The Tendo View

We’ve been thinking a lot about video at Tendo. For example, what makes a video engaging, what’s the right length, and when is it even appropriate to use video? My colleague Bill Golden just wrote a post about do-it-yourself video, and he has some good tips to share.

While it can be tough to figure out why a certain video goes viral (for example, “Chocolate Rain” has more than 55.8 million hits on YouTube to date—who would’ve predicted that?), there are best practices based on the type of video you’re creating, the audience, and the information you’re trying to convey to that audience.

Below are five examples of five different types of videos that I think are successful. They run the gamut from a mockumentary to a corporate case study to a “how to” video, but here’s what they have in common: solid scripts, visual interest (not just talking heads), and strong voice-overs (except for the Old Spice commercial, which features an actor with a great voice). Also, while the video lengths vary, none of them exceed 4 minutes.

The video: “The Majestic Plastic Bag: A Mockumentary”
Video type: Mockumentary
Why we love it: The video follows the “flight” of a plastic bag, which ultimately ends up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It delivers with a sharp, hilarious script, engaging narration from actor Jeremy Irons, and good background music that helps move the story. If you don’t want to cut down on your plastic bag use after watching it, I’ll be shocked.

The video: “Small Business Going Green with UC and Video Conferencing”
Video type: Corporate case study
Why we love it: For this customer case study on the benefits of video conferencing, Cisco combined professional voice-over with engaging clips from the owner of amaZulu, the featured company. The success story is told in a concise way, and the video has visual interest that helps keep the viewer’s attention—during voice-overs that explain the company’s challenge and solution, they cut to action-oriented people working and interacting to keep the viewer visually engaged. Full disclosure: Cisco is a Tendo client.

The video: “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”
Video type: Commercial
Why we love it: The Old Spice ads have gone viral, and they were spoofed recently on the Emmys. Why? They’re original, unexpected, silly, and funny. Certainly a budget for a commercial far exceeds the budget for a Web video, but even if your company can’t pay for the high production values, the commercial demonstrates that a good script can go a long way—and something that’s a little absurd can have absurdly good results.

The video: “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”
Video type: Animation
Why we love it: The goal of this video is strictly to entertain, and entertain it does. As Entertainment Weekly says (yes, EW wrote about it), the video, voiced by “Saturday Night Live’s” Jenny Slate, “hits that Wes Anderson sweet spot of decidedly strange, very funny, and subtly sad.” Once again, it proves that content is still king—along with a fantastic voice and comic timing.

The video: “Classic Eyes,” the third video in the lefthand navigation
Video type: How to
Why we love it: Estée Lauder does a good job on all of its video “how tos,” but this “Classic Eyes” video stands out by offering basic instructions and beauty tips. Plus, it includes the highlights in text during the voice-over. The video cuts from the model’s face to the products to the actual application of makeup, keeping the viewer’s interest. Best of all for makeup novices, the instructions are short and simple.