Dramatic Content Can Be Commercial

While the majority of online marketers are using cartoon or white board video to capture the attention of the masses, it brings up the question: “What makes someone want to share a video commercial?”

Commercials are supposed to tell people about your product, your service or your company. But can a video be made that does this in a way that also entertains people, tells them a story or even promotes a message that helps change the world?

In a few instances, this is very possible.

Do you have to pretend you have something in your eyes after some commercials? Someone gets paid big bucks to make sure you do!

People want to be entertained first and foremost. So funny commercials are the popular choice for capturing attention and getting shares on the social media outlets. A simple search for Super Bowl Commercials on YouTube will give you an idea of the entertainment side of the commercial video genre. But not all commercials are designed to get people to laugh.

Coca Cola has always been in the forefront of commercials that tug at heartstrings and warm the heart. The Mean Joe Green commercial from 1979 is a prime example of the warm your heart while selling a product sentiment that Coca Cola has tried to embody with their advertising:

The thing you want to do if you are going to use this story telling method of advertising is to avoid showing any of your brand materials until after the audience is hooked. In the Mean Joe Green commercial, you notice the football player limping down the tunnel before you see the kid with the Coke bottle in his hand. In many serious or story telling commercials, the company or brand is not even revealed until the final scene of the commercial. This way, the message is delivered before the product or company is revealed.

Some attempts at this were (and to this day still are) ridiculous. If you watch any of the perfume commercials with the big stars, they try to tell too much in too short of a segment. Or go to fantastic heights to only reveal the product at the end. Somewhere in the director’s head was a story, but his storytelling did not execute properly:

If you got the message from Johnny Depp in this commercial, you are great at reading invisible sign language… I thought this commercial was a Dodge Challenger ad until he started digging in the desert.

My point is that your creativity is your biggest asset to get people to engage with your commercial. The first thing you want them to do is set their drink down and watch the rest of the commercial. But the number one priority when the commercial is finished is for someone to be able to say, “That was a Sauvage by Dior commercial!” In this commercial, while they have confused you for a good chunk of it, they manage to finally reveal that Johnny Depp is either high on Sauvage or he is in need of another Sauvage injection because he has obviously lost his mind.

So while you may be ready to film your first serious commercial and tell the story you have always been wanting to tell, remember that you have to tell your story in a way that grabs the viewer’s attention and does not relinquish it until they have gotten out a tissue to dab their eyes and curse your brand for breaking them in front of the kids. When that happens, the magic begins!

Darn it all, Publix! Now I have to go wipe my eyes in the bathroom before Yvonne sees me crying.