Animation Allows Brands To Drop The Virtual World

Tim Burton once said that “all forms of animation are beautiful”. It would seem that many top brands agree with him, embracing animation to open up a world of marketing possibilities. Animation is allowing brands to transport their audience to another world, one in which brands can capture imagination and inspire their target audiences.

One of the key benefits of animation is not conforming to the realms of reality, permitting far more scope for creativity and flexibility. This allows brands to not only capture imagination, but also attention, which is vital in a world with so much competition for attention.

How are brands using Animation?

Animation and motion graphics are being used by brands to make low interest categories exciting and engaging. When speaking about animation, Nick Hudson, Head of marketing at Heineken, talked about how “Lloyds TSB, in a low-interest category, has carved out a distinctive communication style through the consistent use of animation and music”.

Another popular use of animation has been in the creation of animated characters. Innovative brands are starting to move away from celebrity endorsements, instead looking to animated mascots to promote their wares. One possible cause for this could be to reduce the risk of negative association with a celebrity. You only have to look at Tiger Woods for Gillette and Lance Armstrong for Nike for recent examples of celebrity endorsements turned sour. Animated characters also benefit from a higher recall value and can also give brands a new perspective.

A classic and very well know example of this is M&M. Their latest ad has over 22,000,000 views on YouTube, showing their success in using animation to captivate their audience.

Animation thrives in areas where ‘real life’ footage will often struggle not to discriminate or offend. The communication of complex processes and serious issues can often benefit from being ‘detached from reality’ in order to allow the viewer to understand the message in a non threatening manner.

A good example of this is Chipotle Mexican Grill. When the fast food marketer began thinking of ways to promote improvements to the country’s food supply, it decided to take an upbeat approach, creating an animated video to show a family farmer switching first to factory farming, then back to the sustainable approach of turning animals out to pasture.

More examples or brands using animation

Twinnings Tea

KitKat

Andrex