Spring Brings Growth of New Vines

By Heather Stephenson, Senior Account Executive, Digital, Edelman Austin

As visual storytelling continues to be an important aspect of your full communications strategy, it is important to think beyond the standard product shot and minute-long video.

Earlier this year, Twitter launched a short-form video application for iPhone/iOS called Vine that allows users to record and share video in an active and growing “in-app” community. The videos are limited to 6.0 seconds, providing a “gif-like” effect. Vine offers an opportunity to capture timely events, showcase an atmosphere, or simply develop video art. The Vine platform emphasizes the significant role video will continue to play in content strategy and brand messaging through social media.

How Can Brands Use Vine?

Since the platform is still in its infancy, brands are experimenting with the best ways to leverage short-form video. As outlined on the Edelman Digital blog, Dominic Kirkwood highlighted how Urban Outfitters and General Electric (an Edelman client) have used Vine.

Urban Outfitters

An edgy high-street retailer focusing on trendy and cutting- edge fashion, Urban Outfitters (UO) is one of the most enthusiastic early adopters of Vine – 17,494 followers at the time of writing. If my illuminating Casio wristwatch from Urban Outfitters has taught me anything, it pays to be both cool and clever. Combining product demonstrations with a witty and playful context in the “Girls Gone Mild” video (http://seenive.com/v/923004362291294208),UO projects a cool corporate culture while creating engaging content that sells shirts.

However, it’s not all catwalk and product shots. Curating content around popular and trending in-app hashtags, UO owes much of the account success and community growth to the copious amounts of humor  and dog related videos that both humanize the brand and spotlight employees – I mean, who wouldn’t buy clothes from a brand that high-fives bulldogs?

General Electric

So, your brand or client doesn’t high-five bulldogs? Tough break, but don’t lose all hope just yet. 

General Electric, the sixth largest firm in the US (by gross revenue), is probably near the bottom of the list of brands you would expect to be flexing their creative muscle on the Vine platform. 

Publishing clever and interactive stop-motion content around their popular Twitter hashtags, GE creatively engages with the Vine and Twitter communities. GE also frequents a series of surprisingly cool “garage-science How-To’s” that appeal to pockets of users otherwise disengaged from the organization’s day-to-day operations.

Moving Forward

Upcoming platforms such as Vine provide an opportunity for brands to creatively tell their story, without the heavy price tag typically associated with traditional videography. The video also reaches consumers through a different medium, adjusting the way they consume information.