We grew up on cartoons, and seeing animation of any kind now touches our inner child and sparks up nostalgia. You have seen dozens of animated ads of the characters on your cereal boxes. And didn’t they make you like the product (and the brand) more than those that didn’t do this?
Animation is entertaining, and as far as imagination goes, it’s limitless. We perceive 80% of information visually, making video the most powerful medium in the world.
Animated commercials are usually 15 to 60 seconds, with the recommended length being a maximum of 2 minutes.
Similar to ordinary commercials, they normally address a problem in the beginning and go on to tell us how they can solve it. The storyline used in animated ads is more interesting and with interesting characters and a neat voice-over, their power in marketing is hard to ignore.
But when did this convincing source of imagination first happen?
A brief history of commercial animated videos
Animated ads have been around for a while. They were frequently used in the 1940s when their potential within the advertising world was discovered. Some say Botany Lambs paved the way with their tie commercial in 1941.
But the first animated advert ever could be Arthur Melbourne-Copper’s stop motion “Matches an Appeal” in 1899. In the video, a matchstick-made man is shown writing the name of the company, advertising for matchsticks to be sent out to U.S. troops.
Many of the brand mascots we know today were introduced in the 1950s and used in animated TV commercial videos., like Tony the Tiger and Mr. Clean.
As the Internet entered our lives, the usage of videos skyrocketed and kept growing ever since.
The goals of making animated commercial videos
For any business, the ultimate goal is increasing sales, but the following objectives come along with it:
Product or service launch
Do you have a new product you want to introduce to the world? With an elaborate video, you can announce the launch of your product, give details about them, and show what makes them special.
Raising brand awareness
Your brand could be the best in a certain industry, but without people knowing about its qualities and advantages, it wouldn’t really matter. If you remind your customers why you’re still a good choice for them and draw in new people and let them know of your brand, your business will be more successful.
Increase engagement
Animated videos, especially those that include your brand character, can captivate the audience’s attention, entertain them, and fortify your brand in their minds.
How do animated commercials help your business?
So far, we have explained that animation is an infinite source of imagination with no shortage of room to maneuver. Let’s take a deeper look at the benefits of using animated commercials.
Brand recognition: Videos, more than anything, reach your audience and help your brand to be known.
Brand remembrance: The National Institutes of Health says people remember animations 21 days longer than static images and text.
Cost-effectiveness: Unlike live-animation videos, commercial ads are more affordable and produced in one studio.
Loyal customer base: By grasping your customers’ attention, you can make loyal clients out of them who will keep buying from you.
Eliciting nostalgia: Animation, of any kind, revives our strong bond with those we loved in our childhoods.
Reinforcing marketing: Animated explainer videos boost your already-strong marketing campaign and increase leads and conversions.
Comprehensive topic handling: There is basically not a single topic that animated videos aren’t able to cover.
Easy shareability: Once produced, you can share your animated ads on different media and platforms for more views and engagement. On social media, for instance, 64% of consumers make a purchase after watching branded videos.
Animated ads in businesses and marketing
The days of banner ads and pamphlets are seemingly over for companies. Magazines and newspapers have fallen behind the most in ad spending. Today, another elephant has stepped in the room to promote the latest products or services of businesses. Goes without saying that the giant we’re talking about is none other than video marketing.
And why not? The viewer is entertained and learns about a product/service more easily, while the business creatively gets its message across to a wider audience.
Viewers prefer animation to talking head clips and absorb 95% of the message while watching a video. Sales and marketing are no exceptions.
However, bland videos wouldn’t do the trick with so many businesses trying to get their share of the audience’s attention.
Storytellers win the audience’s hearts, not truth-tellers.
The good news is, thanks to the Internet, your videos can be rapidly forwarded and shared. What makes it hard, however, is you’re not the only one doing this.
So, the fight for eyeballs is on!
Tips for a more effective animated commercial
While leaving the production of your animated ads in the hands of a trusted animation studio, remember the following hints to get better results for your money’s worth:
Avoid user cognitive overload: If your product or service has multiple features, try to keep the video simple anyhow, and don’t bombard the viewer with lots of data.
Tell a captivating story: The qualities of what you’re offering should be intertwined with an interesting story in a video (sell your story to sell your products).
Start strong, be brief!: The first 8 seconds of your video is the most important part. Plus, the audience’s engagement decreases after 2 minutes.
Have your own brand mascot: Brand mascots are a one-time investment and will help your business for years to come.
Use believable characters: Your message may be complex, but your characters shouldn’t. Try to go for characters that are understood by most people.
Who said animation is only for children?
Although children seem to be the sole targets of animators, there is a growing acceptance among grown-ups to watch animation. Animated films speak to adults on a different level, allowing them to explore new cultures and stories. Some even satisfy their artistic personality by watching animation. We, as children, enjoy cartoons because of the way they look and their humorous characters.
Another reason why adults spend time on animation is that they can watch it with their children and share the enjoyment. According to Statista, adults aged between 18-49 make up 60% of the viewers of Cartoon Network. Knowing this, marketers can rest assured their animated commercial will be viewed by any adult who is entertained by animation.
Animated ads market size & future
The market size of 3D Animation alone will reach USD 47,021 Million by 2030, compared to a share of 16,257 in 2021.
Data suggests that the usage of other types of animated commercial videos will also keep growing in the future. According to customerthink, there has been a stounding 800% global increase in ad-supported videos in the past year alone.
To further understand the expected growing demand for animated ads, consider these by Hubspot:
- 99% of marketers who already use video content for businesses want to continue doing so.
- 65% of marketers who don’t use videos at the moment say they’ll join soon.
- 85% of consumers want to see more video content from brands.
Get on your video marketing A game
Now that you know how impactful animated videos are, you can start planning for a better video marketing campaign and expect your business to grow.
Allen Rafiee
Allen is the Senior blog writer at Dream Farm Studios. In the five years he has been writing for startups and big companies, he challenged himself to learn all he could about digital marketing and finally became a key member of the Marcom team. When he's not doing all of that, you can find him teaching different languages, learning new recipes, and watching cool documentaries about, well, anything!