Product Branding Videos: The Ultimate Guide

Product branding is a strategy that helps give a product its own identity, like the Happy Meal at McDonald’s. There are product branding videos, ads, and other marketing messages that position the Happy Meal as a go-to meal for kids.

These videos are targeted toward kids, prompting them to ask their parents for a Happy Meal for dinner. They don’t know or care about McDonald’s—they just know about the Happy Meal.

A product branding video helps support this product branding effort. It can be used for organic promotion or tailored into an ad or commercial to reach the brand’s target audience.

Throughout this article, you’re going to learn what a product branding video is, see several different types you could create, discover tips for creating your own, and more.

What is a product branding video?

A product branding video is a type of video that gives a product its own identity, almost promoting it outside of the brand. It focuses heavily on the product itself, making the brand more of an afterthought.

It’s a tactic used in product branding, where a company almost makes a product stand on its own.

The iPhone is a great example of this. While we all know its parent company is Apple, the iPhone has made its own name as well.

Here’s an example of the iPhone’s product branding video:

With quotes like, “It’s an entirely new way to experience iPhone,” the marketing team strategically positions the iPhone as the sole focus. The Apple logo is, of course, included in the video, but the company name is never mentioned—only iPhone.

Types of product branding videos

There are a few different types of product branding videos you can create based on how you want to introduce your product to the world. You can talk about its origin, explain how it works (similar to the iPhone example above), spotlight the mascot, and more.

Let’s dig into the seven most popular types of product branding videos alongside an example of each so you can get inspiration for recreating it in your own way.

1. Origin story

One classic video type is the origin story. What is the story behind your product? How did it come to be?

We see the quintessential video example in this marketing video from Nike:

The team showcases how they did research to find the perfect shoe fit, sharing the entire origin of one of their products: the Nike Free line.

There are a few different ways you can create your own origin story product video:

• Take a page out of Nike’s book and share how you built the product

• Talk about the story or the “why” behind your product

• Showcase the team who built the product or came up with the idea

• Share failed prototypes before the final product came to life

Just remember that with product branding, you’re focusing more on the product itself rather than your brand as a whole.

2. Explainer video

An explainer video is, for lack of a better description, pretty self-explanatory. It simply explains how a product works, what features it offers, and how it can be used. As we mentioned, the iPhone video example we shared earlier in the article is a great example of a product explainer video.

However, let’s hone in on another great example. Take a look at this video from Amazon:

Well, really, the video is from Amazon Alexa. Alexa is an Amazon product but has been so heavily branded that it has its own YouTube channel, logo, and marketing strategy. The above video doesn’t mention Amazon at all.

But it does do a great job of explaining how Alexa can fit into its target customers’ lives by highlighting the product’s key features and showcasing how an example family uses it to get complicated things done (like moving).

3. Product demonstration

A product demonstration or product demo video is similar to an explainer video in that it gives an overview of the product. However, a product demo, it’s more of a tutorial than an overview of how the product can fit into the customer’s lifestyle.

Here’s a great example from Frida Baby. The brand has created a product branding video specific to its NoseFrida product:

The brand smartly chose animation as the medium for this video, which makes the demonstration a bit easier on customers’ stomachs. After all, a “snotsucker” doesn’t sound like the most appealing product—but the demo video helps customers see exactly why it’s so important and how to use it properly.

4. Case study

Create a case study video or incorporate happy customer reviews and testimonials to bring some social proof into your video marketing strategy. Social proof is a type of marketing psychology that states that consumers are more likely to buy from brands that have other happy customers.

This video from Beardbrand is just one example of how you can create a case study or testimonial video for your eCommerce brand:

(Note that the video is actually shoppable, with the Beardbrand Utility Balm linked to a View Products button in the bottom left corner of the video.)

While this is a much longer marketing video at 18 minutes, it does a great job of showcasing a before and after, a happy customer, and a product demo all in one. Beardbrand sells beard care products, but having someone trim the customer’s beard and hair before putting in the products shows the whole kit and caboodle of beard care.

This type of brand video can be more difficult to create as you have to find customers that are willing to be on camera and share their experiences. However, they can be extremely compelling, and we highly recommend adding this to your video marketing strategy.

5. Behind-the-scenes

Go behind the scenes to showcase how your products are made, what your warehouse looks like, how you package products and more. Behind-the-scenes video content helps humanize your brand, showcasing actual processes and humans that work to make everything run smoothly.

Here’s a great example of a behind-the-scenes marketing video:

RoClayCo is a small polymer clay business, selling both clay tools and clay jewelry. The business owner often shares videos of her process, letting customers in on exactly how the products they’re buying are made.

This strategy has gotten RoClayCo over 200k followers on Instagram because people love behind-the-scenes video content.

Consider how your brand can promote its product offerings and further its product branding by going behind the scenes of production, packaging, and more.

6. Mascot spotlight

Does your brand or product have a mascot? Think Chester Cheetah of Cheetos or Tony the Tiger of Frosted Flakes. Both of those products live under different brands—but their mascots represent the product itself. This is a great example of product branding.

Another is M&M'S. The brand has long been famous for its multi-colored M&M mascots that spotlight in all of its ads and commercials.

Here’s an example of a product branding video spotlighting a mascot—while also launching a new product (the purple M&M represents the company’s new caramel M&Ms):

While M&M'S used animation for its mascots, this doesn’t have to be the case. While not an eCommerce brand, Duolingo is famous for its Duo the owl mascot, which is just a costume a real-life person is able to wear. No animation skills are needed for those product videos!

Consider which option would be best for your brand if you decide you want to have a mascot as the spokesperson for your product.

7. Product announcements

Use your product marketing video content to help announce new products, product features, product additions, and more. This is a great way to build excitement and get new and existing customers ready to buy.

Here’s an example from Casetify showing off a new feature that can be used with the brand’s existing products:

It’s a quick, 20-second video, but it shows off how to use the addition with the core product and why the new addition can be so useful.

Create a compelling product video that gets customers excited about new products or upgrades to a product line. Sharing product announcements should be a major part of your video marketing strategy.

Tips for creating a successful product branding video

Ready to create your own high-quality product branding videos? We’ve got ten key tips to help you create a video that’s going to resonate with your target audience, help you increase sales, position your product as a standalone brand, and more.

Let’s dig in.

1. Decide how to position your product

The first step when creating a product branding strategy—and video content to go along with it—is to decide the best positioning for your product. 

What makes your product special? Why should someone buy it? Product positioning via your unique selling proposition is going to be key in creating a strong product brand, and subsequently a strong product branding video.

You also need to make sure you’re positioning your product in a way that helps it stand out from competitor products. Why should shoppers choose your product?

This is exactly where a good branding video comes in. You can even create a series of photos to properly position your product.

Here’s a subtle example from the cooler brand Yeti:

They’ve created a series called “Color Inspired by True Events,” where they share various product collections alongside outdoor footage showcasing the inspiration of the collection’s color. As Yeti strives to appeal to outdoorsy crowds, this type of video footage is compelling and helps to set them apart.

Get creative and decide how to position your product. Think about your target audience and the reason they’d be buying it. Incorporate that storyline into your product branding videos.

2. Tell your product’s story

You might be used to telling your brand story, but now it’s time to focus on the product story. This is where you might want to create an origin story video or go behind the scenes so your target audience gets the full picture of why your product exists and what pain point it’s meant to solve.

Personify your product to create a backstory. Give it a personality and let it shine throughout the product story. Using video as the medium for sharing your product’s story helps make this easier.

Incorporate these tips to create a strong product story:

• Show your audience, don’t tell them. Through video, you’re able to visualize the product story. This is why behind-the-scenes footage can be so powerful here—you’re able to bring your customer into the secrets behind your product and how it exists.

• Create a storyboard. Starting with a storyboard helps you create a cohesive storyline surrounding your product that makes sense and is easy for your audience to follow.

• Follow storytelling structure. Think about how a book, TV show, or movie flows. You’ve got your introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Keep a similar structure in your own product video, with the climax being the “Aha!” moment that brought your product into existence or a customer realizing your product is the perfect solution.

• Make it interesting. Just like a book, TV show, or movie, people aren’t going to read or watch if it isn’t interesting and engaging. Keep this same mentality when creating your product videos so you produce something that’s going to get views.

• Have a clear goal or objective. Before you even write your script or create your storyboard, make sure you have a clear purpose for the video. This will help outline your story and make sure it has the conclusion that will best benefit your business.

Building a story around your product helps it to better stick in your customer’s minds. The more they remember your story, the more they’ll start to veer toward your product and its branding over competitors.

3. Focus heavily on the product’s branding

Another great way to help your product stand out within your video content is to focus heavily on its branding. Create a strong visual brand and bold product packaging that will help your product stand out—not only in your video but also if it’s on a shelf next to competitors.

Take a look at this quick social media video example from Pipcorn:

It’s a short, 5-second looping stop-motion clip that highlights the brand’s product packaging. We see seven different bags of organic popcorn with the big, bold “Pipcorn” logo at the top of each. The bag design is similar for each one as well, further bringing them all together and creating a cohesive effect.

Someone familiar with the Pipcorn brand will recognize that in a chip aisle and immediately want to grab it. Someone unfamiliar with the Pipcorn brand can easily discover it with this big, bold design.

And by using a product branding video like this one on social media, Pipcorn is helping those unfamiliar with the product discover the visual brand without ever seeing it in the store. This will help with brand recognition even if the person has never bought the product before.

Make sure to create a strong visual brand and highlight it heavily throughout your product branding videos so it’s even more recognizable to your target audience.

4. Incorporate your brand colors and fonts

We just covered your product’s brand and packaging. But let’s talk more about the visual aspect of this. Your brand—and potentially your products as well—have its own specified fonts and colors that define it visually.

These are also used for product and brand recognition. We all know the iconic green siren signals Starbucks and the big red target means there’s a Target nearby.

If you haven’t created a fully-fledged brand guidelines document with your set fonts, colors, patterns, product packaging, and more, it’s time to get started. Then incorporate your brand colors and fonts within your product branding videos.

Here’s an example from the skincare line Welly. The brand uses pastels for each of its different types of products, but each is topped with the big, bold “Welly” brand name.

The bottles are shaped the same in a unique type of plastic bottle and consumers can see they easily go together in a set. Brand fonts and colors help make your products even more recognizable. They also create an even stronger appeal depending on the type of design you decided to use.

For example, this minimalistic approach that Welly took is popular with Millennials right now. The vintage design would go well for targeting older generations. 

If you’re still testing your branding elements, consider creating a survey or even holding a focus group that can help you gather insights from your target audience on which brand they’d rather shop from.

5. Shoot high-quality product footage

There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it—if you want to create a successful product branding video, you need high-quality product footage. However, you don’t necessarily need a full-blown production set to do so.

Here are a few tips for gathering high-quality footage even on a budget:

• Turn photos into a video montage or stop-motion video

• Use a smartphone with a tripod to ensure the footage isn’t shaky

• Take advantage of ring light or other types of filming light

• Keep videos short so you don’t need a ton of footage

• Find a video-making tool and template to use for editing

• Use a microphone to capture high-quality audio

• Create a simple background so your product takes center stage

• Consider working with a freelance videographer for one-off projects

Don’t be afraid to record several takes and get rid of footage that simply doesn’t meet the mark. You want to create high-quality product demo videos again and again—and the only way to do that is with solid footage.

6. Write a compelling script

We already mentioned that creating a storyboard is going to be key in putting together a cohesive video. But it can also help you decide whether you’re going to have someone speaking in your video or not.

Some product videos are silent, some have only music in the background, while others utilize voiceover or actors to tell their stories. If you decide to have actors in your video or a voiceover, you need to write a script that’s going to engage your audience and tell your product’s story.

However, writing a script can seem overwhelming. You need to make sure the dialogue flows naturally and doesn’t sound stilted, or your audience won’t be able to resonate with the video content.

A few tips to consider when writing your script include:

• Pinpoint your target audience. When you write your script around a specific segment of your audience, you’re able to better appeal to them. For example, writing a script that appeals to women in their 20s is going to be extremely different from a script that targets men in their 40s.

• Know your video goals. What are you hoping to achieve in this video? Better product  awareness? Getting your audience excited with a new product launch video? More sales? Knowing your key objective can help you structure your video script and understand which way to position your product.

• Decide on your character(s). Who’s in the video? If you’re choosing to have actors in your video, decide which characters you’ll include, give them backstories, then choose your main character that the video centers around. This is typically the person with the problem that your product can solve.

• Come up with a central idea. Remember that we said to follow a storytelling structure. Your script should have an introduction, a rising action, a climax, a falling action, and finally, a conclusion. This structure will center around your video’s main idea—essentially, what type of problem you want to showcase your product solving.

• Include dialogue, audio, and stage directions in your script. Your script needs to be a full description of the video. Detail when someone enters into view leaves the camera area, makes a noise, and more.

• Make sure it fits your time frame. Decide how long your video needs to be before you write your script, then keep it within that time frame. Say each line out loud and time yourself to ensure it’ll fit, and trim anything extra that won’t.

• Read it out loud to make sure it sounds natural. We already glossed over this, but let’s cover it again. As you read your script out loud, you should be able to pinpoint areas that don’t actually sound like something someone would say in real life. You can also have your actor(s) read the script to see if you need to make any adjustments before filming.

Once you’ve got your script finalized, we can move on to the next step—auditioning and selecting your cast.

7. Select your cast

Casting is the next step after writing your script. At this point, you should have an idea of who your characters are and what their main traits are so that you can cast each actor accordingly. Even if you’re only having a single voiceover, hiring a voice actor is a great idea rather than using someone from the team so that it appears more professional to your audience.

Put out a call for actors or use a site like Castango to help find the right talent for your marketing videos. Match up your actors with people who fit your target audience so they can relate to your video more easily.

Create a job listing that describes exactly the type of people you’re looking for, including your day rate and the timeframe you’ll need the actors to be available.

Here’s an example of what this might look like:

$500/Day

4/15/2023 - 4/16/2023

Casting 1 male and 1 female actor aged 25-35 to play a couple in a marketing video. Requirements include on-camera acting experience, professional headshots, and an accessible portfolio. Must provide own wardrobe and be available from 9 am - 5 pm each day.

As you get applicants in, you can vet their portfolios and headshots to see if they seem to be a good fit. Then you can choose a couple or hold an audition to narrow down your choices. You could also ask applicants to send in a video audition as part of the application process.

Once you’ve selected your actors, set up your production days, and get ready to create an amazing product branding video.

8. Crop to fit different dimensions

When you spend a lot of time and effort (and, let’s be real, money) on your marketing video content, you want to make sure it reaches as many people as possible. One way to help improve your overall reach is to crop your video to fit different dimensions, and therefore, different platforms.

There are three main video dimensions you’ll want to use:

• Landscape: 16:9 aspect ratio

• Square: 1:1 aspect ratio

• Vertical: 9:16 aspect ratio

You may need to record strategically to make sure that cropping your horizontal footage into a vertical format won’t cause you to lose important on-screen features. You might even consider recording multiple takes in both landscape and vertical format to ensure you have enough footage to recreate the video in both dimensions.

9. Share on various platforms

Once you’ve cropped your video into various dimensions, you’re ready to share it on multiple platforms. The platforms that work for each dimension are as follows:

• Landscape: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

• Square: Instagram

• Vertical: TikTok, Instagram Reels, Instagram Stories, YouTube Shorts

Make sure to customize your caption, adjust hashtags, and fully optimize your video based on the platform you’re sharing it on. Plus, most social media platforms allow you to make your video shoppable by linking your product catalog to the products featured in the video.

Repurposing your video content and cross-promoting it on your various platforms (and of course on your website and within blog posts) is a great way to get as much out of each video as possible.

10. Run video ads

Finally, put some ad dollars behind your new video. You’ve worked hard to get it to this point and now it’s ready to share with the world. Each of the above platforms we already listed also has advertising options.

Push your video onto Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter feeds. Create in-video ads that appear while viewers are watching other video content. Make it vertical and create a TikTok or Reels ad.

The possibilities are endless. But make sure that advertising is a major part of your overall video production budget. And also ensure the ad objective you choose matches the overall objective you created for the video itself.

Examples of product branding videos

We’ve already covered some basic examples of different types of product branding videos. But let’s talk about examples of product branding and how those brands have used video within their strategies.

1. Apple

Apple provides a classic example of product branding in nearly all of its products. Things like the iPhone (as we’ve already covered), MacBook, AirPods, and iPad can all be mentioned without the brand name and they’re instantly recognizable.

Apple also isn’t known for creating product videos that cover multiple products in one. Instead, they focus only on a specific type of product, whether it’s the new iPhone 14, like we saw at the beginning of this article, or it’s the new HomePod like we see in this video example:

Again, the video doesn’t mention Apple as the brand. It focuses exclusively on the product—the HomePod—and its features and capabilities. 

Here’s yet another example that hones in specifically on the AirPod Pro product:

It’s a quick video that highlights its noise-canceling feature in a creative way. Viewers first watching the video are captivated trying to figure out what’s going on and why everything is floating—until the AirPods are brought into view and the entire video concept makes complete sense.

This is a strategic way to draw your audience in and get them to keep watching—they want to understand what is happening in the video, but they don’t get to until about 40 seconds in.

If you want to improve your product branding videos, figure out how to position your product so that it stands out and doesn’t need your brand name alongside it. The AirPods, HomePod, iPhone, and more are well-known as standalone products, even without the Apple name.

2. Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola’s situation is slightly different—the product name and the brand name are one and the same. However, its brand strength is real. The iconic red, cursive Coca-Cola logo, and unique bottle shape are internationally recognizable.

And they play to that advantage in their product branding video content.

Here’s an example of one of Coca-Cola’s product branding videos showcasing a gamified feature on their new bottles:

Throughout the video, we see the branding whether it’s in the colors, fonts, or bottles. Coca-Cola’s branding is strong, and they play to that in every single product video, commercial, or marketing graphic they put out.

Use this same tactic within your product branding content. If you create unique, recognizable branding, packaging, etc., you can incorporate those visuals into your brand videos to further solidify your product’s place in the market.

3. Starbucks

We have another great example of product branding with Starbucks. What started out as a simple coffee shop has evolved into an incredibly strong retail brand as well. Starbucks still has more than 35,000 stores worldwide, but the brand also has a wealth of products sold in-store, online, and through other retail stores:

• Coffee grounds

• Coffee creamer

• Coffee mugs

• Coffee cups

• Coffee pods

• Cold brew

The company had a rebrand in 2011 where they completely dropped the “Starbucks Coffee” verbiage from their logo and focus exclusively on the siren design.

Source

This was a controversial change, as it showed the company was secure enough in its brand recognition to not even need its name in its logo. And they were completely right.

The company now sells bags of coffee, large mugs, and cups, and so much more, with just the siren logo—and consumers recognize where it’s from immediately. This is an example of product branding done well.

As we can see in this product branding video below, it starts and ends with the Starbucks logo in clear view, pulling together the entire video and keeping it on brand.

If you want to try to replicate this strategy, create a logo that is easy to recognize and that you can incorporate within your product marketing videos, product packaging, and so much more. Keep it basic and build up a brand that is so strong and recognizable that customers know it at a glance.

4. McDonald’s

While not an eCommerce brand, McDonald’s still provides such a clearcut example of product branding that we couldn’t include it. (And we’ll share how to incorporate this into your eCommerce brand as well.)

In the 1990s and early 2000s, McDonald’s did a great job of catering certain product branding videos to younger generations. These videos highlighted their Happy Meal option specific for kids and the toys available within the meal.

The brand would utilize co-branding partnerships with various kids’ movies to offer different toys in their kids’ meals, too. Take a look at this commercial from 1995 to get an idea of how they’d position their Happy Meals and toys:

In fact, you can run through this entire playlist to view a number of McDonald’s Happy Meal commercials from the 90s and early 2000s.

This strategy surrounds selecting a submarket to target—in this instance, children. While their overarching messaging targets adults who can use their drive-thrus and purchase their menu items, their product branding strategy helped set Happy Meals apart from typical McDonald’s menu items.

Kids wouldn’t ask for McDonald’s—they’d ask for Happy Meals. This can be a great strategy for increasing purchases by creating submarkets to target or appealing to younger generations who will ask their parents for the product.

5. Amazon

We covered an example of an Amazon product branding video earlier with their Amazon Alexa product. This is just one product of many that Amazon does a great job of product branding with.

Some of their other products—that they’ve branded under the product name rather than the Amazon name—include:

• Prime Video

• Kindle

• Ring

• Alexa

The company does a great job of separating its various subsidiaries into its own brands. Ring, for example, is a doorbell and home security product with its own YouTube channel to further separate it from the core Amazon brand.

Here’s an example of one of their product videos:

It doesn’t mention Amazon at all—it focuses exclusively on the Ring brand and its newest product launch. This is one great way to help your products stand on their own legs—use the product name rather than the overarching brand name.

Create your own product branding video content

Promote your products through product branding videos and other marketing content that helps your brand stand out. Use your video marketing strategy to increase brand awareness, engage your audience, and—best yet—increase conversions.

Learn how Videowise can help you make even more sales through your video marketing efforts. With shoppable videos, it’s never been easier for your viewers to immediately make a purchase after seeing something they loved in your videos. Get started today.