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May 16, 2023
A brand film is a cinematic video that gives your potential customers a taste of the “why” behind your business – it’s not meant to be a product demo or how-to video.
Instead, a brand film is a long form video that captures the heart and soul of your business and tells your brand story authentically and engagingly.
It’s a great way to convey your business’s experience, heart, and soul in an engaging, memorable way that will encourage your audience to not only remember your brand, but become a true brand advocate for what you stand for.
Why would you want to make a brand film, though?
It’s an opportunity to give your potential customers an experience they can’t get anywhere else.
On the surface, brand films are not sales-y. The main intent is to entertain and relate to the audience, but as a result of that engagement, can also be used for marketing or as customer educational resources.
They’re also just plain fun!
To see an example of how powerful these videos can be for brands, check out some examples here.
If you’re looking for inspiration to make an impactful brand film for your business, we’ve got some advice from our experts at Scenic Road.
This article contains ten steps to help you create a brand film that will make people fall in love with your company! Here are ten steps to create a great brand film:
The first step to creating a great brand film is figuring out your theme. What main idea about your brand do you want people to take away?
The theme of your video is the heart of your brand—it’s what makes people fall in love with your brand and helps them remember why they love your offering so much.
It should match a brand tagline or essence, like happiness for Coke or love of the outdoors for REI.
For example, Coca-Cola’s theme is happiness. It’s been their tagline for more than 100 years, and it perfectly captures the sentiment they want to convey: “The world needs more happiness.”
It doesn’t have to be literal—it just has to capture what makes your company special. Once you know what that is, it will help guide everything else.
Brands often make the mistake of thinking that brand films are like other kinds of videos.
They aren’t—brand films are more complex because they need to tell a story and appeal to your audience in ways other types of content don’t.
That’s why we recommend setting aside between 50K to 250K for your project, depending on where it will be filmed and what kind of talent you’ll be working with (actors, models, etc.).
That might sound like a lot of money at first glance, but keep in mind that it’s an investment in your business’s future. Today’s consumer wants to align to your business and feel like they’re part of a tribe. That kind of community-building isn’t easy and it isn’t cheap.
If you’re going to make a brand film, you need to source your talent correctly.
This person will be the face of your brand as a representation of the lifestyle you’re offering.
You want someone who is not only interesting but also relatable. They should be charismatic but not snooty or pretentious. They should be able to talk in a way that feels like they’re talking directly to you as a likeminded friend, rather than just a robot reading off a script or delivering the company marketing messages.
In short, ensure they’re likable, approachable, and can act so naturally on camera that the audience doesn’t think about the fact that they’re on camera. They’re just immersed in the story.
If you can find someone with these characteristics who has a good sense of humor and can tell a story well—even better!
The first thing to consider is what kind of environment will be most conducive to the brand values of your business.
Are you trying to evoke a feeling of wealth? It might help to shoot in an upscale locale with an air of mystery. Think Milan or the Maldives if you’re a fashion brand.
If you’re an eco-friendly brand, maybe filming in the great outdoors is more appropriate. Where would your audience aspire to go?
You get the idea!
The location for your brand film and time is just as important as the message you’re sending.
You may have heard the term “content soup,” used when there’s no structure to your content, and it’s just one random thing after another with no clear direction or purpose. This is Rule #1 to avoid with brand films.
To avoid content soup in your brand film, create an arc for your video—a beginning, middle, and end that connects everything. Ensure each scene has a purpose in the overall story arc or fits into the bigger picture of what it means to live the lifestyle of your brand.
In short, you’ll want to create a storyline for your brand film — a crucial part of the process that will make or break your film.
Now it’s time to ensure everything else is as perfect as your plan.
After selecting a location and date, it’s time to consider the logistics.
It’s time to figure out your shot list, shooting schedule, book travel, secure permits, and get your cast and crew ready for the shoot.
Now that you’ve got your script outline and cast, it’s time to get out and shoot. Shooting your brand film is the fun part.
You get to bring your brand to life in a way that captures your essence and personality.
You’ll have to trust your crew’s vision and expertise, but it’s still a great time to be creative and get all the shots you need to make your film successful.
Be sure to capture at least twice as much footage as you think you’ll need. Although brand films are longer than other short videos designed as sales tools, they still need to move just as quickly and offer a cinematic feel.
Some scenes will end up not working and will be cut from the final piece. That means you’ll need more scenes to fill that gap. Also, you need a variety of camera angles, camera movements, and other creative choices. Those can be determined onsite as part of finding magic in the moment, but the most successful brand films plan many of those shots to make sure they are executed properly to deliver emotion.
Once you have your footage, it’s time for post-production.
This is where you spend the most time on your brand film, so ensure you have plenty of it. It’s where you could add graphics and animation to enhance the look of your film and ensure that the sound is crisp and clear.
It’s also where you’ll add music that drives the feel and pacing, and anything else you want (we always do).
If this is your first time making a brand film for your business, this part can seem overwhelming—but don’t worry! We’ll guide you through every step of the process so it all goes smoothly.
Promotion is the key to everything, and it’s what makes a great brand film take off. You can have a film that makes you look like a rockstar, but what’s the point if no one sees it?
You should promote your video across social media platforms and as much as possible outside of social media.
Ensure you’re posting on relevant blogs and forums, reaching out to influencers in your industry, and doing whatever else you can think of to get people talking about your brand.
It might sound strange, but this is another important step.
After all, if you don’t watch your brand film, how can you truly know if it’s good? If you don’t watch it, how do you know if it’s worth spending time on? And if you don’t watch it, how can you expect anyone else to?
So be sure to watch your brand film. You’ve put so much work into this project that it deserves your full attention. Consider a red-carpet internal event where you get employees to buy-in. With popcorn.
Share the experience of looking at all that hard work that came together into something truly amazing.
A brand film is not just a video. It’s an experience you can control and use to drive your business in ways you never thought possible.
The best part about a brand film is that it’s yours—you get to decide how to use it, where to put it, and what kind of impact you want it to have on your audience. If you’re still not convinced, take a look at this case study on how one brand transformed through the creation of brand films.
Don’t waste another day without making your brand film!
Scenic Road has been making brand films since before the term was even in the national marketing vocabulary, and we’ve got numerous Addys and PR Week Brand Film Awards for our work to prove it.
Reach out to us today, and let us help you create your next brand film!