03 Video Trends

Brands such as Coca-Cola used video in record numbers in 2014 to throw themselves behind great causes, including the most talked-about social video challenge of the year, the Ice Bucket Challenge, which aimed to raise money for ALS.

2014 was the year that 13-year-old Little League Baseball pitching sensation Mo'ne Davis graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, and it was also the year that brands like Always decided to take on the derogatory term “… like a girl”.

The more emotionally moving a video ad is, the more likely we are to share it with our social networks. This was the year that funny videos gave way to videos that tugged at our heartstrings, like this one by UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s.

After launching video ads in 2014, the world’s largest social network, Facebook, became a serious challenger to YouTube in 2015. Brands such as BuzzFeed took advantage of Facebook’s feature-rich platform to develop content that targets niche audiences, like its cookery how-to videos for its food brand, Tasty.

This was the year that saw luxury fashion brands getting up to speed on YouTube, with resounding success. This terrific Jimmy Choo video, created with Artist Rafael Mantesso, became the YouTube video with the highest engagement rate upon release.

In 2015, only six of the top 100 YouTube channels were actually brands, but 2015 was the year that saw brands begin to use YouTubers such as JackAsk to promote their products and services to fans.

Facebook's 360-degree videos were introduced towards the end of 2015 but started to take off in 2016, with National Geographic being named as one of the top 10 performers on the platform.

Instagram’s 15-second video slots didn’t leave much room for story development, but brands like Ikea started to turn out superb short form video content as a result.

An explainer video helps users to understand how a product or service could make their lives easier, and in 2016 this sort of utility-focused online video took off, with brands like Spotify making excellent use of the format.

One of the most important 2017 video marketing trends was the explosion of brand video specifically designed to align brands with higher values and a sense of social duty. The New York Times used its ‘The Truth is Hard to Find’ campaign to highlight the importance of journalism in a world that is growing progressively more fractured.

Another of the video trends for 2017 was the use of video by brands like Volvo to tell stories that connect emotionally with customers, show their purpose and core values, and connect their products and services with an experience that transcends the mundane.

2017 was the year in which the number of mobile video views surpassed desktop. The combination of the proliferation of smartphones, cheap bandwidth, and a shift towards watching whatever, whenever and wherever we want, means that mobile views of online videos, like those by GoPro, were trending upwards drastically.

Top video marketing trends in 2018 included live video, whether on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. US retailer J. Crew, for example, regularly made use of live video on Instagram to offer exclusive deals for a limited time to faithful followers.

The popularly of the 1:1 screen ratio grew considerably in 2018, with brands such as Benefit Cosmetics creating mobile-optimized video that displayed best on their preferred platform.

Short-lived videos became a favourite of brands such as Daily Harvest because, although they may have a narrower reach, they create a sense of urgency for the audience, resulting in higher engagement rates.