Top 11 creative ideas for your next animation video

How many times have you been completely caught by a wonderful idea for some creative video?

Also, how many times, after watching a video, you would say “It is okay, but kinda…nothing special”.

Probably countless times.

This is the thing: we seek original and creative ideas in the content we consume. 

Neuroscience researchers claim that in times of short attention spans and so-called “banner blindness” in the ocean of information we are inclined to look for something rather unique, with zest and spark. And novelty:

“According to Philipp Lorenz-Spreen of Max Planck Institute for Human Development, “Content is increasing in volume, which exhausts our attention and our urge for ‘newness’ causes us to collectively switch between topics more regularly”. 

Many people think that animation equals creativity. It is not always like that because animators also get stuck and run out of ideas — like any other creative professionals.

Besides, quite often people go to animation studios with just one request — to create what they have in mind. Sometimes their vision is unique, sometimes it is rather ordinary. But if a person doesn’t engage in a creative activity regularly, his/her ideas might not be that competitive.

To speak broadly, creativity is the main approach in the 21st century. We have this duality where on the one side is something more usual, conform, and on the other — creativity and inventiveness. No matter what your industry is, probably the main goal in marketing your product is getting a cool idea that is capable of catching attention.

That is not strange at all — brands receive more attention than ever by simply finding better approaches to presenting their services. This culture is making standards higher. Marketers have to fight for each client in order to stay with a brand. 

Thus, a creative, out-of-the-box approach is among the main tools for achieving this state where other people – your audience – might really notice your product.

Comment from Eli Amdur

“If Einstein hadn’t asked what his peers called a childish question – “What would it be like to ride on a beam of light?” – we might still be waiting for someone to discover that E=mc2.”

Top 11 ideas to making your animated video captivating in 2023

Myth vs facts 

Present your idea in the shape of a “myths vs. facts” approach. This is a great way of showing how stereotypes and trivia around your sphere can be helpful by emphasizing the difference in your product or idea.

Playing these differences is vital. This is how you show that you understand and stay ahead of what people have seen hundreds of times.

Comment from Eli Amdur

“my ongoing quest to understand creativity: extensive research, vast readings, live experimentation, inventing and delivering a graduate leadership course on creativity, and practical application with clients”. 

Mix things

Eli Amdur says,

“Listen to new voices; embrace new ideas. Welch again. Nobody encouraged cross-pollination of ideas and talent more than he did.”

That’s great advice to everyone who thinks that ideas for a great animated video in a specific sphere lie only within this particular sphere. That’s not true, and mixing ideas from other fields with yours is always a way to find hidden perls.

“Innovation is often a key driver for long-term business success, but in order to properly innovate, you have to get creative first. A creative flow state, or any length or period of time during which a professional can think and create uninterrupted by distractions or intrusive thoughts, can be beneficial to those aiming to generate quality ideas in less time—but getting into this state isn’t always the most straightforward task.”

Eli Amdur, Forbes 

Don’t be afraid to experiment with the tones. 

Nowadays brands rely on a light atmosphere with just an inch of humor. That’s understandable. However, we recommend experimenting with your tone of voice in animated videos. Don’t be afraid to create a lyrical piece that will convey a certain experience in its details to reveal the fundamental core of your product. Don’t be afraid to merge the personal, and aesthetic into an account of people’s lives and how your product can be beneficial for them.

Dos and Don’ts

No matter what your industry is, you can make videos on the best practices to follow and what flaws people tend to make so your viewers can avoid those.

It doesn’t even have to be entirely about your product — it could be partially about it but with a big portion of advice some of which may include how useful it is to rely on a product you have.

Top-rate lists

Yes! Create lists of your top things in your industry, and share them in the form of animated videos. People love lists for many reasons.

First of all, it is entertaining. Who doesn’t love to guess what is going to be in the first third? Statistically, videos on various tops have more clicks than any other type of videos on social media.

Second, it gives a person really well-structured information on something. In the shape of lists, you convey lots of things without taking too much time.

Research what is the most useful for your audience, but don’t forget to be a bit quirky in your choices 😉

Animated “behind-the-scenes”

If there is such a video, you probably haven’t seen much of these. Behind-the-scenes videos are generally quite popular, sort of a breaker of the 4-the wall between a company and the audience. Now, imagine such a video in the shape of animation. It must be a sensation! If the animation is well-done, if the aesthetics are right, you’ll have rather wonderful results. By the way, we in Darvideo animation studio can make such an animation. Don’t be shy to contact us about this matter!

How to do something wrong

Try to go from the opposite side. What does it even mean?! Well, look: don’t create a video about “how to make a great career in our company”, but make it ironic and fun – say, “how to fail your career?” and give a piece of epic advice to avoid that by joining your company. This is just a funny turn that will help to create a story that is easy to remember.

Marketers support such approaches even though for many people they might seem too risky.

Talking head

It doesn’t sound creative at all. But only if you have a typical image in your head. Remember about switching the contexts? Making animated talking heads with an interesting voice-over artist, with the right animation behind can be really captivating.

Try to use as a talking head your animated mascot, your worker, maybe an office cat?

Use famous setting 

Create an animated video by using a setting and environment of the “office”, “big bang theory” or anything else. Why? Well, people immediately recognize the allusion and smile at something familiar.

Use Wes Anderson’s style or something like “Stranger things”. Make sure you don’t copy something though.

This is a great way to include your whole team in a video or the process.

‘Video content is paramount, and this market will only continue to grow. Encourage your entire team to learn how to do video content well. Do test videos and make sure everyone knows how to capture truly amazing video content. Make sure they know simple basics as well, such as how to edit an iPhone video. Soon, it will become second nature” – Leeza Hoyt, The Hoyt Organization, Inc.

Walkthrough video

Yes, yes, busted. We borrowed this idea from YouTube gamers. It is a great, gamified way of walking your customer through some vital process. By walking, we mean walking literally. Make your audience come through the whole product, and show what is waiting for the clients in the end. They will be thrilled to go all the way there with a real product!

Animated video as a reel 

Classic animation formats are good, of course, but why don’t you get a little bit more zoommerish? Hey, try making an animation in the form of a fast-changing video reel. There are not that many companies who have tried that yet, so why don’t you be among the first ones? Jump on this train faster!

“Brands will lean into creator-generated content to create short-form, one-to-one marketing that can be repurposed across all video platforms. Creator-generated content (unscripted but professionally storyboarded content) combines elements of trust, entertainment and information to create full-funnel ad spots”. – Justin Buckley, ATTN Agency

A few examples of creative animated videos

The story of lyft – first of all, this video lasts longer than 60 seconds. 3 minutes! Break the marketing rules!

Amazing storytelling, wonderful animation quality, colors, and design combine together a great story and animation as its enhancing device. Or maybe it’s the story that enhances animation?

Akima’s Iñupiaq Shareholders – wow. Simply wow. What an amazing way to present a brand through

the coming to the past?

Fantastic visuals, an amazing voice-over artist, and how it walks a viewer through the whole story. Enjoy it.

Welcome to AirBnb went further and made a video about the whole world as a setting for their services. Wonderful exaggeration and a great video that definitely works. Don’t you agree?

Red bull – even though this is not an animated video, take a look at a perspective they use to show the contents! Fantastic idea it

Conclusion

Nowadays, customers are exhausted from watching obvious advertising, another explainer video that says the same as others, and promotions being executed left and right.

Many of these only pretend to be interesting and captivating, while in reality they just repeat the same stories.

Creative videos not only make a story truly captivating but connect with the audiences on an emotional level better than any other medium and can transfer information faster.

“Video marketing” is actually just another way to say “working with creators.” Video is just a medium; the rise of video is a story about the rise of creators. Its creators who produce video content on YouTube, TikTok and now on Instagram Reels. As Google starts to index this content and these platforms continue to eat up time spent online, brands need a creator strategy. Start experimenting now. – Faique Moqeet, Hamster Garage

Hopefully these ideas will be a good starting point for your efforts in creating a great video for your brand. Don’t forget that you can always contact us. Our team can take all the burden of getting creative and deliver fantastic, and unique videos for your project.