Raising the Standard: How can motion help brands to stand out in a noisy world?

By Lewis Nolan (BGN’s motion guru aka Senior Motion Designer) 

With more of our lives spent on screens, there is an ever-increasing amount of noise as more businesses and brands look to compete for our attention.

In this ever-competitive environment, how can brands cut through the clutter to ensure they stand out and grab our attention? The answer is through motion….

And at BGN, we are on a mission to make motion an essential asset in a brand’s toolkit. A ‘must have’ not just a ‘nice to have’.

Why? Well firstly because we are instinctively drawn towards animated content but also because video and motion is such a powerful tool to succinctly tell a brand’s story in an impactful and engaging way. Imagine your brand’s distinctive assets coming to life and moving.

And the other big benefit of motion is that it is flexible. It can flow through all of your key touchpoints from website, social media, ad campaigns, mobile apps, etc…

There are many different ways brands can use motion and we wanted to pick out six of our favourites from the last few years from a range of different industries that we believe really raised the standard.

1. Showcasing a new launch/re-launch

JKR – Burger King

When an established brand such as Burger King does a full rebrand, it’s a big deal. And the need to promote it well and show it off to your clients and customers is essential.

Motion allows audience to digest a lot of information into a short amount of time. From digital to print, burger wrappers to dinner trays, storefronts to tone of voice, every element can be highlighted and amped up in equal measure to give your audience a true introduction to the future of your brand.

2. Making data engaging

Vucko – Spotify Wrapped

With an abundance of dry and dull data out there, Spotify’s Wrapped found a way to prevent listeners from having to read through lengthy paragraphs of content and instead made each user’s listening trends feel engaging, personal and playful.

A design style that features diverse combinations, is adaptable for all devices and with plenty of flexibility to tailor to any listener’s unique results.

3. Breaking down sensitive or misunderstood topics

Animade – AIDS Map

The stigma around HIV led to widespread fear of the disease in the 80’s and there still remains a culture of ignorance and misinformation surrounding it.

Animade’s challenge was to raise awareness and demystify this topic. Motion was the perfect tool to deliver this message clearly and concisely with a minimal style to keep it appropriate to the subject matter.

4. Guiding users through a complex process

Gunner – Google Home

Guiding people through a process can be long winded, tricky and let’s face it boring to say the least. From onboarding new hires or guiding users through a new system update, these are essential but often arduous tasks.

For Google Home Set Up, motion was used to enliven and visualise the process, keeping users engaged as well as reassured they are on the right track. These seamless loops depict each stage, keeping them clearly distinct from each other, retaining a sense of progress.

5. Conveying your brand’s purpose & mission

Tony’s Chocolonely

Many brands have an interesting story to tell and a strong ethos behind their business. For Tony’s, their admirable mission is to reduce inequalities in the chocolate industry, and this comes through across all of its touchpoints from their product, their packaging, their comms and even their annual advent calendar (with one chocolate missing!).

Motion is an effective tool to truly bring to life the brand’s personality and ownable assets to really jump off the page and grab attention in a way that a long-written manifesto couldn’t. In this instance the motion style is as chunky as their chocolate and as brazen and bold as their message.

6. Creating emotion through storytelling

Giant Ant – TED – Countdown

As part of a series of environmental explainer videos to raise awareness of the urgency of the climate crisis, TED leant into engaging motion graphics to to do the job for them with the help of a compelling voiceover by American actress Kristen Bell.

The videos help to explain and simplify certain elements of the climate crisis and visualise them as translatable metaphors, along with a clean art style and radiant colours that brighten and heat up as the story unfolds.

So there you have it, six ways different brands are using motion to tell their stories and news to engage and stand out.

Get in touch if you want to know more about how we can help you use the power of motion with your business or brand. We have our own in-house motion team who are always eager to discuss with you ways and opportunities to bring your brand and it’s stories and news to life.

We’re BGN, a brand led design and creative agency and we help ambitious brand set the standard in their space.