By Darren Gilbert
“They need something to convey information quickly and effectively,” suggests Adrian Burger, creative director and co-founder at Blink Tower. By “something” he means video. And with good reason. A one to two-minute video can impart more information than your average print article. And in a fraction of the time. Plus, it presents an opportunity to engage with your customers while simultaneously educating them about your brand.
It is for these very reasons that Blink Tower has entrenched its core business in this space. A self-styled ‘explanation company’, Blink Tower makes short animated videos that explain businesses, products and ideas in a way that anybody can grasp. Burger elaborates: “People simply don’t buy what they don’t understand.”
You’d only have to refer to the oft-quoted story about the financial advisor and their client sitting at a coffee shop discussing money. Inevitably, a napkin gets pulled out; a stick figure is drawn and story is told. In a short space of time, complex ideas are broken down and the client will leave the meeting feeling confident and better equipped to make an informed decision. Now, add a coat of paint and a lick of polish and you’ve got Blink Tower.
It may sound very simple, but it’s not to be underestimated. “We want people to watch our videos and get comfortable with a new idea as quickly as possible,” says Burger. “The fact that we choose to do something like that with animation is a secondary consideration.” And besides, there is good grounding and reasoning behind it.
Burger explains: “Animation has this major advantage when it comes to suspending our disbelief. When a viewer sees an animated character, some part of their brain immediately goes ‘Okay, this is clearly symbolic of a kind of person. I’m not looking at this character’s clothing or hairstyle critically, or getting hung up on some detail about their face. Rather, what’s this character saying, doing, representing?’ Compare that to a live action production where you’ll pick up on someone’s mannerisms, how they talk or what they are wearing. While these may be small, insignificant things, they break your concentration.”
For any business hoping to sell or just get their point across, this break in focus is damaging. “With film, you have this immediate challenge of trying to distill something down despite all these distractions playing out in front of you,” explains Burger. “Animation doesn’t have to worry about that. There is no outside noise. While a live action production fights for your attention, animation keeps you focused on what’s important – the message.”
This simplicity of approach also extends into the creative process. “Instead of clients having to prepare a complicated creative brief, we give them a list of 20 easy questions to answer.” Armed with these answers and further research on the topic, the team starts brainstorming ideas, coming up with characters, dialogue and visuals to tell the story in the best way possible. From that point, it gets handed over to a scriptwriter before it is turned into a series of storyboard revisions.
“For a client - particularly one who has battled to explain what they do - it can be a thrill to see things laid out so clearly,” says Burger. Then comes the illustration and animation (with a few revisions here and there, and the final product is only deemed ‘finished’ once everyone is satisfied.
To say this is just for the sake of a business though would be to sell it short. Explainer videos are just as much for consumers as they are for a business.
This is about educating people. It’s about providing them with something that can help them. “In my mind, that is the ideal way to market to people,” says Burger. “A good explainer video is more a lesson – an education – than it is cheesy advertising from a particular company.”
It’s less hard sell, more hands-on practicality. And in a world where everyone is busy, they’ll appreciate getting the short version.
For more information on Blink Tower, visit www.blinktower.com. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook, on Twitter and/or on YouTube.