Animated videos

An animated Christmas video; the present your audience always wanted

An animated Christmas video; the present your audience always wanted

All I want for Christmas is… an animated video (sings like Mariah Carey).

We’ve all done it, patiently waiting on the sofa with a family-sized chocolate orange for the big brands like John Lewis, Disney, Sainsbury’s etc. to release their Christmas adverts.

It’s the unofficial start of the Christmas countdown – but why are they so popular? 

Is it because we all love Christmas? or like to debate the ins and outs of the storylines?

Whatever the reason is, it creates buzz and chatter, but most importantly it makes brands memorable.

Brand awareness is key, so why not stand out and engage your audience with an animated Christmas video? They say a picture paints a thousand words. So imagine what an animated video can do.

Let’s explore when you should start planning your animation and the process your chosen creative partner will guide you through to make the magic happen.

When do I need to start thinking about my Christmas video?

Like most things, planning in good time will help any process run smoothly and efficiently so that’s why we encourage our clients to start the Christmas animation process in the new year ready for the oncoming Christmas.

Yes, we know Christmas would have just passed and you’re probably sick of it, but these things take time.

You can’t rush Christmas miracles.

In order for your storytelling experts to deliver animated content that captivates your customers, there needs to be enough time to work through each stage thoroughly, leaving no detail to chance.

On the plus side, the sooner you start the sooner it will be finished, meaning you can plan your Christmas marketing strategy, and add the animation to your sales and marketing toolbox.

Here’s how we work. Hopefully, it’ll help guide you to know what questions you need to be asking your chosen creative partner before and during the creation of this captivating piece of content and reassure you of the ownership you should have over the project, every step of the way.

Step 1: Discovery

Like most things, a good brainstorming session helps ideas flow and creativity thrive…. well that’s what we believe! So it comes as no surprise that here at Tiny Wizard Studio, we like to kick off the process with a discovery workshop; this helps us understand your brand narrative, what you value and what the vision is for your animation.

Our discovery workshops are built to get the most out of you and your team, whether that be at our studio or virtually, we like to plan 4-6 hours, to make sure we ask and answer all the right questions; as well as get to know YOU and your brand.

Let’s not forget, this is no ordinary animation either, it’s a CHRISTMAS animation, which means it needs to be extra magical; so be prepared to hash out all your ideas.

Step 2: Scripting

The next stage in the process is scripting – We take all of the information we have gathered in the discovery workshop and turn it into a dynamic and engaging script that evokes emotion.

It wouldn’t be a Christmas video without it!

After all, brand storytelling is about tapping into the human need to connect, therefore storytelling that embodies your organisation’s mission, vision and values, can only boost your public perception.

It can move people, that’s powerful!

Step 3: Concept Art

Now, let’s bring your story to life with concept art.

This is where your vision and animation will start to take shape, as we share our ideas for character styles, environments, colour palettes, and the overall theme of your video with you.

It’s also important to note, how strong and well-written branding guidelines will really help us with your concept art, but don’t worry if you don’t have any or if they’re not quite up to scratch, because we can help with that too.

Creating concept art for Christmas campaigns is a great way of establishing an illustrative style for your brand that can be carried through year after year, boosting brand awareness and recognition.

Step 4: Storyboarding

Time to sketch – Our animators will put pen to paper (well sort of) to sketch out each scene of your animation with corresponding annotations, that describe what and how elements will move and transition.

By this point, your vision will be pieced together in a panel format where you can hopefully see the Christmas magic start to shine through, even if it is in the middle of summer.

How exciting!

Step 5: Production

Your story is brought to life with motion, voice and music!

We’ll work to bring all the elements together to showcase your full animated video in all its glory.

And then…

Your Christmas animation is now complete, your vision and story has a life of its own.

Great, how long until Christmas now?

Is that Jingle Bells we hear?

It’s now up to you when and where you showcase your animation – Did you know we offer a social media package along with our animation? This means we can put your animation in any format you need for wherever your animation will be used.

Tiktok, Instagram Reels, Facebook? No problem, we’ve got you covered.

So, what do you think? Interested in creating a Christmas animation?

If you’re still on the fence, here are three stats to prove that animation is here to stay.

1. Emotion – All but 10% of the information our brain successfully process is VISUAL, so our emotions tend to be visually driven. Visual information is more cognitively effective. – Source

2. Awareness – 93% of marketers say video has helped them increase brand awareness – Source 

3. Conversation – People are twice as likely to share video content with their friends that any other type of content. – Source

Convinced?

Summon an animation expert today, we’re here for any burning questions you might have and we’re ready and willing to help!

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