From Apple to Peppa Pig – the best brand videos made for China this decade
Apple and Peppa Pig’s viral video hits prove that brand videos are far from dead in China – from Prada and Chevrolet’s artsy early works to the present day, these are best brand videos to target China since 2010
Branded films require a delicate balance between telling a compelling story and promoting a brand’s commercial interests. In some cases, the story may fail to feature the brand in a significant way, leaving viewers struggling to make a strong connection between what they see on screen and the company behind it. More commonly, however, the brand is overemphasised, lending an overly “commercial” quality to the viewing experience.
After gaining a lot of attention in China in the early part of this decade, the trending position of the branded mini-movie dropped due to competing opportunities for brands to integrate into television, social media, and other forms of entertainment. But the format appears to be experiencing a resurgence as more brands seek to stand out and appeal to younger audiences.
Unlike the earlier generation of brand films, which were most vigorously championed by luxury brands and carmakers seeking to marry the quality of their products with the heightened effect of the cinematic medium, the current boom extends to a broader range of consumer goods aiming to create strong brand values with high-quality sponsored content that is entertaining in its own right.
Here we highlight notable examples that have received attention in China over the past decade, showing the range of effective work in the branded film genre.
Prada (2010)
In one of the first China-focused luxury films, the Italian fashion house commissioned artist Yang Fudong to create First Spring (一年之际), a wordless, historically ambiguous nine-minute piece set in Shanghai. Shot in 35mm black and white film, it bears an avant garde aesthetic reminiscent of Yang’s five-part epic, Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest (2003-2007), and has been considered as much an art film as an advertisement.
Chevrolet Cruze (2010)
One of the most ambitious branded film efforts brought carmaker Chevrolet into a partnership with video hosting service Youku and China Film Group Corporation to develop a series of 11 films by up-and-coming directors for release online – at a time when original content was sorely lacking from Chinese video platforms.
By far the most popular of these films was the comedy duo Chopsticks Brothers’ 42-minute-long Old Boys (老男孩), a nostalgic story that deeply resonated with Chinese millennials, which was viewed 86 million times in the first week of its release. The Chevrolet Cruze brand is hardly present in the film, however, as the brand’s goal was more to associate itself with creativity among the voices of China’s younger generation.