Should there be emotion in a corporate video?

The real question is – should you have a corporate video without emotion?

If you can make someone laugh or cry chances are very strong you’ll be able to get them to talk about or share your video. And that’s what your video is for – spreading the good word of and about your company.

Emotion is what drives all of us – who doesn’t enjoy a good belly laugh? Who hasn’t watched a sad film, knowing that it will lead to a little cathartic crying? Who hasn’t welled up at a particularly poignant commercial?

Emote!

So, what emotions should you try to hit? Obviously it depends on the type of video you’re creating and product or service you’re promoting. Positive emotions do tend to a elicit a more positive response, but there can be a place for ‘negative’ emotions such as Anger or Despair depending again on the type of video you’re creating.

This list compiled during a study by Fractal of what makes content go viral is a good place to start when considering what emotions to think about:

Positive emotions to hit:
1. Amusement
2. Interest
3. Surprise
4. Happiness
5. Delight
6. Pleasure
7. Joy
8. Hope
9. Affection
10. Excitement

Negative emotions to consider:
1. Anger
2. Politeness
3. Frustration
4. Doubt
5. Embarrassment
6. Despair
7. Hurt
8. Guilt
9. Contempt
10. Shame

Check these out:

It may seem that there’s no place for emotion in a video representing your company – but just take a look at videos from these massive corporations and tell us you didn’t get a little tear in your eye.

British Airways: A Ticket to Visit Mum
This video from airline BA targets those who’ve moved far away from the family with the story of a young man from India who moved to New York at the age of 17. They tell her to cook him his favourite food and they’ll deliver it to him, but guess who arrives to collect it?

Google: Parisian Love
This video from Google manages to convey sincere emotion without uttering a single word. Telling the story of a long-distance romance through Google’s search bar seems like it couldn’t possibly work – but it does, so well.

Hopefully we’ve convinced you how important emotion is – even in a corporate video. Now get out there and emote!