How bitesize videos are changing the way brands communicate

Who would have thought that the launch of micro video was going to revolutionise the way we think?

Less than 20 seconds of space is being filled with so many great and creative ideas, allowing good concepts to grow, and more importantly, allowing you and I to become part of them. 

The power of crowdsourced video projects is on the rise. Now more than ever we can see examples of campaigns that use video to tell stories that come to life through the involvement of an online community.

It was all given a kickstart with the launch of micro video (Vine and Instagram), which is now taking over the way we and brands communicate with one another. 

Have a look at how video is sneaking into our daily lives, where brands and society work together to create something that emphasises the role of creativity.

Airbnb's first short film made entirely of Vines

Who would think that a consumer created film about air travel could be so much fun?

Airbnb at last revealed the very much anticipated 'Hollywood and Vines' short film, directed via Twitter and shot entirely on Vine. 

Airbnb found a rather creative way to use this channel for marketing purposes by adding to it a new flavour: crowdsourcing.

The five minute movie was made out of over 750 Vine submissions from all over the world. To create this first ever global experiment, Airbnb's social media team was turned into a directing team who provided social users with storyboard shot directions which you can view here.

People from around the world were asked to share Vine stories about travel and adventure using the hashtag #AirbnbHV, noting which Vine shot cover they were submitting (#S1, #S2, etc).

The Vine-only movie premiere took place on Thursday the 12th at 9:55pm, bringing a lot of happiness for those whose Vines were included in it. Now the question is, is Airbnb the king of Vines?

BBC Newsnight turns its viewers into reporters

Recently, BBC Newsnight gave its viewers the opportunity to record and submit a video that had the chance to appear on the program or on their website.

The project was promoted on the BBC website and social media, and was run between Monday 2nd to Friday 6th September. The viewers were encouraged to record a short video (30 seconds or less) using their mobile or tablet.

The project was inspired by journalist David Grossman who believes that micro video has the potential to revolutionise the world. Through this project, the BBC wanted to encourage creativity within a limited recording space and prove that Vine has already started revolutionising our society.  

From the buzz on Twitter it seems like the campaign received a good response, although the tweet shared by BBC Newsnight showing a Vine capture of Paxman's response to the idea of his involvement in Vine-ing, tells something rather different.

Well, not everybody has to be Vine crazy, right?  

McDonald's Canada adds a pinch of salt to the meaning of creativity

It looks like McDonald's Canada challenged enthusiasts of its food as well by taking them on a  writing exercise with a '140 Characters Films' campaign.

The company asked fans to pitch short film ideas using Twitter's 140 characters and supporting them with a hashtag  #MakeMyFilm. The film idea had to include the McDonald's 'food crew': McNuggets, French Fries, Big Mac, McFlurry, and McWrap, acting in the most imaginative scenario.

As crazy as it might sound, the challenge was worth participating in as the winning pitches were made into very funny little movies which you can view from the McDonald's Canada website.

They are definitely worth watching to see how greatly the Twitter concepts were converted into fantastic films. Plus, those who didn't make it to the movie received other prizes like private movie screenings, movie passes, and movie-theater gift cards.

To bring this campaign to life, McDonald's Canada teamed up with agency Tribal Worldwide in Toronto, which resulted in really amusing animations, which can please both adults and children.

Lexus snaps first collaborative film

Lexus came up with a brilliant idea about how to make this summer and its new product, Lexus 2014 IS, more memorable.

During the seventh worldwide Instameet in July, over 200 Instagrammers and auto enthusiasts were invited to take part in the first collaboratively created stop-motion film using Instagram photos. 

Participants, gathered at Angel Stadium in Anaheim in California, were asked to use their mobile devices to take and share photos on Instagram with specific hashtags.

Photographers also had the chance to pick where in the video sequence they should be included by using a special hashtag e.g #frame203.

If that is not good enough, the automaker, with some help from agency Team One, managed to digitally sequence together the movie on the same day.

'LexusInstafilm' is not just the first of its kind but also an example of creativity within a large group of strangers, which managed to produce something so impressive in just a single day. For more insights check the #lexusinstafilm hashtag or @lexusinstafilm account.

O2 & its Vine Film Festival

After the success of Tribeca's Film Festival and the NowTV Smallest Film Festival, which were all about Vine, O2 decided to make their own Vine Film Fest.

During three days in July the company did a few really clever recitations of famous movie sequences, while social media users were asked to guess what they were.

Next, the online community was encouraged to find within themselves a bit of Spielberg's talent, and produce their own recreations of movie scenes. Participants had a week to spur their creativity and come up with some eye catching videos in order to win £100 in Odeon cinema vouchers. 

According to the competition announcement on the O2 website, five winners were supposed to be announced on Thursday 18th July, but I can't find any announcement online.

If there was indeed no announcement, then its sad that the promise was not fulfilled, even if there were only 20 submissions. It's a pity it didn't do better, as most of O2's campaigns are something to talk about.  

Fundraising with a community inspired project

Bite size videos are opening the doors to new and never tried before projects that could be used by all sorts of brands and companies, even non-profit organisations.

We don't have to look far to find examples, as others are already exploring the potential of this micro-medium.

You may have heard before about the Indiegogo campaign called 'Ryan McHenry won't eat his Cancer', created to help filmmaker Ryan McHenry pay the bills while he is recovering from chemotherapy.

The beauty of this campaign wasn't only in its fundraising but also in the way this project united social media users. It became a way of raising awareness of how important it is to bring support to somebody who suffers from cancer and whose life has been turned upside down.

The Vine community responded to McHenry's troubles by setting up and creating a video which encouraged social users to donate money as well as to create Vine messages and tweets using the hashtag #weloveryan.

Plus, a variety of different Vine artists donated some great perks as a way of saying thank you for the involvement. I hope that all of this Vine love has helped Ryan in some way.