A Discourse on the Rise in Animated Explainer Videos in India
Up until a few years ago, animation was a synonym for ‘cartoon’ in countries like India. Now, we see most of the major brands all over India opting for animation videos to communicate their messages, whether for internal purpose for advertising a product or service to aid client conversion.
This sudden rise in the production of animated explainer videos is due to three things: Animation is cheaper than live action, it is more relatable and has a higher reach than regular ads and animated explainer videos communicate better.
When you consider a live action ad, there is only so much content you can fit in 30 seconds. Using supers, icons and necessary illustrations in an animated explainer video, you can fit nearly double the content for the same time duration.
Keeping in mind the scale at which organizations operate today creating a video which gives accurate, to the point information about their brand (an overview) to their customers in an efficient, simple and focused way — they are bound to opt for that.
Moreover animation is considered a trend today. If the target audience for your ad are teenagers to middle aged people, living in metro cities, exposed to the digital world nearly every day, then animation is the way to go. This group of people are those who associate animation with technology and modernization instead of associating it with ‘cartoons’.
Most important is the part that 3D plays in explaining the working of complicated and technical machines. Transparency in business is now a big thing. 3D helps in keeping a transparent and trusting environment between enterprises and their customers. Let’s take a look at an example. A potential consumer looking at a 3D model of the machine they want to buy will get a guarantee that the enterprise delivers on what they say. Through the animated visuals, they will get to know the features of the product and why exactly these features work. Moreover, 3D videos often work as a guidance to the operation of complicated products right from installation.
Not only is the shift very visible towards animation for marketing, in the field of animation we see the shift from ‘realistic looking character’ requirements to ‘artistic and interesting characters’. This proves how comfortable people are with the idea of animated characters to represent their brands.
One of the most important reasons for the shift towards animation is diversity. Most brands serve customers globally. Diversity is a norm for any modern brand and it needs to show in their identity. In animation, you can have characters without skin color, with a variety of body sizes and shapes and cover as much diversity as possible. This limitlessness of animation is something that businesses in India have started to realize and adopt.
Animation also gives you an edge over competition. You can portray your brand as a young, modern and creative hub of innovation which attracts the growing start-up landscape in the country. Not to discount the ‘pocket-friendly’ feature of animated explainer videos.
Though these videos are rarely seen as television ads, a place yet predominantly a live action area, the internet is the most desirable platform for short animated teasers and explainers.
Websites today tend to have animated explainer videos on their landing page. It is seen as the best introductory medium of communication possible.
Animation is also without discrimination. If you post a video of yourself, or a video which has actual people, the ‘people’ part acts as a distraction. People judge actual people based on their appearance, looks, style, setting and more. Animation takes this ‘judgement’ out of the equation completely.
Everything about creating an animated explainer video is positive but it is very risky. You need to find good artists, writers, animators for your video or hire a good company which provides high quality videos. You need to work with them to create what you need and pay close attention for best results.
Whatever the problems, the future still looks bright for animated explainers today. Increasing numbers, increasing awareness, increasing interests.
