31 Video Marketing Examples to Inspire Your Creativity

Brainstorming creative ideas for video marketing is fun. But at some point, you need to get serious and develop a realistic plan based on marketing goals, budget considerations, and audience expectations.

That can be quite a challenge. Before you start the hard work, get some inspiration from what others do. In this article, we show you 31 successful marketing video examples to get your creative juices flowing.

Digital marketing video ad examples

1.DollarShaveClub – Our Products Are F***ing Great

Let’s jump in with a classic. The DollarShaveClub video broke the standards of traditional marketing and helped pave the way to the modern, unconventional style we often see today. No matter how often we watch this clip, it’s fun every time. (Just wait till you see the video marketing examples we provide toward the end, though).

Why did it work?

There are many reasons why this video turned DollarShaveClub into a massively profitable business. It also inspired other brands to try and imitate this video ad’s concept and success.

Let’s ignore for a moment that what they offer is highly valuable to a vast audience and concentrate on the video ad idea and implementation.

The video is almost a parody of traditional advertising where everything is presented as perfect, shiny, and excellent. The ad is flagrantly honest about being imperfect and ordinary. This works because the target audience is the common man who can’t afford perfect products or services.

The setting is modest and also obviously imperfect. Mike, the founder, seems to have jumped out of some TV series. His cocky, cool, and confident appearance perfectly fits the image of the small-town American hero.

Everything is served with a massive spoonful of humor. But make no mistake, the video makers ingeniously weaved social values into the plot. Pay attention to the mention of history, social equality, and employment.

2. Microsoft Excel from 1992

Here’s a marketing video example of an ad from before YouTube dominated the digital video landscape. However, this is such a good story we think it would also work today with a new type of software. The truth is, the idea appears in many promotional ads for digital tools: Someone forgot or messed up, and a new innovative digital tool saves their day.

Why did it work? 

The corporate setting of the video unmistakably identifies the target audience. Young, ambitious entrepreneurs see themselves represented immediately.

Content marketing is about ‘show, don’t tell’. The idea of placing the story in an elevator shows the top value proposition of the tool without the need to put it in words. It’s literally an elevator pitch.

Microsoft wanted to highlight how fast and easy it is to create a report and found the ideal location: while going up to the 60th floor of an office building. The camera shows the features in action. By doing so, the video not only claims Excel is fast and easy to use, but it also provides proof.

The phrase repeated by the older business people in the elevator, “My spreadsheet doesn’t do that,” presents an additional value proposition: This tool is unique and groundbreaking.

3. Mondgo – Smart Sleepwear to help you Sleep Better

Pajamas – do you ever think about them? Not really. This video will change that; you’ll think about pjamas in ways you never have. The Mondgo video ad takes sleepwear to an entirely new level.

Why do we love this video?

The video ad follows one of the fundamental rules in marketing: If you have a complicated product, present it simply, and if you have a simple product, show its complexity.

The marketers realized they have a simple product, which no one thinks about in day-to-day life. They then offer almost scientific explanations of the material while presenting it in a sensually appealing way. Next, you learn how the material affects your body temperature and sleep quality.

The video goes yet a step further and showcases the benefits of the benefit. It reminds you that sleeping well impacts your quality of life. You sleep better; as a result, you wake up better and are more confident throughout the day.

Campaign video examples

Most videos are not stand-alone but part of a campaign. A video can be the centerpiece of a campaign that includes a variety of content assets. A campaign can also comprise a series of related videos promoting the same message or products.

4. Similarweb – Winning Moments

This example is one of six videos that belong to the same campaign. Each video promotes a solution package from the Similarweb platform and features a different sport. The heroes and features used are relevant to the specific target audience.

Why does it work? Similarweb specializes in competitor intelligence to help customers win over the competition. Sports represent the competitive business environment. Showing the user as an athlete turns them into heroes with the help of Similarweb.

5. Nike – Marty McFly’s closet

Some campaigns are stories that start with a teaser video with the sole purpose of igniting curiosity. Additional clips provide more information.

What makes it awesome? The video works entirely on associations. The shoes and the music are taken from the iconic science fiction franchise “Back to the Future”.

Nike creates a connection to an exceptionally popular movie character and hero. By doing so, the brand creates an emotional bridge between the hero, people’s dreams, and the brand.

B2B video marketing examples

6. Cisco – Trusted Access Explainer Video

B2B marketing videos focus on facts and data rather than emotion. However, at the end of the day, people make the decisions.

Here’s a great example of a B2B explainer video for a SaaS product. It presents and explains the features and benefits of Cisco’s security solution and addresses the human decision-maker.

Why does it work? The video uses professional but simple language and animation to illustrate the explanations. It’s structured to present challenges, solutions, benefits, and features. All this speaks to the business needs and rational decision-making.

Pay attention, though, before going into the technical details, it first appeals to the human. The video creator understood it’s necessary to present the value of “trust” before introducing the value of their solution to convince the target audience. Trust has interpersonal value and business value.

7. VeriSign – Shopping Cart Whisperer

VeriSign took a completely different route with this B2B marketing video. The responsible marketers decided to use storytelling and humor to raise awareness of their solution.

Why does it work?
Even though the video addresses a B2B audience, it looks like a video made for individuals. The reason may be that ecommerce companies differ from SaaS or corporate customers, and when the video was published, these sites were pretty small and privately held.

At that time, shopping cart abandonment wasn’t a considerable challenge. VeriSign was a pioneer in raising awareness to the issue, and they did it by making the viewer smile. It’s one of those clips you watch till the end just to see how it ends.

Examples of brand story videos

8. RedBull – Best POV Videos 2021

Established brands have a story, and video is a great medium to tell it. RedBull’s story is: Extreme sports.

Why does it work? The brand identified one characteristic their customers have in common: They love excitement. RedBull videos display pure excitement – nothing more, nothing less.

The other secret behind RedBull’s successful video marketing strategy is fans can submit their own extreme sports videos. User-generated content is a great way to build customer loyalty.

9. GoPro – Fireman Saves Kitten

Another classic among video marketing examples is this GoPro movie.

Why do people love it? This video masterpiece plays heavily on empathy and the basic human instinct to protect the weak and helpless. There are many types of heroes, and not everyone shares admiration for the same characteristics. However, we all love people who risk their lives to save others.

GoPro’s video makers chose to let the firefighter save a cute and helpless kitten. This elevates heroism while allowing viewers to stay in their comfort zone. A child in place of the kitten might cause us actual tension or distress when watching.

The interesting thing is that GoPro chooses to address a large, general audience. Unlike RedBull, which chooses to narrow the audience to a specific type of adventure seekers, the camera company is after the broad public and not only the typical GoPro users.

10. BMW – The Hire

This marketing video example is an actual short movie aimed purely at entertaining the audience. BMW produced an entire series of ten-minute action movies in which the car is the hero. The reason for the driver’s reckless behavior always turns out to be a good cause like saving lives or even an entire country.

What makes the story?
The movies have all the elements of a full-size action thriller. There’s a hero, a conflict, lots of tension, suspension, shooting, and a dramatic car chase. The revelation that everything is for a righteous purpose comes as a surprise. It’s the kind of twist in the plot that turns content into a captivating story.

Social engagement and awareness

11. Coca-Cola – The Last Customer

Addressing social concerns is becoming more and more important for brands. We live in an era of rising awareness, and consumers shop with a conscience. People prefer to buy brands that support equality, care for their employees, support a good cause, and protect the environment.

Why does it work?
Coca-Cola displays a high level of social engagement on a personal level. The video’s main characters are typical underdogs, and you immediately feel for them. You admire their hard work and sacrifice and acknowledge the company’s consideration.

12. Always – Like a Girl

Brands with a primarily female audience are realizing the potential in empowering women. More and more companies go beyond glorifying female beauty and instead focus on other, more real aspects of being a woman.

Why did this video have a strong impact?
Always challenges how society views women and how they see themselves. It banishes girlish stereotypes that are outdated in modern culture. Young women see their struggles reflected and recognized within this video.

Other brands and advertisers couldn’t stay indifferent to the provocation. The video had a considerable impact on how the brand is perceived and also caused a buzz in the advertising world.

A single video shifted the brand image from just another hygiene product manufacturer to a socially conscious brand with an understanding of the challenges girls face when developing their identity as women.

13. Dove – Real Beauty Sketches

Dove took a similar approach when creating this video, challenging women’s perceptions of their own beauty. The video targets a different age group than the previous example but also speaks to the self-critical person inside a woman. It carries a powerful message: “You are more beautiful than you think.”

Why is this video unique and powerful?
The brand collaborated with a portrait artist to prove the point, which gave the movie the power of a third-party testimony. At no point does the viewer suspect this is a marketing campaign.

The video also uses the surprise effect to keep attention levels high. Notice how each woman reveals bits of what they experienced rather than telling us what they learned from the experiment upfront. The goal gradually unfolds, and you constantly ask yourself, where is this going?

14. Alibaba – Kenya Ice Hockey Team Dreams Big

The example of Alibaba’s Olympic video ad tells an unusual story. It is situated in a faraway country where people have completely different dreams than a western audience.

Why does it work?
The components of the video demonstrating brand consciousness are very similar: empathy for the underdog, admiration for determination, hard work, and a hero story. On top of that, it makes you want to watch till the end because you have to see if the hero succeeds.

15. Apple – A climate change promise from Apple

Communication giant Apple addresses yet another topic to satisfy the growing mindfulness of the public. In this marketing video example, the company vows to take on the challenge of environmental pollution.

What do we love about this video?
The simplicity of this video is stunning and proves that sometimes less is more. The baby represents the future. The whispering voice represents Apple looking over the infant. Like a guardian angel it protects and cares for the future. Finally, Apple, as a brand and manufacturer delivers a powerful promise.

Product-related video examples

O.k., time to get your feet back on the ground. Let’s look at some simpler video marketing examples that are actually affordable and doable if you’re not already a market leader with a huge marketing budget.

Examples of product demo videos

Product demo videos are often the first type of video companies produce. They are relevant and impactful for every kind of product in any industry.

16. Gorilla Mounting Tape

What’s great about this video?
The video jumps right into the action without telling you what it is about. See how the first sentence is designed to do one thing: identify the target audience. The text overlay does the job of introducing the product.

The presenter is your regular guy from the neighborhood who obviously likes to fix things himself, judging by the items in his hands. If you’re that type of person, you’ll watch to hear his advice.

The video is specific and concise in explaining what you can do with the product and how to use it. And to top it off, the clip closes with a slogan you’ll remember.

17. Headspace

This example is a typical product demo for an app. It starts with the pain point and quickly leads to the solution. The goal is to present its uniqueness and highlight its benefits.

What do we like about this video?
It’s not your typical meditation promotion that uses calm and sedate scenes and sounds. On the contrary, it portrays stress and targets the need for relief. Meditation suddenly seems like something that belongs in everybody’s daily life.

18. Ikea – The Place:

Ikea has a history of using a variety of video styles to advertise products, promote sales and build brand authority. Here’s an example of a product demo.

Why is this video unique?
The opening message appears straightforward and honest:” We just want to inform, not sell.”

It’s shorter than most product demo videos, jammed with features and explanations. The trick of a successful product demo is to capture the essence of what your product accomplishes.

How-to videos

A how-to video presents a task and explains how to carry it out. Sometimes, it’s a complex problem; other times, it’s a simple, everyday use case. The focus isn’t on the product or brand but on the issue at hand. The product appears somewhere in the solution, as part of it, or as the preferred option among possible solutions.

19. Ikea – How to sew a pillow cover

We’ll stick with Ikea for our first example. See how the brand manages to keep the same overall look and feel despite the different video types and purposes.

Why is this video unique?
The video doesn’t promote at all. It’s a purely informational video from which you can learn a particular task. The only connection to Ikea is the cloth with an Ikea design pattern. If you don’t know that this is an Ikea video, you’ll only realize when the logo blends in at the end.

Explainer Videos

Companies realize the potential in using video to instruct the audience on how to use their products. It offers an opportunity to show and tell and highlight the top features and benefits.

Most explainer videos are animated. Compared to a live photo shoot or filming yourself in front of the camera, animation videos are cost-effective and simple to produce. All you need is an excellent designer.

20. Spotify

Why does it work?
This Spotify film has all the elements of a typical explainer video. It starts with why the target audience should use Spotify. The video uses actual images of the app so the user can get a practical impression of what it’s like to use Spotify.

Notice how you can also understand much of what is being presented with the sound turned off.

21. Western Union – US Mobile Bill Payments

B2B companies favor explainer videos. The reason is that B2B marketing focuses on a product’s practical and operational side and less on emotional triggers.

Why do we like this video?
Western Union understands how much customer satisfaction matters to its users. In order to promote its service, the company presents benefits for the user’s business and its customers. The language and images throughout the video are simple and clear.

Animated video examples

22. Airbnb – What is Airbnb?

Animated videos can be simple, but – as this example shows – they don’t have to be. Sophisticated animations can make amazing promotional videos or ads.

Why does it work? Staged in a fantasy setting, the video takes you through possible dream vacation locations. Each location is designed in great detail to show the richness of the experience. The video is adventurous in a playful way, without any risk or danger. The viewer feels the security of home while traveling through the fantasy world. It’s a winning combination.

23. Paypal – People Rule (TV commercial)

Combining an animated video with a real person can sometimes add credibility. A person is more relatable, and viewers can put themselves in their shoes. An animated character, on the other hand, is better suited to exaggerate a specific behavior, skill, or trait.

Why does it work? The lady in the video represents a simple shopper, and the animations represent the confusion caused by complex payment flows. The video’s message is clear, and everything is aimed at delivering that message without going into elaborate explanations.

Examples of interview videos

A glimpse behind the scenes and into the company’s history or culture creates empathy. When brands introduce an actual employee or the founder of a company, the target audience senses a connection.

24. Hubspot – About us with Dhamresh Shah

Why does it work? Hubspot is a technology company. The video isn’t about that at all. It shows two main things: why the company does what it does and how businesses benefit from it. The script unveils the philosophy behind founding Hubspot, shows the people inside, and then turns to demonstrate the impact. You learn that there are people with values and feelings behind the technology.

25. Aldi – My favorite part of my workday

In this marketing video example, Aldi presents a testimonial in which one of its thousands of employees tells her success story. The goal is basically the same: create a feeling of personal connection.

Why is this unique?
Typically, testimonials are given by customers. Featuring an employee shows a different side of the giant supermarket chain and adds personality.

Amanda is introduced by her personal name and appears as your friendly grocery shop worker from the store down the road. She shows us a work environment we think of as stressful and undesirable and presents it as happy and rewarding.

Testimonial video examples

Testimonial videos function as trust builders. People generally believe a third person talking about your product or service more easily than they believe your marketing messages. If customers are ready to put their faces on a video and speak up in favor of a solution, there must be something to it.

26. Codecademy – Life stories: How Tommy Nicholas transformed his career with Codecademy

Why do we like this video?
This testimonial video places the customer in his natural home environment, where he tells his personal story. But he doesn’t stop there. The coder also mentions fellow students’ successes and highlights the achievements of Codecademy as a coding school. And if that isn’t enough, he describes what this success means for a person’s life as a whole.

Educational video examples

27. Tech Insider – How deep is the ocean?

Companies get creative in building authority and presenting themselves as experts. The field of expertise can be very focused but only loosely related to the brand.

Educational videos are similar to a blog, where companies write about topics that could interest their audience.

Why does it work?
This Tech Insider video could easily be part of an educational program. The level of information provided is exceptionally high and aimed at an educated and curious readership. At the same time, the clip is simple enough for anyone to understand, and the animations are almost cartoon-like.

28. Carlsberg Beer Academy – Why is a Beer Foamy?

You read that correctly: beer academy. And why not?

Why does it work?
What a great idea to take a scientific approach to beer and give customers some trivia? Carlsberg has an entire series of short educational videos presenting info that could spice up any conversation in the local pub.

Guerilla marketing videos

We kept the fun videos for last. Marketers understand that consumers today want to be entertained. Off-line marketing strategies have leveled entertainment in many ways, and video helps spread the fun.

By filming the guerilla marketing activity, brands can reach a much larger audience.

29. Volkswagen – Fastlane

Why does it work?
The video beautifully captures the fun and the experiment. The connection to Volkswagen is created only at the very end. Again, people may be watching for the fun of it but also to see who’s behind it, and for that, they need to stay till the end.

30. Coca-Cola vending machine

The brand is known for its creative and extraordinary marketing activities. Here’s a wonderful example of guerilla marketing combined with an act of generosity.

Why does it work?
Contrary to the Volkswagen example, this video is structured the other way around. It starts by telling you what Coca-Cola did to build up your curiosity about what’s about to happen.

This clip uses the hidden camera concept, where people are filmed in unexpected situations to catch extreme reactions.

Interactive video example

31. Netflix: – Call of the Wild

This is pure fun! Interactive videos are taking engagement to a new level. The viewer can actively change the course of the video or choose what they want to see.

Honda, for example, created a parallel universe video where you could switch from the dark side to the bright side. Fashion brands use the technology to let you choose items, take a closer look, match styles, or view product info.

Watch this example of an interactive video from Netflix, and don’t forget to answer the call.

Now get to work!

Is your creative mind overflowing with ideas now? Then it’s time to organize your thoughts.

What you enjoy most isn’t necessarily the best choice of video for your goals. But if you play it smart, your video marketing will grow, and you’ll get to the point where you can create purely fun stuff.

For now, evaluate your options. Investigate where audiences watch a video and how they reach the video content. Find out when companies use paid ads and when they rely on organic search.

Here’s a spoiler: Most video content builds on organic traffic, so you need to base your video strategy on SEO considerations. That means identifying the keywords that drive high volumes of quality traffic. Similarweb keyword analysis enables you to do competitive research to get the data and insights you need.

Also, see what works for the competition and who are the most successful video marketers in your industry. Examine what types of videos are most successful, how they promote, and what level of engagement they get.

You can do it right now.