What corporate videos can learn from Rom-coms

Look, we all love a good rom-com — even the really cheesy ones. ESPECIALLY the really cheesy ones.

But it turns out that these trifles have a lot to offer us beyond a simple, straightforward, and occasionally heartwarming tale of two people making it work despite the odds. Well, the odds aren’t that daunting, to be honest: their problems can usually be solved by direct and unambiguous communication.

Which, we guess, is kind of what made us think that the rules of a rom-com can more or less directly apply to corporate videos. With love in the air today, let’s see how these three fundamental rules of the genre apply to the world of live-action and animated brand films.

Same, but different:

As with most rom-coms, our main characters are usually the same (at heart) but different (on the surface). If you’ve seen When Harry Met Sally, Notting Hill, or To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before you’ll know what I mean. Our hero is usually some kind of dashing lunkhead with a softer side, and our heroine usually paints or reads books or whatever. The point is, for all their superficial differences, they share a common objective. It’s the same for making a corporate video: you and your client need a common goal. Most good videos are designed with one key objective in mind, be it lead gen, brand awareness or explainer.

But you’ve also got to be different — to stand out from the crowd and be noticed. When commissioning your next video think about how the best live-action and animated productions all do the same thing (speak and engage with their audience through a clear message) yet strive to be different in style and approach.

I want, you want:

We all know that point in a rom-com where our love interests seem to want different things. One of them wants one thing or person, i.e. Bridget Jones wanting Daniel Cleaver, and the other love interest (Mark Darcy) wants, well Bridget. It seems that they’ll never get on the same page — until they do.

Communication is key and the same applies to corporate videos. As a leading video production company, we advise to communicate on the objectives of your video project before running into making one. What do you want your video to do? What do you want your video to say? How might you want it to look? It might seem obvious but think about what you want before diving head first into any video project. Trust us, you’ll thank us for it!

Live, learn, love:

Don’t you just love the end of a rom-com? Our love interests have come out the other side happy and content, having learned some fundamental truths about themselves and/or the other person. The same applies to video commissions. If you work with a good video production company, you’re sure to have a positive experience and hopefully have been exposed to some new things that you can carry forward into the future.

You might see your business in a completely new light now it has that shiny explainer animation on your homepage. You might have been brave and tried a new approach to filmed content that’s getting you lots of love on socials. Whatever it is, your video project should have been an experience — a positive one — that creates excitement about where you’re headed next.

Originally published at toplinefilm.com on February 13, 2019.