Your competitors are not your only competitors

There are few places left where the communications we make are released safely into the world without competition. Everywhere people go, and via every possible channel, they are bombarded with messaging. And this means that your carefully crafted video communication is out there too. Fighting for its life against TikTok influencers, YouTube creators, the latest episode on Netflix, the next Barbenheimer, or the dopamine rush of mobile games.

That’s why it’s important to understand who your competition really are, and not just focus on your small pool of direct brand competitors.

Apple are a brand who understand this. They put entertainment first: series like ‘The Underdogs’ below deliver product features through the medium of comedy.

And despite being one of the world’s top companies the solution isn’t always, more money. Look below what Apple were able to achieve for their sustainability message, with a singular idea, a room, one baby and a camera simply by putting an entertaining idea first.

Oof. Say what you mean why don’t you?!

So many things are competing for your audience’s attention almost everywhere that they will interact with your content. And they will always be bigger than you.

That’s why you’ve got to find ways to stand out. To always be selling.

It might seem a little bit old-school, but if you aren’t looking for the USP of both your product or service and your comms message, then you’re missing a trick.

“But we’re a HR department, this isn’t an advert.”

“This is a technical subject; it needs to be explained technically.”

“We aren’t selling anything here; we just need to get the information across”.

We disagree. If you are a business communicating through video, you are always selling.

Take these examples from Heineken and British Airways below.

Heineken know that their USP is their humour, and their cool, and that runs through all of the materials in this campaign.

Likewise, British Airways have a captive audience, and a dry message, but they still took time to try to entertain, and they lean heavily into their USP of ‘Britishness’.

Even in the safest possible communications environment, it’s important to care enough about your audience to try and give them something that they might love – some entertainment, some emotion that will work for them.

Remember, every decision you are making, from what goes into the brief, to the camera you shoot on and the music you choose is designed to make you seem attractive and interesting. Whether you’re selling a product, or hoping to attract the best talent, you are saying ‘look at me’ and then you are hoping that what you have to say, and the way that you say it piques their interest…and keeps it.

Get in touch if you’d like access our latest research or to see more best practice examples.