Animation & PR – The Perfect Match to Light up your Comms – Guest Blog by Christine MacKay
Posted On - 16/12/2020
Marmite and toast (tea and toast?), Ru Paul and drag, Barack and Michelle. Certain things in life just go well together. But, what about PR and animation?
But seriously, animation should be considered an essential element in any business PR strategy, from brand awareness and content creation to thought leadership and media relations. You may be tired of hearing this, but the world has gone digital, arguably before the lockdown mayhem ensued. So, there’s no going back and people and businesses are embracing this wonderful, innovative new landscape, however, it does mean that getting eyes on your brand through this noise, is, well, more difficult. This is where the combination of PR and animation can triumph to engage this ‘captive’ market.
Through PR, a company builds brand awareness, reputation, increases engagement, portrays itself in its market and stays at the forefront of their audience’s mind. The more a brand is in front of a person, the more top of mind they stay.
PR is about tailored engagement to targeted demographics and interacting with potential customers by gaining visibility in appropriate media on all platforms, however, in today’s climate, it is not enough to be visible – Brands need to be memorable which is where animation can work wonders.
This is because the human brain absorbs visual information 60,000x faster than plain text and this is heightened when these visuals are in motion. Using animated idents, explainer videos and logos are all ways in which animation can make brands become memorable and thus increase their brand awareness.
Take Netflix as an example. What do you think of when someone talks about Netflix? The ident? The intro sound? The dynamic logo? All of these memorable aspects are essentially part of the design of the animated logo ident and it is one of the strongest examples of corporate identity out there today. It’s the first thing you see and hear when you click on the user profile and it’s beautifully designed for both memorability, re-watchability and to convey the corporate identity of a forward-thinking company, all of which heightens brand awareness, brand trust and improves upon user experience. Before any further explanation has started, the viewer already has a feeling of excitement about the brand.
“The new ident animation reflects the diversity and variety of our content. Our favorite part is when the Netflix symbol breaks out into an array of colors–which is inspired by the spectrum of stories, emotions, languages, fans and creators that collectively make up who we are as a brand.” https://about.netflix.com/en/news/your-new-netflix-ident-animation-cue-netflix-sound
Corporate identity, however, is not just about strong brand visuals. Thought leadership content is essential to build trust and respect for growing ambitious companies.
So, when using PR to get an audience for an event, to get your business featured at an expo, to deliver research reports, provide training resources or to even generate thought provoking blogs and social media posts, don’t forget to include static or animated visuals.
In the current absence of face-to-face opportunities, industry leaders are moving past normal looking PowerPoint presentations and capitalising on a more futuristic and engaging animated approach. Expos, awards ceremonies and conferences that can’t happen in person are using impressive types of virtual events through 3D virtual staging, Augmented Reality (AR), 2D & 3D animated presentations, 3D virtual event stands, animated product visuals, interactive presentation design, Virtual Reality (VR) event environments, in fact the list continues to grow.
So, combine the power of PR’s wordsmithing with animation’s ability to convey complex messages whether abstract or photorealistic and get your brand to stay in the forefront of your target audience’s minds.
