About Branded movie production servicesWhat is the Branded Movie Service?
A branded movie is a video that a company produces for branding purposes.
Corporate videos come in many forms — TV commercials, promotional videos (PVs) and, in recent years, YouTube videos — but commercials and YouTube videos in particular tend to be short. With information content increasing explosively, the prevailing view is that videos won't be watched unless they are short.
On the other hand, promotional videos made by companies can adequately explain the brand, products and services, but PVs tend to be long to begin with and have many drawbacks, such as “nobody watches them” and “getting them viewed requires expensive advertising.”
As a result, short videos, typified by commercials and YouTube videos, have either crammed in too much information or, prioritizing sales, could only convey superficial explanations of products and services.
So how can you convey the fundamental information behind products and services — the brand?
One answer is the branded movie.
The key to a successful branded movie is “content that moves viewers.” If people want to watch it and find it interesting, they will watch it no matter how long it is, even with a small advertising budget.
4 benefits of producing a branded movie
By producing a branded movie, companies gain the following benefits.
01 Raises corporate awareness
Through a branded movie, a company can gain positive recognition of its existence. “Awareness” is a company's first touchpoint with customers.
Raising corporate awareness leads to a proportional increase in sales.
02 Wins fans
Getting people to hold a good image of the “company” rather than of a “specific product” is a major business advantage. The more fans who think, “If it's this company's product, I can trust it,” or “I want to actively use this company's services,” the more long-term sales you can expect. As a company's fans grow, customer expansion through word of mouth can also be expected.
03 Can be expected to deliver high cost-effectiveness
Branded movies have the chance to spread on social media.
Recently, there have even been cases of branded movies being nominated at international film festivals. Branded movies have the potential to generate unexpected cost-effectiveness.
04 Improves employee loyalty
Branded movies also help improve employee loyalty. Once your branded movie is complete, actively share it within the company. Higher employee motivation also leads to higher productivity.
Examples of our productionsExamples of our productions
01 Cleverly Home Co., Ltd. FY2023 Communication
Cleverly Home is a house builder headquartered in Chiba Prefecture. When we received a request for a TV commercial, we proposed producing a branded movie alongside it; the client readily agreed, and the project began.
Through repeated interviews with the client, we learned that they wanted to honor their approach of “homebuilding centered on tiles,” so we decided to produce a branded movie themed around tiled houses. Although it is a branded movie, we hired a film crew for production and cast the renowned actor Eiji Okuda in the lead role, positioning the branded movie as a short film.
For the commercial, we kept production costs down by using footage from the film. The TV commercial was structured to both draw viewers to the film and promote the product, designed first to build awareness by directing viewers to the Cleverly Home website. By offering free viewing of the film on the website, we communicated the “philosophy of homebuilding” that Cleverly Home wanted to convey and fostered positive brand sentiment.
Overall communication plan for Cleverly Home Overall communication plan for CLEVERLY HOME
02 Regional promotion (Shimane Prefecture, Unnan City, Tanabe Co., Ltd., etc.)
This project is a branded movie that aims to promote not a specific organization or company, but the brand of the region — and indeed of Japan as a whole. It began when our producer visited Unnan City in Shimane and encountered “tatara ironmaking,” a method of making iron handed down since ancient times. We believed that the environmentally conscious philosophy of tatara ironmaking could offer a major hint toward solving environmental problems.
After repeated interviews with local people, we decided to produce a branded movie that honors “ironmaking.” Although this work is a branded movie, we hired a film crew for its production. A foreign actor was cast in the lead role, and the well-known supporting actor Susumu Terajima was cast as the ironmaking craftsman. This branded movie was also positioned as a short film.
By telling the story of tatara ironmaking as seen through the eyes of a foreigner, we structured it so that it can resonate with audiences overseas as well. The work is currently being submitted to overseas film festivals, as part of an effort to have it seen by more people around the world.
We believe that if tatara ironmaking becomes well known, it will not only attract inbound tourism but also support the branding of Shimane Prefecture and Unnan City, as well as the organizations and companies that support tatara ironmaking.
We hope this has given you a better understanding of branded movies. Strategic Partners is a company with strengths in video marketing. In addition to video production planning, scenario and storyboard creation, filming and editing, we also offer a tool for centrally managing videos distributed on social media and a tool for measuring video effectiveness. We also have a track record of producing branded movies. If your company is considering producing a branded movie, please feel free to consult us.