3 Brands That Got Creative and Got It Right With Mobile Video Advertising Three video advertising campaigns from three big brands hit the sweet spot with creativity, vision and forward thinking.
By Shayna Smilovitz Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
What is in an ad? At its most basic level, an ad -- especially a mobile video ad -- appeals to something common and human in all of us. The best brands understand mass appeal while maintaining their unique vision. It's quite the tight-rope act, if you ask me. These three brands have tapped into something deeper in all of us with their spot-on video advertising campaigns that, respectively, inspire our love of nature and adventure, our need for human connection and the desire for creative thought and expression.
Coors Light.
The beer brand recently partnered with an innovative and well-known lifestyle advertising company called 72andSunny to create 360° video ads that appeal to the outdoor junkie in all of us, but especially to millennials. The campaign, called "Climb On in 360°," was launched in May 2016 and has three VR videos -- "Big Wave Surfing," "White Water Rafting" and "Downhill Mountain Biking." The titles are all self-explanatory, and each one is a cool experience. That's what's different about these ads. They are an experience, not just a video ad.
When you watch from your mobile device, you can move your perspective simply by moving your device. If you are lucky enough to watch from a VR device like Samsung VR or Oculus, the experience will be even more real. The graphics and sound are great, transporting you to the various places that were filmed including Tasmania, Queensland and Cairns, all located in Australia. At the end of each video, the viewer reunites with friends and is offered a cold beer. Then the screen reads, "We all have mountains to climb; what's yours?"
Coors Light is rightfully taking advantage of the current VR hype in order to appeal to a younger generation that is equally obsessed with tech and outdoor adventuring -- or at least from their VR headset. Well played.
Related: Eight Ways To Include Video In Your Marketing Strategy
Durex.
In the past few years, Durex has released some creative ad campaigns that focus on real couples and the link between lowered technology use and more intimacy. Their most recent campaign "#DoNotDisturb" performed a social experiment, sending couples to an exotic resort. Half the couples kept their tech devices on the trip; the other half didn't.
The beginning of the video ad reads "Are you more connected to your phone than your partner?" The experiment -- probably not super scientific, but still a great idea -- bared some not-so-surprising results. The couples who had forgone technology seemed to connect more, implying their intimate connection in the bedroom. Hello, they are a condom company. This video went viral when it came out, and we can assume a huge majority of the shares were on mobile devices.
Related: How To Make Your Business Messaging Effective In The Age Of Video
Durex's continued creativity in their mobile video ads appeal to our innate human sense of curiosity to get a peek into others' private lives. The way in which they go about this is lighthearted, fun and initiates an interesting social conversation about the intersection between technology and relationships.
Adidas.
Adidas has been creating some pretty edgy mobile video ads for some time now. Their "Adidas Originals" are inspired by fashion, design and art. It's no surprise then, that the brand recently closed a "long-term partnership" with the controversial rapper Kayne West.
Adidas Original's latest campaigns are centered around the idea of the future. One campaign is called "Your future is not mine," while another is called "Remember the Future." One of the "Your future is not mine" videos is a highly stylized, futuristic and edgy video where we follow various characters walking. The a song in the background goes "I'll never go down your road, I'll find my way on my own, I'm never gonna fall in line, your future is not mine."
Their latest "Remember the Future" video is an ad for the Adidas Gazelle shoes -- a shoe the brand has re-released. The video features a picture of Kate Moss, who wore the shoes in a vintage 1993 advertisement. The 30-second video "reappropriates" the image of Kate Moss with loud and colorful images while the words "nothing is sacred" appears at the end. Under the description of the video reads the quote "Steal from history. Nothing is sacred."
Adidas' use of ideas, art and fashion to push the envelope and entice a younger and more artistic type of consumer seems to be working.
Remember the future.
With all of this in mind, VR and AR are changing the way we experience new media. However for now at least, video is still the default and understood way to see and taste adventure. Video advertising platforms that understand this are ahead of the game. They rely on brands like the ones I've talked about here to express themselves, and lure the consumer into a new world.
Related: 5 Steps You Should Take to Prepare For Facebook's 'All Video' Future
Coors Light, Durex and Adidas are all forward-thinking brands who refuse to do what's normal, and instead choose something a little different. All three brands have a unique vision and know with whom to partner in order to achieve that vision. Mobile video advertising has become so prevalent that brands such as these have to adapt to the ever-changing consumer sensibilities. When a brand goes back to basics and appeals to the most human side of us -- that's when they get it right.
