Affordable strategies to unleash the power of video 💥.

High-impact content doesn’t have to come at high cost.

We caught up with Anna O’Riordan, Brand & Marketing Consultant, to explore the benefits of video content and share some affordable approaches to campaign development.

When done right, video content is powerful, enabling brands to reach the masses very quickly.

People love watching videos. They’re accessible, often entertaining and, sometimes, educational.

Videos are a great way to attract attention and land a message, often helping to increase conversion. Most digital platforms now favour video. Facebook alone amasses some 8 billion video views – with video accounting for 11% of total content on the platform. And an estimated 1 billion hours is spent daily watching video content.

Yet not all video content is created equal. Indeed, some campaigns can be incredibly costly.

Who says you need a big budget to create great video content?

As budgets get tighter – and consumers savvier, the trend towards low-production, realistic video content has increased.

A low-production approach can benefit your brand in many ways:

Authenticity: videos can feel more genuine which helps to build trust and credibility. Showcasing everyday experiences can also be more relatable than a polished production.

Cost-effectiveness: low-production videos are often less expensive to produce. So, brands can create more content and reach a wider audience!

Storytelling: low-production videos are a great way to showcase the personalities behind your brand and build a stronger emotional connection with your audience.

Agility: these videos are quick and easy to create. Brands can respond to trends in real-time, stay relevant and top of mind.

Experimentation: low-production videos are a great way to try out new ideas. They allow you to test what resonates with your audience, without huge investment.

So, if the benefits are clear, how can we go about creating impactful video on a budget?

Some of the biggest costs in branded video production include shooting in multiple locations, having a large cast, using celebrity performers, and high-grade effects. But these costs are often unnecessary for a highly impactful campaign.

The idea stage is crucial for defining the parameters in which the creativity will take place, and this is where you can ensure the costs remain low. A tight brief is essential – there is nothing wrong with setting boundaries for creativity. In fact, it often helps to spark some of the most impactful ideas.

Brands can take a number of creative approaches to significantly reduce production costs – without reducing the impact of their video content. Here are just a few examples we’ve spotted:

Shot in one self-contained location

Setting the constraint that the video has to be filmed in a single location can actually enhance the creativity of the ideas generated. And when we only have a short time to get a message across, keeping things simple, clear and not confusing is vital.

As we will see with the following examples, there are creative ways to keep the video dynamic and engaging without changing location or even needing to use multiple camera angles.

We can see this in the execution of a classic online ad, Soesmans Language Training:

One of the first things you will notice, other than the fact this video is very funny, is that there is no dialogue. This is an English language training video produced for an audience in the Netherlands, and the actors don’t need to speak at all to convey the message. In fact their silence adds to the intrigue and engagement of the video, as we are not distracted from the main joke.

The camera position remains the same throughout the video, and punch-ins are used to get close up shots of the individual characters and their expressions.

We applied similar techniques working with Comedy Crowd creator Yiannis Vassilakis in a film we produced for automated dubbing company Papercup AI:

This is a step up in complexity from the Soesmans example, but is still shot in a single location with a limited number of camera angles. In this case the characters don’t move from their fixed positions at all during the video. Instead dynamism is added through a variety of close-ups applied in the edit, in addition to the creative use of stock footage to show the escalating “nightmare” sequence.

Showcasing products as human characters

This is a simple and highly effective way to give personality to a product or service, getting across the strengths and voice of the brand by applying the “show don’t tell” principle.

One of the great benefits of this approach is that the videos can be very simple. All we need to see on screen is the character representing the product or service. Even a talking head to camera can achieve this effectively.

Let’s start with a famous example: the Mac vs PC.

This ad was a huge hit for Apple, and all it required was two performers talking in front of a white background. Without telling us anything, Apple are showing us their product is young, confident, relaxed, safe, and forward thinking. (We notice he didn’t mention how long he can stay awake before needing to recharge his batteries..).

Taking things even more lo-fi is a single talking head to camera. In this example, talented Comedy Crowd creator, Rob Morgan, plays the role of Bounty finding out he has been cut from Celebrations:

• Bounty finds out he’s been cut from Celebrations

This is a perfect example of a format that enables a quick response to a topical story. We only need to hear one side of the conversation, as the skillful scripting and performance means we can infer the “straight man” role being played by Twix. 

This monologue manages to bring out the personalities of all of the Celebrations in one minute – a highly effective way to generate interest and excitement in the variety offered by the brand.

The camera phone aesthetic

Ten years ago it would have seemed unthinkable for professional content to be produced using a camera phone. But the portrait mode favoured by TikTok and Instagram combined with advances in technology have changed all of that.

Not only is it possible to shoot a professional looking ad using a camera phone, it can actually enhance the authenticity of the video and the human voice of the brand. 

Here is an example of a recent video we produced for the friendship app Friendzr, created by the very funny and talented Farrel Hegarty:

@farrelhegarty

One order of friends please, hold the benefits✌️ Meet new friends doing the things you actually love with @Friendzr https://onelink.to/friendzr . . . . . #friendzrapp #events #friendzr #newfriends #meetnewfriends #comedycrowd #ad #adobviously #viralvideo #viralvideo #comedy #comedyvideo #friendscomedy #memestiktok #funny #funnyvideo #funnywomen #funnywomenontiktok #fyp #northerngirl #comedian

♬ People Talking (Version 1) [Crowd Group Chatting Chatter Talk Noise Sfx Sound Effect Bite Clip Fx] – DV Sound Effects

This style of content is now common on digital platforms and it’s a great opportunity for brands to reach and engage a younger demographic.

Audio with text only

Don’t underestimate the power of visually impactful text on a screen to enhance an audio recording.

You can take the filming location out of the equation altogether and make considerable savings by having the visual as text.

This example of a voicemail recording from a frustrated customer has been seen by over 5 million people (explicit language warning!):

In this case Alamo Drafthouse have used an actual voicemail recording for the audio, so the only production cost is in the editing (and possible royalty payment for the music).

Even if you don’t have an irate customer voicemail to hand, it is often cheaper and logistically easier to hire actors for voiceover than it is for performance in front of a camera.

These are just a few examples of how you can apply creative constraints that reduce production budgets and increase engagement. The simplicity of production in each case actually emphasises the storytelling and authenticity of the video.

Notice none of the examples above rely on the use of celebrities. Having famous faces associated with a brand is great if you can afford it, but you can still make a highly engaging and impactful video without them if you work with the right creative team and make it relatable.

This can also help give the brand space to develop its own personality. After all, the dream scenario is that our brand is the celebrity in our video.

Finally, remember when using low cost production to take full advantage of the benefits it provides. Develop a repeatable format, style and characters that people recognise, and allows you to react quickly to topical news stories or company announcements.

At The Comedy Crowd we work with expert creative talent at the idea and production stage to make sure you get the most effective outcome for your budget, building connection with your audience and showcasing the creativity of your brand.

Find out more here ✨

Humour offers a great way to ‘humanise’ your brand and connect with an audience. We can all remember a clever line we’ve spotted on a billboard. Or a TV ad that’s provoked more laughs than the programme we were watching before the ad-break. Comedy’s ability to help brand cut-through is strong. Even more so as we face a seemingly endless stream of bad (and even horrendous) news in recent months and years.

Yet it can be hard for brands to get humour right. A bad joke can set social media buzzing for all the wrong reasons, and even get a brand ‘cancelled’. Some brands are thus hesitant to use humour. In fact, a recent Kantar report found a significant decline in the use of humour in ads. In 2004 more than half (53%) of ads were funny or light-hearted in tone; by 2020 only 34% made any attempt at humour.

Just as brands have differing personalities, so too their approach to humour will differ (and hopefully match!). You don’t want your brand tone of voice to clash – or flip-flop between styles and create inconsistency. Think about the current appeal and personality of your brand before you go too far in your campaign:

• Humour may not be the right approach if your brand takes itself seriously.

• Brands with a spontaneous, fun-loving personality find it much easier to use humour. They often take a more ‘prankish’ approach, which can veer to being too ‘childish’ for some audiences. Be careful that you aren’t using a joke just for another opportunity to talk about yourself: this can get tired very fast.

• Humble, authentic brands might use self-deprecating humour to endear themselves to an audience. Making light of how they are perceived is key here, for example poking fun at being ‘less frills’ than their competitors.

• Bold, dynamic and independent brands might err more towards edgy, shock-value comedy. This route may work for a specific audience but risks alienating others who find the ‘joke’ uncomfortable (or inappropriate). Be careful not to cross a line by making a joke about a specific group of people or delving into a sensitive subject. Directing the joke towards the establishment in or broader national traits can be less high risk, however brands taking this approach risk derision and defection if the ‘stance’ clashes with the way they themselves operate.

• Brands that occupy a more niche sector may be able to leverage the ‘in joke’ of the moment. Just be sure to fully understand the joke first. Or risk facing backlash as people cringe at your brand’s misunderstanding of a meme or running joke!

Our sense of humour is deeply rooted in our nationality, our shared view of the world, and the societal norms that are so familiar to us.

We Brits love to laugh at ourselves. Much of our humour is delivered at the expense of the teller. We also tend towards deep irony and like to push the boundaries of what is socially acceptable. This does not translate across every audience in the UK – and more importantly it does not translate across every culture.

Before embarking on creative – especially for a prominent campaign –, it’s worth taking time to research your audience, teasing out their likes, dislikes and the ‘ways in’ to a comedy brief.

We often make the mistake of thinking we need to think of something clever, outrageous, or provocative to make someone laugh. The reality is that people want to laugh. 

A recent YPulse survey exploring content preferences amongst young audiences on social media showed just how desirable Comedy is:

The audience is there and wants to share your sense of humour. You simply need to understand what message you need to convey, why something might be funny to your audience, and let the humour shine through.

The Comedy Crowd are here to help. They crowdsource ideas from a global community of diverse, talented comedy writers and performers, applying their expert knowledge to find the right fit for your brand and audience. Find out more here

And you can read more about how brands can apply humour in marketing with some great examples here

At The Comedy Crowd we like to celebrate those brands who know that life is there to be enjoyed. Who don’t take themselves too seriously. And who make us laugh with funny ads.

Below are must see ads that we believe have embraced humour and executed it with aplomb. In other words they make us laugh and want to watch them again.

So get inspired for your own funny marketing video ideas with these hilarious and cheeky adverts that won over their target audience over.

You can also nominate your favourite funny ads for inclusion at the end of this article.

1. Panda

In 2010 Panda launched its “Never Say No To Panda!” ads, where unsuspecting individuals who decided against eating their cheese were confronted by a surprisingly aggressive panda. The beautifully paradoxical musical theme “True Love Ways” by Buddy Holly & The Picks plays in the background every time the panda mascot appears.

The series of ads first appeared on Egyptian TV commercials in 2010, and became a viral hit when posted to YouTube, having been shared 50 million+ times by others who, like me, find them very addictive to watch. Bravo Panda!

2. Lotto #pleasenotthem – James Blunt

In 2016 The National Lottery in the UK ran a series of ads encouraging people to play the lottery to stop well known celebrities winning the jackpot. This sketch is particularly good, with James Blunt playing his role superbly and a great series of escalating examples of his “beautiful” message idea.

3. Soesman language training

Please beware the strong language used in this video. OK warning over. This is a genuinely funny short ad from 2001 featuring a blissfully ignorant Dutch family enjoying a rather colourful English language tune. It is a wonderfully confident and entertaining way to raise awareness and encourage what can be perceived of as an otherwise dry subject.

4. Dollar Shave Club

Nominated by Isobel Ryan

In 2012 the startup razor brand Dollar Shave Club (DSC) released a video entitled “Our Blades Are F***ing Great”, featuring CEO Michael Dublin highlighting the ridiculousness of expensive razors and blades. The down to earth setting with regular jokes and a great performance (Michael Dublin showcasing his improv training background) made the ad an online hit, amassing nearly 28 million views as of 2022. And it put DSC on the map.

5. Inspired by Iceland – Introducing the Icelandverse

In November 2021 the Iceland tourism group “Inspired by Iceland” showcased the virtues of the country as a holiday destination through a parody of Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse. Setting the simple, real life, actual things in Iceland in contrast to the virtual Meta world, this video is a fantastic parody. If there was a Eurovision funny ad contest for 2021, we are pleased to say this would be right up there. And we would definitely watch that show.

6. Should have gone to Specsavers – Sauna

Specsavers have been running their “Should have gone to Specsavers” ads for many years, featuring people from all walks of life finding themselves in embarrassing and bizarre situations as a result of visual impairment. Watching the ads is a lot funnier than that explanation. So I’ll stop there and just say this instalment from 2011 is one of the best.

7. Sprite “Sun Fizz”

This ad directed by Spike Jonze was part of Sprite’s 90s “Obey Your Thirst” campaign, and we love it. It plays in opposition to the many ads using a cartoon character to depict happiness and fun, portraying an arguably more realistic reaction to a cartoon sun coming to life in your kitchen!

Want to explore how you use humour to engage your audience? Drop us a line and we’ll get right back to you 😎

You can also nominate your own funny ads right here:

In a World where people are perpetually consuming content, brands feel the need to work harder than ever to cut through the fog.

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On Monday 14 June 2021, Coca Cola lost $4bn in it’s share price after footballer Cristiano Ronaldo moved two of it’s bottles slightly to the left on a table. Such is the world we live in.

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