We make a lot of brand videos at Definition. Which means we also have a lot of conversations with clients about what makes a good one.
We get asked the same questions over and over. What should we include? Who’s it for? How do we make it successful? All good questions. Important questions.
But we’ve noticed something. A lot of agencies will tell clients exactly what they want to hear.
“Yes, we can fit all 47 of your key messages into 60 seconds!”
“Absolutely, it’ll go viral!”
“Of course everyone will love it!”
That’s not us.
We’re not here to nod along and take your money. Videos people might actually want to watch. And sometimes that means saying it straight – even if it’s not what you want to hear.
So here are the common questions we get asked, along with two sets of answers: the terrible advice we see other agencies give (or the terrible assumptions clients sometimes make), and what we’d actually do.
Q: What should we include in our brand video?
Another agency says:
Everything! Your company history, your mission, your products, your services, your office dog, that time your CEO climbed Kilimanjaro for charity, and definitely that quote about “excellence” and “going the extra mile.” You’ve got 90 seconds – use them wisely!
Our advice:
Pick one thing. Seriously. One message, one story, one emotion you want people to feel. A brand video isn’t a corporate Wikipedia entry. It’s not even an advert, really. It’s a chance to make people feel something about your brand – trust, excitement, pride, belonging, curiosity. That emotional response is what sticks long after they’ve forgotten the facts and stats.
If you try to say everything, people will remember nothing. And they’ll probably stop watching after 12 seconds anyway. So what’s the one thing that matters most? Start there.
Q: Who’s our audience?
Another agency says:
Everyone! You want this to work for potential customers, existing customers, investors, recruits, your mum, that journalist you’ve been trying to impress. Make it appeal to 18-65 year olds across all demographics. Universal appeal is the goal!
Our advice:
If you’re talking to everyone, you’re talking to no one. Pick your primary audience and make the video for them. Specifically them. What do they care about? What’s their problem? What do they need to hear? Everyone else is secondary. A video that makes your actual target audience feel something will always beat a bland video that tries to please everyone and moves no one.
Q: How should we write the script?
Another agency says:
Get all your key stakeholders in a room – marketing, sales, product, leadership, legal, compliance, that person from finance who has “thoughts” – and make sure everyone’s happy with every single word. If it takes 47 rounds of amends, that’s just thoroughness.
You could also send us a rough idea of what you want to say and we can chuck it into AI and hope for the best… that will probably do the job.
Our advice:
Appoint one decision maker. Video by committee is where creativity goes to die. You end up with something so safe, so watered down, so desperate not to offend anyone internally that it does absolutely nothing externally.
At Definition, we work with our team of experts and writers to craft scripts that actually sound human. Together, we collaborate with you to drive the right message forward – the one that’ll land with your audience, not just tick boxes for your stakeholders. Get input, sure. But one person needs to own the vision and make the final call.
And as for AI? We embrace it, but we don’t just chuck rough ideas at it and run with the first output. We’re experts take the time to know your brand’s nuances, your audience’s pain points, or what makes your message genuinely compelling. Then we expertly prompt AI to get the best out of it.
For us, AI’s a smart assistant, not the script writer. It’s there to help us iterate faster, explore different angles, or punch up a line.
Q: What about the visuals?
Another agency says:
Stock footage is your friend! Nothing says “authentic brand story” like footage of diverse people in business casual having an implausibly good time in a meeting room. Throw in some time-lapses of cities, some hands shaking, someone laughing at a laptop.
Our advice:
Show something real. Real people from your company, real customers, real locations, real moments. The visuals should do half the storytelling work. If you can mute the video and still get a sense of what you’re about, you’re onto something.
Now, we’re not saying stock footage is always the enemy. Sometimes budget or logistics mean it makes sense. But we’ll guide you to use carefully considered stock that actually fits your story, your brand and feels intentional, not lazy. We can layer in motion graphics, brand colours, bespoke animations – all the things that make it feel distinctly yours, not like something pulled from the same library everyone else is using.
Generic stock footage screams “we couldn’t be bothered” louder than you think. Thoughtful visuals – whatever the source – whisper “we care about the details.”
Q: How do we make it go viral and measure success?
Another agency says:
Add some trending music, maybe throw in a meme reference, keep it short and snappy, post it everywhere, and boom you’re viral. Doesn’t matter if people watched for 3 seconds or 3 minutes. A view is a view. Stick that number in your end-of-year report and call it a win.
Our advice:
Stop trying to make it go viral. Instead, make something genuinely good that resonates with your actual audience. Then – and this is the bit people forget – have an actual distribution strategy. Where does your audience hang out? LinkedIn? Instagram? Your website? Email? Plan for that. Seed it properly.
And here’s how you measure success: forget vanity metrics. Views mean nothing without context. What actually matters is:
- Did people watch it all the way through?
- Did it change perception?
- Did it drive the behaviour you wanted – whether that’s signing up, getting in touch, or just remembering who you are?
Set proper success metrics before you start filming. Make them about impact, not numbers. A video that gets 1,000 views but lands you 10 perfect clients is infinitely more successful than one that gets 100,000 views and does absolutely nothing for your business.
Q: We don’t have a massive budget. Can we still make something good?
Another agency says:
Well, you get what you pay for! If you want quality, you need the big budget. Otherwise, you’re looking at something pretty basic. One video, one message, take it or leave it.
Our advice:
Budget matters, but smart thinking matters more. We’ll help you get the most bang for your buck by making your content modular from the start. That means planning a shoot that gives you multiple assets, not just one hero video.
Think about it: one day of filming can give you a main brand video, cut-downs for social, behind-the-scenes content, testimonial clips, website headers, email assets – the works. We’ll storyboard with versatility in mind. We’ll capture extra b-roll. We’ll interview people in ways that give you soundbites you can use in more that just one video.
It’s about being clever with what you’ve got. A modest budget with smart planning will always beat a big budget with no strategy. We’ll make sure every penny works harder, and every piece of content has multiple lives across multiple channels. That’s not corner-cutting. That’s just good sense.
The real answer to “How do you create a brand video?”
You start with strategy. You get clear on what you’re trying to achieve and who you’re trying to reach. You tell a story that actually means something. You make it look and sound like you give a damn. And you put it in front of people who’ll care. Groundbreaking stuff, we know.
Want to make a brand video that doesn’t make people want to gouge their eyes out?
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