Will Vine Grow As a Retailer Marketing Tool?

For those who think there isn’t all that much that can be effectively communicated in a six-second video, I’m here to say that you might be mistaken. I was very recently shown by a group of 17 to 21-year-olds that there is quite a bit — almost all of it quirky — that marketers and fans of brands can do on Vine, Twitter’s six-second video app launched earlier this year.

It’s clear that marketers are looking at Vine as a means to reach consumers. The question is whether this form of social communication is simply a novelty that will be gone in a blink or has real staying power from a marketing perspective.

Posted on Vine’s blog page is a Burberry’s Menswear fashion show filmed in London yesterday shown in its entirety — in seconds.

Adweek reports that Regal Entertainment Group, which operates movie theaters, is using Vine to promote Monsters University and World War Z.

"The limitations of six seconds can actually lift the storytelling," Gabrielle Kessler, accounts manager for Something Massive, which handles social media for Regal, told Adweek. "You get to home in on those emotionally engaging moments that both marketers and filmmakers are after."

With over 13 million downloads of the app on Apple’s App Store, it was only a matter of time before Vine competitors popped up. Instagram, owned by Facebook, is expected to launch its own short video service tomorrow. Many expect, since Vine has been referred to as the "Instagram for Video," that an Instagram service could cause Vine to whither. Some beg to differ, but consumers and the marketplace they represent will decide.

BrainTrust

Discussion Questions

Is there a place for short videos through Vine and other apps in retail marketers’ social marketing playbooks? How do you see such communications being used most effectively?

Poll

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Tom Redd
Tom Redd
10 years ago

The use of short anything will lead to better marketing. Why? The attention span of the largest wallets—the Millennials—is short…very short. The trick is that in 6 seconds the marketers need to create the feeling of “I need that” or communicate in a way that the viewers see themselves in the video.

When the Millennials SEE themselves, your product sells.

Back to the ME marketing model, eh?

Marge Laney
Marge Laney
10 years ago

If you’re targeting the tweens and teens, I think it might get their (short) attention. After all, being quirky and cool is what it’s about.

For the rest of us, maybe Vine is the new banner ad! Giving people a tidbit that drives them to a website for more information makes sense.

Zel Bianco
Zel Bianco
10 years ago

I’ve watched Vine grow as a social media tool and believe it’s definitely viable for retail marketing. Six second video clips might not seem like enough time, but as people infuse personal decisions more than cost and brand, it’s important to find ways to connect to shoppers in a meaningful way.

We’ve seen Facebook likes and YouTube views grow companies and awareness. Short clips that connect with CEOs, Brand Managers, even employees themselves are worthwhile and inexpensive ways to connect to customers. Vine can be used to discuss a company’s direction and thoughts regarding a product, insights behind some decisions, even garner support for policy or initiatives internally or externally.

The old saying, “there is no such thing as bad publicity,” isn’t exactly true, but I will say there seems to be a never ending way to actually publicize, and if a tool makes sense it should definitely be in a company’s arsenal.

Lee Kent
Lee Kent
10 years ago

Absolutely! It’s all about getting the attention of the consumer and we love video that’s quirky, fun, and short. Most of us are willing to give 6 secs of our attention to see what’s up.

Ralph Jacobson
Ralph Jacobson
10 years ago

With the shoppers’ attention spans decreasing at an accelerated rate, I think these apps are perfect and high-impact…as much as they can be, since nothing seems to last these days in the minds of shoppers.

Brian Numainville
Brian Numainville
10 years ago

There is absolutely a place for these short videos. The key will be to make them quick hitting, engaging and relevant enough!

Anne Howe
Anne Howe
10 years ago

It’s all about that emotional Aha! Honing it down is hard, but when you get it right, it’s absolutely communicable in 6 seconds. Boomer and senior brains might be too distracted for this technique to be effective in-store but for the next super power buying groups—Gen Me and Gen We (the pre-teens and teens) I think this form of video will indeed be important in shopper marketing. It can and will be effective at multiple points along the purchase journey, even as part of the after purchase socializing.

I agree with Marge Laney on her point about using a part of the 6 seconds to tip toward a web visit, especially if the site is built for mobile access.

Dan Frechtling
Dan Frechtling
10 years ago

Tweets drive clicks, book excerpts convert book sales, movie previews drive ticket sales, and provocative magazine covers get lifted off shelves.

Giving viewers a peek at the action triggers curiosity. Six-second brevity makes the full form content actually seem more valuable.

With Red Vines seeing CTR at 3%, it’s not just for movies.

Now that Instagram, with 100MM users, has validated 6 sec videos, marketers will have more options to participate.