5 Golden Rules to Follow While Creating your Corporate Film

The term ‘corporate film’ encompasses a wide variety of video types. From explainer videos for stakeholders to instruction videos for staff, and from customer testimonial videos and induction films to ‘facility films’ that provide a sneak peek into the setup and operations of a business (and of course, videos that express a corporate ideology and message created for mass consumption) can all be classified under this moniker. A corporate video production is essentially one that is made a corporate film production company and is not an advertisement.

Corporate videos are a great way to increase brand engagement, provide information, tutor staff, maintain interactivity with shareholders and board members, and provide the general public an insight into the inner workings of a company. To know more about corporate films, check out our page on the subject.

Whether published online or displayed at events such as trade shows, AGMs, etc. a corporate film can carry the message across to viewers by capturing their interest and holding it better than other mediums such as presentations, text or audio clips. Of course, the effectiveness of any medium depends on the quality of the output. A corporate film will only accomplish its potential if it is made well. So to help you do just that, here are five important rules you need to know and follow when making corporate productions.

5 golden rules to follow when making corporate films

1. Attention to detail

Remember, this is NOT an advertisement, so you can’t be superfluous with the message you are sending across. Your video has to be factual and detail-oriented, especially in case of product or facility videos. Your video has to be substantial and there have to be important factual takeaways that the viewer can receive through the video.

2. Identify the question, provide the answer

Before you go any further, decide who your audience is. As mentioned earlier, there are many specific types of corporate films and each caters to a specific set of people. Once you have decided who the video will address, decide what it will address. There is no one-size-fits-all approach here, because the message you give your shareholders, and the one you give your suppliers will be completely different. So tailor your content to your audience, and figure out what information they want to receive rather than what you want to give them, do this and your audience will come away from the video satisfied.

3. Make it interesting

Just because it is a corporate video or a simple induction video does not mean that it can’t be interesting, too. You can add visual effects and animation, music, and various other popular content props like humour or emotion or shock to attract and engage viewers. A corporate video doesn’t have to be boring, it needs to be quite the opposite, in fact.

4. Make a video, not a short film

Today, audience patience is at an all-time low. You cannot have a video droning on for an hour or more and expected to hold their interest. So make sure your message is direct and concise, and your video is short and to the point. Otherwise, you will lose viewers very quickly, especially if you plan on publishing the video online. If you do a simple Google search, you will notice that the best client/customer testimonial videos out there are extremely crisp and well-edited. 

5. No creative liberties

An artistic medium it may be, but a corporate video is no place to take artistic liberties. Everything that you show and say has to be real and quantifiable. So you cannot use the fantastic to attract customers like you would in an advert. You need to keep your video grounded in the truth, and wrapped in your brand or corporate ethos so that your content has gravity and depth.

See for yourself some of the corporate videos that Toolbox Studio has created for its clients to exploit the power of visual messaging. Are you all set to unlock the true potential of your business with a corporate film? Contact us today!

Aashay Gatade

Last updated: October 4, 2024

Aashay Gatade is a film editor with over 10 years of professional experience. He has worked on feature films, short films, web series, TVCs etc. These include commercial success as well as critical acclaim. Also he has been teaching film making for more than 3 years.