7 Types of Animation Styles Used by Brands (with examples)

In a world where your audience has the attention span of a goldfish (that is 8 seconds), relying entirely on text is what we would call gullibility. Although there is no denying that it can generate leads, but as soon as the viewers find themselves on a landing page filled with unnecessarily intricate jargon and words, they leave even before their attention span ends.

Doesn’t it ring any bells? Doesn’t it tell you they need something quick, compelling, and conclusive? So what do we do? Well, we make something that has all these features; a high-quality animated video. But animation in itself has a lot of variety. So here comes two more questions; what are the most common and effective animations used by brands currently? And will it work for you or not?

Well, allow us to help you! In this article, we will be discussing seven types of trendy animation styles used by modern brands with some good examples. Moreover, we will also try to explain which of them will suit you best in terms of your targeted audience and industry in general.

So without further ado, let’s jump into it:

How animated explainer videos fare in video marketing strategy?

There’s a famous saying by renowned author and entrepreneur Seth Godin:

“Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but the stories you tell.”

Well, of course, the stuff matters, but that’s a debate for another day. According to statistics, 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual, and about 65% of people are visual learners.

Now here’s the advantage with animated videos. It allows you to tell a story, explain your product or service, and pass on your motive to the audience in a concise way, with gripping visuals, which is crucial in developing user engagement and understanding of your brand and products.

In case you are wondering how hard it is to order one, the answer is “pretty easy!”. With the large pool of talented explainer video companies available internationally, you will have no problem finding the right company for your next video production.

Animated explainer videos you can use for your brand

1.   2D animation

Needless to introduce, 2D is the oldest, most popular, and deliberately used animation type by companies. It consists of a flat screen with characters and environment presented in 2-dimensions, e.g., height and length.

Although not the most versatile one, it still works quite effectively when you want to present your points in the form of an engaging story. Moreover, it is much more cost-effective than some of the modern types of animations.

You can showcase it on your company’s official page, use it for Youtube advertisements and social media, and in the form of helpful explainer videos. It’s as resourceful and straightforward as animation can get.

2.   3D animation

The environment in 3D animation is a bit more immersive. 3D takes the concepts of 2D a leap ahead and adds another dimension, “width,” to the picture. It adds an extra layer of engagement and depth to the explanatory aspect of the video.

Suppose your company mainly revolves around products used for complicated tasks with intricate features and functionality. In that case, 3D animation is the best option at your disposal.

It helps you demonstrate your product’s features (through explainer video) and quality in the most profound details possible. Besides, you can also use it to deliver a compelling story with beautifully made characters. But that will take a bit more time.

3.   Whiteboard Animation

Remember your college whiteboard classes? That’s precisely it but in a digitalized and more exciting way. Whiteboard animation works excellent for explainer videos.

For example, if you have a service or product that you think cannot be explained entirely in 2D or 3D animation, you can break it down into simpler parts and convert it into a decent explainer video.

Although it isn’t known as the most engaging style of animation, if you find a great animator, he can turn it into a masterclass piece of infotainment with interesting charts, sketches, thought bubbles, etc. As it emphasizes understanding between the brand and consumer, you can expect solid conversions if done correctly.

4.   Live-action animation

Perhaps a bit more expensive in terms of production budget when compared to your simple animation video, there’s nothing better than mingling real human emotions with visually interesting animated counterparts.

Live-action animation is a great example. In a typical marketing live-action animation explainer video, certain actors explain a product with interesting animation accompanying them. Such a video keeps the audience more engaged due to the realistic experience and adds more depth to the explanatory aspect of the video. 

5.   Motion graphics

By definition, motion graphics is a type of animation video that mainly revolves around moving texts, complemented by music and some other elements (abstract mainly) in the background.

The best thing about motion graphics is their versatility and cost-effectiveness. From landing page explainer videos to advertisements and anything in between, you can rely upon it.

These work great in getting the message across in a concise, non-mumbo-jumbo way. However, the main factor that kicks here is your copywriting skills.

It takes more than just moving alphabets to create an engaging piece. So although easy to make, it will put your writing and marketing skills to a real test.

6.   Hand-drawn animation

We all grew up watching Jungle book and Bambi, and we loved it. But do you know how much work the creators had to put in for creating a single scene? Well, this explanation might help. Both of these and many more were made with hand-drawn animations.

The hand-drawn animation is the oldest, most arduous, and time and resource-consuming style of animation. It involves each video frame to be drawn and re-drawn on paper until each drawing is in perfect chronological sequence with the other.

The final product formed in the end is accompanied by voice acting. Although not so trendy these days, some brands still use it in their adverts to give the video an aesthetic and nostalgic touch. It has the power to touch your targeted audience emotionally if backed up by a compelling story.

The primary use of hand-drawn animation is limited to just ads, though.

7.   Stop Motion

It is the type of animation in which non-motile objects are physically manipulated and captured and then arranged frame-by-frame chronologically to create an illusion of smooth movement.

The approach is pretty much the same as hand-drawn 2D animation. However, instead of drawing, real-life objects are used, with a dense environment resembling 3D (or sometimes 2D!).

Many notable brands like John Lewis have made use of it. It can connect with the audience in a peculiarly emotional sense with the highly-refined aesthetics.

However, since a lot of time and resources are required to make a perfect stop motion video, budget is the most significant player here. And perhaps one of the reasons only established brands use it.

Final Word

Choosing the right type of video in your online marketing strategy is crucial in maintaining the overall image of your brand. With the right content reaching the right audience, it can generate enormous profits in a meager span. With this in check, we would love to know what animation you will add to your new marketing strategy. Also, don’t forget to express your thoughts in the comment section if you found this piece helpful.