply for a visa, knowing you don’t need to be a member is going to cheer you up no end and hopefully reduce the stress of the visa application process. If you are not a member of these organisations they will still be able to help you by offering advice. Be that union basics or other sources of information which will be helpful to you. The SAG and the APA are there to assist you but they are not there to do everything for you. They do not act as hiring halls or as introduction services to agents or managers. You will need to understand that they are here to help you with problems or any assistance you require, rather than helping you land a new role. The APA is tailored more specifically to advertising production than the SAG is. The SAG covers so many aspects of media and entertainment, whereas the APA is more focused. If you are working in video production in the UK it is important to make sure you are a member of a union and you are protected. If you are not a member, then they won’t be able to protect you. Video Production in the UK and USA

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As a video production company we have noticed that more and more brands are seeking influencer marketing as a tool for endorsing a product. An influencer’s opinion will affect the decisions that others make. Be that whether to try a new product or whether or not to trust a brand. Lots of brands are moving towards having influencers, and the number of influencers is only increasing. With more and more time spent on social media, it’s inevitable that this is where we will start seeking advice and opinion. What is influencer marketing? Influencer marketing is working with respected influentials with devoted, engaged followers, to connect those followers with your brand. This can result in dramatically increased engagement with your brand story and products/services. If an influencer trusts a brand and a follower trusts an influencer, it’s easier for the follower to trust the brand. You can think about it in terms of word of mouth marketing. If I am knowledgeable on a product and my friends and family trust my opinion, it will be easier for them to trust your brand and they will be more likely to buy your products. Influencer marketing may not be so much about coercion and persuasion, but more about information and advocacy. It’s worth remembering that influencer marketing may not always be 100% positive. In a bid to make sure they are giving a truthful review on a product, negatives may be included. But the influencers personal opinion is what makes the difference here – because who reviews products and can never a find a bad to say about them or a criticism? Someone who is paid to only speak the positives, that’s who. Influencer vs celebrity Influencers aren’t always celebrities. In fact, it can work better if they are not. People have got wise to celebrity endorsements for products, and they realise that this is a paid for service. People trust influencers opinions on things. They trust that they are being truthful and that they have done the research required to come to a conclusion on a product. They trust that they aren’t just saying they like something for the money. Influencers also have more two-way communication with their followers in comparison to celebrities. Influencers will respond to comments left by followers and make deeper connections with them. Celebrities don’t have the same level of connection with followers as an influencer does. There is no way that an A list celeb could reply to all the comments left and answer all the questions posed. It simply isn’t possible. Celebrities often endorse more than one brand, which can lead to them having less of an impact on your potential customers. Seeing that a celebrity is endorsing 6 brands could cause them to lose credit. A celebrity can also overshadow a brand, with people paying more attention to the person advertising the product, rather than the product itself. For example, do you remember David Beckham or the underpants he was advertising? Do you remember Kate Moss or the perfume she was promoting? Getting a celebrity to endorse your product is a great way of getting your product out there and well known, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that people are going to trust your brand or product as a result. If we consider this in the terms of reach/engagement, celebrities are your ‘reach’ and influencers are your ‘engagement’. Influencers are more specific and celebrities are more general. So here is how a guy in his bedroom in his white socks and slippers can help you choose the right tripod – What do you want from your influencer? Do you want someone with a huge amount of knowledge on your brand or your products? Do you want someone who is a trendsetter? Are you after someone who writes in a particular way or someone who has a certain ‘voice’? Are you looking for someone with a certain type of follower/audience? Are you searching for a certain personality type? Clearly there many things to consider when you are looking for an influencer. Thinking about how well they fit with your brand is very important. For example, if you got Harry Styles to endorse your financial services company, you probably aren’t going to get much interest from his followers when he shares your brand story video. This is because his followers aren’t interested in the service you are providing. Yeah, he has a huge reach and loads of people are going to see his endorsement, but they aren’t going to do anything about it, because you are reaching out to the wrong people. You will want someone that is invested in your brand and brand story. If they don’t believe in you and your ideals, why are they going to want to market your product? Influencers can be discerning when it comes to accepting an offer to market a brand. They want to make sure your ideals fit with their ideals. You want them to be invested in your brand, so make sure you are a good fit. Where do you find your influencer? Social media monitoring: look at social media and find influencers that are talking about your brand already, or who are talking about things similar to your brand. If someone is talking about what your brand does, but not specifically mentioning your brand, this may be someone you want to engage with. Identify hashtags: looking at the hashtags your influencers are using can help you locate potentials. By listening in to the conversations surrounding these hashtags, you will identify those who are already talking about your brand. Blogger outreach: most influencers have a blog. Most bloggers are connected to other social media and have followers that religiously read what they have to say. Target bloggers who are already writing about your brand, look at blogs in your genres and blogs on related topics. Now you have narrowed down what you are looking for from an influencer, the pot of possibilities has diminished. Hopefully you will be well

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When you are creating video content to help in communicating your brand beliefs, you need to sell the idea rather than the brand or the product. It needs to be a belief video as well as a brand video. This sounds crazy right? If you don’t tell people how amazing your brand is and how great your product is in comparison to everyone else, how will they know they want to buy it? Well, NEWSFLASH – they already know they want it; you need to tell them why they need it. Let’s take Apple and Samsung as our examples. They are both equally qualified to make phones, they create a similar product, they have the same resources, and they have the same access to the market, they have the same access to digital content agencies and creative video agency. So why do people buy phones from Apple rather than from Samsung? The answer is simple really; Apple sells their idea, Samsung sells their product. People have already bought into the idea of an amazing new phone with all the latest features, so why are you selling something that has already been sold? Apple does something different in the way they communicate, and no one else does it. The Golden Circle Ted Talks explains what they do on an amazing video you can see here; they call it ‘The Golden Circle’. The golden circle explains how Apple communicates in comparison to others. Apple communicates from the inside of the circle to the outside of the circle. They start with ‘why’ they do what they are doing and finish with ‘what’ they are doing to achieve that. Other companies such as Samsung will start with what they are doing, then how they are doing it, but never really tell you why they are doing it. As a result you don’t connect with that brand, you don’t engage with their brand story and you don’t feel a strong desire to go out and buy their products. This sounds like it’s a simple thing to do and an easy change to make, but it isn’t always. This is because figuring out why you are doing something can be really hard. The ‘why’ are the beliefs, the ideals and the visions of your company and if you can define this then you will engage your audience on a totally new level. Everyone knows what they do, and that’s the easiest thing to tell other people, but what makes the difference is humanizing the brand by communicating your brand beliefs. The difference So here is the difference you might see in their adverts: Apple may tell you: they want to change the world > by changing the face of technology through innovation > and they will do this with their new phone with all of these features Samsung may tell you: with their new phone with all these features > they are going to change the face of technology through innovation. They are missing the bit that makes you believe them. They are missing the bit that inspires action. Telling people what you believe in, inspires those that believe in the same goals to buy your product. As a video production company we see hundreds of scripts every week and they can usually be divided into these two categories mentioned above. But what is amazing is that more and more brands are seeing that the ideas that are belief driven offer the most tangible foundation for engaging video content. The ‘what’ is always going to be clearer than the ‘why’. It’s easier for a company to tell you the ‘what’ because it is clearer to them; the ‘why’ is much harder to define. People buy in to why you do something, not what you do. This is why people are comfortable buying Apple products. They trust that their beliefs and goals are aligned. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe; this is what inspires brand loyalty. Brand loyalty is when people will buy your products because you are who you are, not because your products are better than anyone else’s. Look at what inspired the creation of you brand and your company in the first place. Maybe you need to realign your business with the original goals and beliefs of the company. Everything you are doing should go some way to achieving this goal and should be directly linked with your beliefs and ideals. When this line gets blurred internally, it is blurred externally, making it harder for your customers to fit their ideals with yours. The brains behind the operation You need to prompt action to be taken in a different way than simply telling people to buy your product; this is your ‘engagement’. To prompt an action your audience needs to feel an emotional connection with your brand. You want people to need your product, no just want it. Apple prompts an emotional connection that few other brands do. The golden circle diagram also represents different parts of your brain and how they work. The ‘what’ is your neocortex. This is the part of the brain which controls rational and analytical thought and language. The ‘how’ and the ‘why’ is your limbic brain. This is the part of the brain which controls trust and loyalty, human behaviour and decision making Samsung appeal to your neocortex and Apple appeal to your limbic brain. When we talk from the outside in, we are talking to the rational parts of our brains first and then trying to engage our feelings afterwards. But if we talk from the inside out, we engage our feelings and behaviours first and rationalise them afterwards. If you engage the part of the brain that makes decisions first, you will be much more successful. So what? If you can get in touch with why your company is doing what it is doing, you can inspire brand loyalty and brand love. Without telling people what your beliefs and ideals are as a

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