Two years ago, an Australian public service announcement prompted a cultural phenomenon that yielded a number one song, a series of app-based games, an ongoing comms campaign, a reduction in casualties on public transport networks and an earworm that will never die. The ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ video developed by McCann Australia for Metro Trains in Melbourne, took hold of the hearts and minds of its audience – and won a record five Grand Prix, 18 gold, three silver and two bronze awards at the Cannes Lions Festival.

Though not the first to use animation, not even the first to use it for public safety, Dumb Ways to Die capitalised on the advanced technologies available to animators, the rich history of brand/character associations and a thorough understanding of the film’s audience. Brands have long used characters and character animation to build brand awareness, recognition and affinity by aligning certain values or personality traits of the brand around a single or set of characters – the M&Ms characters, the Dulux Dog, Tony the Tiger, the meerkats, Captain Birdseye and 30 Communicate June 2015 Ronald McDonald are but a few of the most successful. Their presence in animated advertising is robust, yet the use of similar techniques for corporate communications purposes has become more prevalent recently.

“Whereas video just used to be in advertising or for a big spend, now it’s much more integrated into everyday communications,” says Stuart Simpson, owner of London-based production company Smart Party. He says there is a growing demand by corporate audiences – especially internally – for video content which has led to higher investment by corporate communications teams. The shift toward video reflects the saturated market for content online. People no longer have patience for content that doesn’t also suit their needs. Emotionally-driven, concise and effective video communications can achieve cut-through more easily than other methods. “People expect high impact and high visibility and a lot of content,” he adds.

Those brand mascots of old were one of the early ways in which companies put creativity to the test in brand communications. “Once you give something a name, you look at it in a completely different way,”

Gary Carse, creative director at London animation studio Carse Waterman says about character animation. “You familiarise yourself with it, with the brand.”

Guinness is the unofficial all-time leader in using brand icons and animation – usually mixed with live- action – to familiarise and define the brand. It’s history in mixing live-action and animation – which includes a beer-stealing seal and a herd of rampaging wave-bound horses – was extended with its Cannes Lions Grand Prix-winning spot, “The Cloud,” which debuted as part of the ‘Made of more’ brand positioning.

Nick Britton, senior brand manager, at Guinness said about the advert, “We think the new brand creative will resonate with people who are open- minded and alive to opportunity and it will inspire them to never settle for the ordinary. The idea of something being made of more is one that really reflects a shared attitude Guinness has with its drinkers who love the distinctive look and taste of Guinness and aspire to get the most out of every aspect of their lives. It’s not defined by a single age, class or demographic. Guinness has always been synonymous with iconic advertising and this new creative direction for the brand presents great territory to connect with consumers that never settle for the ordinary.”

Britton points to the way in which video can define the brand and improve communications with its target audiences. The live-action/animation blend is one that is also becoming more common, perhaps brought on by the slew of films featuring the technique, Jurassic World being the most recent example. Marco Forgione, chief executive of video and live events trade association EVCOM, says, “That combination of animation in post-production and live-action adds different layers into the film and its communications.” He adds, referencing Guinness’ history of success, “Animation allows you to do much more with a brand ambassador or a logo or a positioning.”

“Once you give something a name, you look at it in a completely different way. You familiarise yourself with it, with the brand”

The use of animation for external audiences is well- established. Yet its ability to speak to many audiences, and help build a brand, is a more recent concept. Tennent’s Lager, Scotland’s best-selling beer, used animation to create a brand world around its Wellpark Brewery in Glasgow.

Tennent’s deployed a group of animators, writers and directors to develop 30 short animations between 30 and 60 seconds centred around a fictional Scottish town called Wellpark. A kind of Simpsons-meets-Scotland, the situations are sarcastic and deeply funny as they tackle idiosyncrasies and humourous situations in modern Scottish life. The series will be released throughout the summer and is part of a larger Wellpark-driven content-based communiations campaign.

Tennent’s Lager’s brand development executive Jordan McKenna says, “At Tennent’s, we always try to keep things interesting – whether it’s music, sport or in bars, we’ve got a long history of innovating. When we started to think about kickstarting a creative campaign, we knew that we wanted to develop something bold, funny and original. Something just as much about entertaining the audience as it was about the brand.” He says the radical, open approach yielded fantastic results as the series is genuinely funny and some sketches, completed in under 24 hours drove flexibility within the team. The series has also begun to generate conversation among viewers, “We’ve had lots of positive feedback from consumers who all have their own favourite episodes,” McKenna adds.

As Dean Beswick, creative partner at Gorilla Gorilla! – which took home a gold at this year’s EVCOM Screen Awards for best animation – says, “Animation can really stretch into quite amazing things.” The agency’s winning entry, ‘Information is precious,’ for Informa’s internal audience, featured a robot main character and customisable voice-over allowing for simple translation. The Infobot character was also given life beyond the screen as it has since become the star of the internal communications team’s information security programme.

An app that startup Smart Party worked with recently took the launch video and used the design and character from the film to form the basis of its new brand. In a similar instance, an IT company undertaking a rebrand used an animation to launch a new product. That video then informed part of the rebrand’s design strategy.

Simpson says, “Audiences expect content now and animation is part of that rich experience of the corporate brand.” Brand building is often the target for corporate video as companies seek to build stronger ties with their employees, explain difficult concepts – as with Informa’s video – or reach new audiences externally. This is driven by the new desire to interact with corporate content in the same way as with other online content.

Despite the success animation, and video more generally, has had in corporate communications. There are still myths and misperceptions that pervade. One is that animation is costly and time-consuming. All production companies interviewed disputed this. While animation can cost both time and money – on the Pixar end of the scale, for example – corporate work can be undertaken under strictly budgeted clocks and wallets. In fact, that misconception can also be an advantage for companies that do choose animation, Carse says, as it is perceived as a big investment.

He also points out that animation can boost SEO as YouTube generate views of branded content, and can even bring in advertising revenue. “Never have you been able to create an advert and stick it online and make money just from people watching it,” Carse says. “Having YouTube and being able to monetise things has changed the way the entire world looks at videos and video marketing.”

The remaining myth is both true and false: that saying animation doesn’t hold as much emotional resonance as live-action film. Studio Ghibli masterpiece ‘Grave of the Fireflies,’ the post-WWII story of Japanese siblings struggling to survive is proof enough that animation can have a powerful emotional impact. Bugs Bunny may make people laugh and Toy Story make people think, but animation can also make people cry. And, more importantly, have a lasting emotional impact – regardless of what emotion it evokes. For the Wellpark series, it’s comedy and for Guinness it’s connection.

But, live-action may ease viewers emotional connection. “It might just be me,” Forgione says. “But where you’re looking at considerable empathy or sympathy for characters, I think that seeing a human actually going through challenging or difficult experiences is still going to have more impact than an animated character. That’s not to say you can’t be effective using animation, but it would be different.”

The future may hold even further developments, though, says Forgione, “I think we’re looking at the next big hurdle and opportunity which is around integration with virtual reality.” He says virtual reality will take the corporate film industry further than ever imagined before. “It’s a hugely exciting time for our sector and this industry and the realisation of the power and influence of film and film which is genuinely engaging and emotionally affecting, will require more and more people and the filmmakers whom EVCOM represents,” he adds. 

Yet, as animation once proved its worth in the cinemas, and branded characters proved theirs in the world of advertising, so corporate animation has now proven its worth – and ultimately its ROI – in communications.