Branded video content is a marketing video that features the brand, logo or product in every video clip.
7 Essential Steps to Make Branded Video Content
- Hire a professional stylist. Focus on the brand color palette.
- Have a dedicated person to care for the brand on set.
- Focus camera on brand, logo or product during filming.
- Camera framing allows for 16:9 and 4:5 aspect ratios.
- Photography will need framing and lighting adjustments.
- Include client and camera framing on the Zoom call.
- Allow for animation fixes in the budget.
We recently shot the branded video and photo Spring Campaign for LaMarca Prosecco featuring Michele Romanow, the youngest female entrepreneur on the Canadian version of Shark Tank, the Dragon’s Den.
Stylist is the Secret Star
When creating branded video content a professional stylist is as important as a good DP. A stylist focuses props and sets around the branded product color palette.
Our superstar stylist, Betsy, had 2.5 days of prep work in pre production. A half day with the client researching props, one full day for shopping and one full day removing stickers, cleaning glassware, organizing shots and packing each set into individual plastic containers. Plus one full day in post production for returns.
Dedicated Brand Person
Having one person on set whose sole job is to focus on the brand is essential. This person is different than your stylist, but it helps if this brand person has styling experience. He or she will interact with the client, and take care that every time the product is featured, the labels are straight, bottles are correct, and no details are overlooked during shooting. There are lots of itty bitty details to mind when featuring branded content videos.
Focus the Camera on the Celebrity or the Brand?
When featuring a person interacting with a brand, more than likely one or the other will be out of focus at some point. The closer you can place the two together (in the same plane / distance from the camera) the better off you will be. It is impossible to get both in focus all of the time. Use the highest aperture setting available.
Aspect Ratios for Branded Content
Branded Video Content requires exporting multiple aspect ratios in post production. One for YouTube at 16:9, and one for Facebook and Instagram at 4:5. Setting both crops on an exterior monitor will help.
Photographing Branded Content
Video is the priority. If you are like us, the client will want to squeeze in a list of photos too. Remember that photography will have to adapt to lifestyle lighting. Photographers may require a different angle than the video setup, especially if they’re lighting a celebrity. The 4:5 aspect ratio will be the priority for the client here. You’ll have to move fast.
Client AND Video Camera on Zoom
Include both your client AND the video framing on your Zoom call. More eyes on the shot are a good thing. There are oodles of details to get right, and your client will be helpful featuring their brand, and looking out for themselves better than you ever could.
Best Branded Content Video Production Company
We are almost perfect, 100% of the time, producing branded video content. On this gig, the tiniest 1/4” x 1/4” piece of paper label was smudged by the someone picking up the product during filming. No one caught it. Not us, not the PR company, not the client, and everyone had the camera frame front and center on the zoom call. Thankfully, we have animators on our team, at Maxime Photo and Video. Save a few hundred dollars in the budget for last minute animation fixes for your branded product. Our animated label repair is around the neck of the bottle, at the 0:06 second mark. Check out or branded video production below.
Interested in a video like the one above? Contact us here to find out what we can do for you.