In 1922 the great inventor and visionary Thomas Edison prophesied: “I believe that the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks." This is a detailed yet comprehensive memo on the benfits of video as a marketing tool. People don't read what you write on your website, because on average visitors spend 10 seconds viewing it - it's up to you to get their attention! How? Make it quick, make them empathize with your story and also, be clear about your message. We make explainer videos, so we work with the art of explanation every day, we hope you enjoy this white paper written by Jakub (Kuba) Lebuda - Co-founder and CEO at Clipatize. Looking forward to your comments!

1. Why animated explanatory videos
build traction
Why animated explanatory videos
build traction
white paper by , www.clipatize.com
Grab attention!
Grab attention!

2. Attention, attention...
[1] Is Google Making Us Stupid?,
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-
google-making-us-stupid/6868/
Express your ideas in a way that people stop,
listen and remember! Be smart about this, your
success depends on it.
We live in the age of information overload.
Broadband Internet, tablets, smart-phones and
free data plans have changed content consumption
patterns. Studies show that - as Nicholas Carr
writes - we “zip along the surface like a guy in a
Jet Ski rather than dive into the sea of words”.[1]
Sifting, browsing, googling, and surfing - all that
means that there is less attention you can expect
from potential customers. Attention has become
the truly scarce resource in the digital era... Why?
Sifting comes from the urge to keep oneself
up-to-date, within the time limits we must live
with. So clients will be put off if you explain in
the traditional way: huge manuals or extensive
demonstrations just do not fit the bill!
It is a challenge to grab some attention in the first
place, but then an even bigger one to make a full
use of it, before your customer chooses to leave
your website...
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3. How much is too much?
the website increasing the average time spend by
9%.[2] According to eMarketer, consumers tend
to prefer video (and SEM) to other digital
advertising formats. Furthermore, the Forbes
Insight (2010) found that 59% of senior executives
prefer video over text, and this figure has risen by
80% just between 2009 and 2010.[3]
[2] Internet Retailer,
http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/10/07/living-direct-r
aises-conversions-video-demos
[3] Video in the C-Suite: Executives Embrace the non
text web, Forbes Insight,
http://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/Video
_in_the_CSuite.pdf
On average, you can expect some 10 seconds of
your customer attention while he visits your
website. This is when the visitors decide whether
to stay or leave. And this is when you HAVE to
put your value proposition on the table or engage
him/her into further exploration. Jakob Nielsen,
the usability guru, claims that the longer one
stays on the web page, the more engaged and
committed one will be. The visitors will usually
read a quarter of the text they see, so as Nielsen
says “unless your writing is extraordinarily clear
and focused, little of what you say on your
website will get through to customers”. From that
stand point, a clear and consistent story is a must!
The visitor will either leave quickly or stay for
long (this is often called negative aging in
Weibull distribution). So if you manage to put
your message across, the visitors will gain
confidence that staying there is worth it!
But how to attract attention? Videos are generally
considered more attractive than text. They have a
general positive influence on the time spent on
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4. Video over text?
Explanation builds trust.
Video is now the right choice when you seek to
explain complex, highly innovative or
technology-intensive products. A survey by
Forbes from 2010 shows that 51% of consumers
who watch videos believe that watching product
videos makes them more confident in online
purchase decisions, and these people would often
refer to the video clip more than once ! The
Website Magazine confirms the assumption that a
product video drives consumer purchase
confidence and as a result, 52% of them would be
less likely to return the products they bought.[4]
Dell has credited video for reducing help desk
service volume by 5% [5] - so video is a natural
self-service tool that cuts down the costs of
customer support.
Another study of Internet Retailer run in March
2011 reports that customers that view product
videos are 144% more likely to finally buy the
products they watch.[6] These figures show that
once customers become familiar with the offer
and understand it, they are more willing to
[4] Website Magazine,
http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archi
ve/2012/04/01/product-videos-lead-to-consumer-confidence
.aspx
[5] The Australian, December 2010.
[6] Internet Retailer,
http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/03/07/product-videos-
raise-purchase-likelihood-stacks-and-stacks
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5. make a purchase decision and what is more, avoid
a post-purchase dissonance!
Another symptom of the power of video was
noticed in a general perception of this medium.
According to Experian 2012 Digital Marketer:
Benchmark and Trend Report, the word ‘video’ in
the email subject line encourages people to read
the email (specifically, mass mailing emails): the
open rates increased by 7-13%.[7] Furthermore,
videos in mass mailing increase the CTR by over
96% (other sources show an increase of even
200% or 300% depending on the data base quality
and market segment addressed).[8]
[7] Experian,
http://go.experian.com/forms/experian-digital-marketer-
2012
[8] Implix 2010 Email Marketing Trends Survey.
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6. Higher conversions.
Performance measured.
Examples show that a product video actually
boosts sales, so its an investment worth making.
According to Shoeline.com, the online sales
conversions rose by 44% by using videos to
showcase products. Frank Malsbenden, VP and
GM of Vision Retailing Inc., the parent company
of Shoeline.com confirms: “With such positive
results on our existing videos, the goal right now
is to add video to as many of our products as
possible”. Similarily Zappos reported a 6% to
30% sales increase for products that featured
videos apart from regular text information.[9]
This is confirmed by an IAB Report prepared
with Nielsen, Yahoo and Microsoft Advertising in
2012 which shows that visual product viewing
options were considered more effective than any
other site medium.[10]
Additionally, product videos both provoke and
allow for a strong ROPO effect (Research Online,
Purchase Offline). Google Blog reports that 79%
of smart-phone owners use their devices to aid in
shopping, and 74% of smart-phone shoppers make
a purchase finally. Explanatory videos can be well
delivered and watched over a mobile device and
contribute to the purchase decision.[11]
[9] ReelSEO,
http://www.reelseo.com/video-demos-sales-zappos/
[10] A Comprehensive Picture of Digital Video and TV
Advertising,
http://www.iab.net/media/file/Digital-Video-and-TV-Advert
ising-Viewing-Budget-Share-Shift-and-Effectiveness.pdf
[11] Google Mobile Ads Blog,
http://googlemobileads.blogspot.com/2011/04/smartphone-u
ser-study-shows-mobile.html
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7. SEM/SEO arguments.
Marketingweek claims (2011) that an average of
70 out of 100 search listings would contain video.
That means that search engine optimization can
be achieved by including an explanatory clip on
your website. This is confirmed by Bruce Clay
Inc., one of the top SEO/SEM firms in the world.
The Bruce Clay himself discusses video as a so
called ‘engagement objects’ that are of crucial
importance when it comes to organic and
universal search.[12] It is these objects that cause
visitors to engage and interact. Clay says: "…In
the case of video, we believe that as one of the
more important engagement objects, Google has
actually started to build it into the algorithm. To
us, that means if your website has engagement
objects on it, video or mp3… it is going to be
received by the algorithm better and your site will
actually have an opportunity to rank better. I
think, that a year from now, we are going to be
sitting here saying – 'if you don't have video, if
you don't have engagement objects on your
website, you are just not going to rank.”[13] This
seems to be confirmed by the Forrester Research
that found that “videos are 53 times more likely
traditional web pages to receive an organic
first-page ranking”.[14] This needs no further
comment, does it?
[12] ReelSEO, Without Video, Your Website Will NOT
Rank In The Future,
http://www.reelseo.com/engagement-objects-seo/
[13] ReelSEO, Without Video, Your Website Will NOT
Rank In The Future,
http://www.reelseo.com/engagement-objects-seo/
[14] The Easiest Way to a First-page Ranking on Google,
Forrester.com,
http://blogs.forrester.com/interactive_marketing/2009/01/th
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8. Video stirs emotions and
imagination.
All that you have read so far is not only consistent
with intuition, confirmed by earlier quoted market
data but also proven by a bulk of scientific
evidence coming from brain/mind research.
The idea that the use of motion picture in
communication or learning enhances cognitive
abilities is not new at all. In 1922 a great inventor
and visionary Thomas Edison prophesied: “I
believe that the motion picture is destined to
revolutionize our educational system and that in a
few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely,
the use of textbooks.”[15] Although Edison’s
vision has not yet been fulfilled, it can be argued
that in his day neither the technology nor mindset
were there... It seems that nowadays both are here
more than ever.
Movement is the most efficient attention grabber.
We are genetically programmed to pay attention
and react to moving objects, instantly and
sum-consciously, as this has been the matter of
survival for our ancestors (imagine that
something crawls into your field of view just as
you read these words, you would end up on your
feet (if not on your desk!) well before you start
questioning yourself about what is going on!).
Dale postulated that it is the rich full-body
‘hands-on’ experience that is “the bed-rock of all
education”, arguing that learning becomes more
and more difficult if we rely on more abstract
objects like verbal symbols (text), which ended up
right in the very vortex of his Cone of
Experience. [16] Coming down the Dale’s cone
abstract verbal symbols are followed by visual
symbols, voice recordings, still pictures, then
motion pictures followed by all types of
interaction with real objects, from simple display
of exhibits to real hands-on experiences involving
purposive actions. It looks as if motion picture is
the closest we have to real life interaction.
[15] See, e.g.: Oppenheirmer, T. (1997), The computer delusion, The
Atlantic Monthly, no. 1(280), pp: 45-62.
[16] Dale, E. (1996), Audiovisual methods in teaching, ERIC.
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9. Furthermore, neurocognitive scientists and
contemporary philosophers of mind insist (pls
refer to Thomas Metzinger, Daniel Dennett, or
Antonio Damasio [17]) that brain/mind is the
ideal reality simulator. The human mind has a
unique and absolutely fabulous capacity to build
models of reality that are sometimes
indistinguishable from real experience (btw, what
is real is not an obvious thing for these thinkers,
but this is out of scope here), such as lucid
dreams, out-off-body experiences or
hallucinations. These models of both external
reality and our own bodies are used by our brains
as tools for managing everyday mind/body
activity: movement, learning, decision taking, etc.
This is also the case when we are involved in
mental simulations such as imagining or
daydreaming. Video clips are the best tools for
inspiring sensually rich mental simulation
allowing the spectator to spread the wings of
one’s imagination. Engaging the viewer in the
simulation of reality is the closest we can get,
within the limits of today’s communication
technology, to the ideal of getting him involved in
a real-life situation. Building and portraying
[17] Metzinger, T. (2009), The Ego Tunnel: The Science of Mind and
the Myth of the Self, New York: Basic Books.; Dennett, D.C. (1993),
Consciousness explained, Penguin Books.; Damasio, A. (2010), Self
comes to mind: Constructing the conscious brain, Pantheon.
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a story which the viewer can plunge in an
empathize with will trigger one’s brain to build a
simulation of real-life situation and place oneself
within it.

10. This may allow us to guide our viewer throughout
the story in a way that is convincing, engaging,
meaningful and attractive. Last but not least, the
contemporary affective neuroscience provides
robust evidence, which confirms classic
theoretical predictions (starting with Darwin’s
account of emotion) that emotions are the
foundations for basic cognitive processes such as
language acquisition, abstract thinking, social
interaction and decision-making.[18] Affect and
emotion, being the currency of meaning,
modulate critical cognitive and social capacities:
we speak and reason, engage in social interaction,
engage in action (mind motivation!), and make
choices (including consumer choices!) due to and
dependently on our emotional states. It is an old
known fact that emotions are predominantly
communicated with visual signs: bodily, mostly
facial, expressions.[19] Auditory channel can also
strongly influence emotion, for which reason film
directors attach huge importance to movie
soundtracks. Multi-modal communication means
such as video is the best available medium for
communicating emotional content and affecting
recipient closest to the real face-to-face
interaction.
[18] Damasio, A. (1994), Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the
Human Brain, Penguin.; Panksepp J., Affective neuroscience: the
foundations of human and animal emotions, Oxford University
Press, New York 1998.; LeDoux J.E.(1996), The emotional brain: the
mysterious underpinnings of emotional life, Simon & Schuster.;
Greenspan, S.I. and Shanker, S. (2004), The first idea: How symbols,
language, and intelligence evolved from our early primate ancestors
to modern humans, Da Capo Press.; Lakoff, G., Johnson, M.(1999),
Philosophy In The Flesh: the Embodied Mind and its Challenge to
Western Thought. Basic Books.
[19] Ekman, P., Friesen, W.V., Ellsworth, P. (1982), Emotion in the
human face, Pergamon Press.
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11. Explanatory product video
today and tomorrow.
The market of explanatory videos is booming.
Invodo research shows that 4Q2011 witnesses an
increase of 300% in video views both on retail
and brand sites.[20] This is often boosted by the
power of social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
that leverage initial reach of campaigns. This
video boom is noticed specifically in the mobile
traffic where it has a share of 50 to 69% depen-
ding on the type of network (influenced
presumably by the data plan) and source of
information we tracked. In his keynote address at
the Consumer Electronics Show, the VP of
Youtube, Robert Kyncl claims this traffic will
soon reach 90% across all Internet traffic.[21]
This shift in behavioral patterns will be soon
reflected by the online advertising spending:
According to Forrester Research within the next
years more than one-third of all online adverti-
sing spending will be spend on video.[22] 50% of
all manu- facturers surveyed in 2001 established
their You Tube channels to build online brand
presence and gain a more personal contact with
their customers (Marketing Today, 2011).
[20] Invodo research, January 2012.
[21] CES Live: YouTube's Robert Kyncl: Online Video Will
Soon Be 90% Of Online Traffic, Forbes,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2012/01/12/ces-live
-youtubes-robert-kyncl/
[22] Online Ad Spend to Overtake TV by 2016,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthof/2011/08/26/online-ad
-spend-to-overtake-tv/
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12. A well crafted video.
So you work on an explanatory video? How long a
video should be? A tough one to answer. With TV
commercials of 15/30 seconds an explanatory
video should not be longer that 90 seconds, best if
around 60. The quality of video matters -
Comscore proves the advantage of professionally
produced videos over user-generated content by
some 30% (delivering a 24.7% lift as compared
with an 18.7% lift for the UGC video, Comscore,
2012).
The study from the University of Massachusetts
Amherst and Akamai Technologies proves that
people tend to lose interest if the video is not
loaded after 2 seconds. Almost 40% of Internet
users will leave the clip if they will be forced to
wait. If, by any means, they choose to stay the
possibility of disliking the video increases with
5,8% with every second so keep it short: 30-90
seconds should be just fine.[23] [23] CNN,
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/12/tech/web/video-loading-s
tudy
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Furthermore - and it’s the key point here: it is not
about visuals and nice animations - IT IS ABOUT
EXPLAINING. Keep that in mind when working
on your video pitch.

13. Why we do it…
The change transforms today, more and more
often in a radical, quick manner. This is visible in
the TMT, banking and finance as well as biotech
sectors. Schumpeter and later on, Clayton
Christensen have well noticed the very nature of
the capitalistic world where destruction and
creativity go together and where shifts of both
business and social paradigms happen constantly.
Today this is even more relevant.
We are truly inspired by the fact that
entrepreneurs are able to reconfigure economic
orders and devalue existing practices. We call
these entrepreneurs ‘Monsters’! They have the
vision, skills and they dare to question the status
quo. That is why they finally succeed. They fight
and conquer what we call Bambis: non-attractive
marketing beauties that become outdated, boring
and valueless.
About Clipatize.
At Clipatize, we believe your client deserves a
clear and consistent message. We know how to
tell engaging stories that well illustrate the
competitive edge of your offering. We have an
in-depth understanding of technology, as part of
the team has consulting background, and we love
story telling and artwork.
Let us clipatize YOUR idea!
www.clipatize.com
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14. www.clipatize.com
sayhello@clipatize.com
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