‘Silent videos’ are here to stay, but brands must do more | M&M Global

‘Silent videos’ are here to stay, but brands must do more

Brands must work harder to find the right creative solution for ‘silent videos’, according to a panel of video experts speaking at this year’s Cannes Lions festival.

L-R: Barcroft, Wood, Waldock, Green
L-R: Barcroft, Wood, Waldock, Green

Sarah Wood, co-founder and co-CEO of Unruly, said that too few advertisers are adapting their creative ideas to suit consumers who mostly allow videos to stream without the sound on.

“With silent video, it’s about visuals, helping someone to tap on and activate sound. This is critical for the advertising industry. Maybe 80% consumers, if they see an ad with sound on, they instantly get rid of it,” said Wood.

Wood was joined on-stage at the News UK yacht by British rapper Professor Green, Yolande Waldock, a member of the Lexus global brand team, and Sam Barcroft, the founder of YouTube video news channel Barcroft Media.

Waldock discussed the huge success of Lexus’ ‘Hoverboard’ video clip (see below), which she said had been intended to bring about additional awareness and a new, more emotional connection with consumers.

“The project is a brand campaign, essentially, and bringing awareness to Lexus. We don’t measure it by sales; we can’t. We look at it in terms of ROI in sentiment, and shares, and comments. We read things,” said Waldock.

“Traditionally we’re a brand that has been seen as quite rational, so we wanted to change the way people see us. The series about authenticity, doing it for real.”

And Wood insisted that, despite claims to the contrary from some media owners, engagement is the most important metric for judging the success of video content: “Does engagement drive business metrics? Absolutely. Emotional intensity drives memorability, and long term business results.”

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