6 of the most creative Vines of 2014

We've not really explored Vine that much this year, but love seeing what creative things people have produced. Here are a selection of our favourites from 2014...

1. This paper animation from Bruno Bergallo.




2. Simple stop motion from animator Dylan Blau.





3. This time lapse of professional 'Viner' Ian Padgham's pregnant wife.





4. Pumpkin pie by Zach King who uses camera trickery to produce great vines.





5. This from Maris Jones is clever and amusing. Her vines are weird, in a good way.




Subscribe to our blog by adding your details in the top right hand corner, or sign up for our emails here for more fun content.

YouTube adverts, you've got 5 seconds...

These days, adverts are pretty standard on YouTube. They last approximately 15 - 30 seconds, which in advertising terms is pretty short anyway, but on top of that, the option to skip the advert appears after 5 seconds! It's important when thinking about creating this kind of advert that you grab the viewers attention within those first few seconds, to ensure they keep watching until the end.

Here are our top 5 ways to grab attention in the first 5 seconds:

1. A celebrity: People will keep watching to see what their favourite celebrity is about to do

2. A question: Something like 'are you ready for what happens next?' encourages the viewer to answer the question in their head and can make them keep watching

3. Something totally bizarre: Speaks for itself!

4. A situation that you have to keep watching: Like a David Blaine style trick

5. Something controversial

Of course, many people are still likely to skip, so don't forget that the best adverts establish the brand or product in the first 5 seconds, usually with a logo or with narration.

Ads that are too self indulgent, not immediately interesting or clear are more likely to be skipped, they need to completely distract you from whatever you where originally looking at, even if it was just cat videos!

Also, this form of advertising will work best if it is targeted, so it's important to carefully choose the YouTube videos that your target audience are most likely to be watching. So a health related product could work well attached to a video about sport, food or celebrities.

Here are some successful ones that we love;

This is great and really catchy, which will encourage people to keep on watching. Although if people do click to skip it, then they've no idea what the brand is.



We laughed so much at this one, and watched it all the way through, it had us hooked from the start!



No matter what you think of Capital Radio, they've definitely ticked all the boxes. Logo in the first shot, catchy tune, MILLIONS of celebrities!

If you think that YouTube advertising is something that might work for your brand? Get in touch with us, we're happy to chat to you about it. Subscribe to our blog in the top right hand corner of this page for the latest updates and for more tips, news and advice sign up to our regular emails.

Discover why social video is so important for brands

We saw this infographic recently on why it's important to use social video to engage people. It really shows just how important video content is in getting your brand name out there and that a video doesn't always have to go 'viral' to have a positive effect on your brand (but that's another post!)

Social Video and Brand Engagement 2014 from ContentedLONDON on Vimeo.

Have we convinced you yet? 

We're always on the lookout for ways to make interesting video content and we'd love to help you to promote your brand. Have a look at our recent work here, get in touch if you fancy a chat about how we could help.help or sign up for our emails for news, tips and advice.

Found this useful? We'd love you to share it! Just click the share buttons below.

Join Deone on the behind the scenes photoshoot for Jack's Girl 2014

Our recent edit for Jack Links Meat Snacks is popping up all over the web. We can't think why...!


Jack Links Girl 2014 from seal films on Vimeo.

Behind the scenes videos can be a great way to show people the personality of your brand or to show the ideas behind your campaign. Get in touch with us if you think this is something that your brand could benefit from.

Sandtex retro ad gets a lick of paint

Early this year, we were asked to update a classic TV commercial for Sandtex masonry paint. The brief was to replace the lighthouse (that features in the 1990 original), with the iconic Happisburgh lighthouse. This meant a trip to Norfolk to film the new lighthouse so that we could begin the long and painful process of digitally replacing it in the ad. In addition to this, we also replaced all the original sound f/x, recorded a new voiceover and even wrote and recorded a new song!