Behind the Scenes of Help Scout’s Against the Grain short doc series
Over the last few years branded documentary story telling has been on the rise as more companies are looking for new ways to market through brand affinity marketing. Brands and companies are now creating consumer content they own, can distribute and leverage how they see fit for years. Documentaries have always been a source of discussion and discovery, now brands have a chance to create a mission or tell stories that will allow them to be apart of larger social conversations, cultures and movements. In addition, brands can have content that connects with their audience at a different and deeper level than your product solution can.
Documentaries generally fall into two categories, short form (5-20 minutes), long form feature (50 - 120 minutes) or a series with multiple episodes that follow a story and show structure. In this post we will be looking specifically at the Documentary Series. A series allows you to release more marketing attention over time vs one piece of content. Plus it allows you to go deeper with your audience by creating episodes that can explore niche stories and topics. And by creating multiple ‘binge-able’ episodes with a specific feel, people are willing to engage and continue watching more.
Here’s 5 Brands making awesome Documentary Series:
Mail Chimp: Second Act
Mailchimp was one of the first brands to dive head first into creating binge-able content. They did this by partnering with producers and agencies to create a wide variety of content from narrative shows, to podcasts, and of course documentaries. They released a number of stand alone documentaries, but Second Act was a 5 part series released in partnership with Vice Media.
Second Act featured stories of people who where transitioning careers and creating new ventures. Mailchimp is a service that most new companies use when starting a business, so makes sense to target an audience that enjoys stories of people following passions and creating new ventures.
“One of our guiding principles has been to create content that is immersive and captivating enough to stand on its own.”
2. Yeti Stories: The Hungry Life
“For the show Hungry Life, we were shooting a non-scripted series. What that means is, everybody from the audio technician to the film guys, to the director, to even the camera assistant, everyone just needs to be ready, because you don’t know when the fish will bite. You don’t know when the sheep will be present. You don’t know when anything will happen. Whereas a scripted show, you kind of plan it, one, two, three execute, right? So that’s probably one of the greatest challenges.”
Yeti was one of the first brands to create their own online content that highlighted people’s stories as the focus vs the product. They began by highlighting outdoors-people who used Yeti, and at times they’d wrap their story into their products. But over the years they’ve gone full force into telling stories that resonate with audience and don’t focus on sales.
While they have a lot of stand alone stories, creating a series gives a greater chance at hooking a viewer in and creating “bingeable” content they will continue to watch. Hungry Life is one of my favorites from Yeti. It follows host and chef Eduardo Garcia as he goes on adventures with Yeti Brand Ambassadors learning about the environment, fishing and eating good food. The choice to use a Brand Ambassador or someone within your company can be a good decision as those people align with your mission and can serve as better ‘guides’ through your story. Plus in these video they aren’t selling or pushing a product. You are really just watching them have the adventures that they have in normal life.
3. Death Wish Coffee: Grind it Out
If anyone knows it’s community, it’s Death Wish Coffee Company. They spent years fosting a community of people that are passionate about their careers and hobbies - and love coffee. The Grind It Out series focuses on people doing what they love, from tattooing to boxing. In an interview with Fueled by Death Podcast, Art Director Thomas Dragonette spoke about their vision behind the brand. While most brands would use high profile athletics or celebrities to push the word out, they decided to focus on the everyday people that drive their business:
“We didn’t pay these people. These people were
enthusiastic to be part of it because we were gonna tell their story.
By us telling their story, they’re telling our story.
This is our coffee, and this is how it lives.”
4. Cleveland Browns: Building the Browns
In 2019 the NFL Football team Cleveland Browns created the series called Building the Browns, where fans got a behind the scenes look at the Browns attempt to rebuild their franchise. After a large viewship and winning an Emmy, they rolled it out again in 2020 with new coach Kevin Stefanski.
As they were filming in January 2020 and releasing episode in nearly real time, the Covid-19 shutdown gave them a unique opportunity to document the shift that was made to remotely running operations and coaching players. Including (below) behind the scenes episode of what it took to do the 2020 Football Draft 100% remote. The series’ production team did a great job adjusting to the pandemic remote challenges by taking advantage of the zoom/meeting webcalls, having talent set up their own cameras, film POV moments, and using social media and live footage.
5. Nutella®: Spread the Happy
How could a chocolate company create a video series their customers would engage with? By launching “Spread the Happy” - A series about people spreading love in their communities. Get it? Watching these short stories feel good, gives you a smile, and makes you want more. Just like a jar of this chocolate goodness. This is a win.
No matter what you create, be sure to hone into what your customer and audience care about and will invest in.
