Vine is the new hot marketing commodity

One of those things you regret not having thought of yourself, are the words with which one of my friends on Facebook, amazed by the simplicity and element of fun, described the new app Vine, which has won over virtual users around the world in just a few months of existence.

And not just users, of course, but also advertisers who have decided to open their profiles on Vine and release six-second video clips into the world. Vine is, therefore, the new hot thing in the world of advertising and social networking, which many say heralds a new era of digital marketing. This app was launched into the world in the middle of last year, but it only truly flourished after the potential was sniffed out by Twitter’s top brass, who acquired it for an estimated one billion dollars. Interestingly, Vine did not initially attract excessive attention from users even under the new ownership, but a few months later, quite unexpectedly, it experienced a real boom and practically flooded not only Twitter but also other social networks, like its rival Facebook. The popularity of the app is justified by many with the thesis that in a world of information ‘overload’, users prefer simple and short forms.

Users create Twitter is, in this context, a completely natural environment in which this app can ‘grow up’ because simplicity is the mantra for both, the axis of their brand. It was clear that users needed time to recognize ‘the new’ Vine in the sea of options as something that helps them showcase their own creative works that others would gladly watch and comment on because, unlike YouTube and other video services, it only takes six seconds of their lives. The production of videos has also been simplified; in just a few minutes, users can try their hand at creating videos that resemble those in ‘gif’ format or ‘stop motion’ animation, and with just one click of the mouse, share clips from their own lives with the whole world. Given that advertisers religiously follow novelties and new user dependencies, it is no surprise that they have eagerly embraced the new format and started promoting their own brands using Vine. In marketing terms, using this app as a promotional tool comes as a kind of subversion, as previous video clips, even those from the workshops of wealthy global brands, are stripped of production luxury and resemble amateur films more than advertisements that can be seen on televisions.

Amateur works Some experts claim that this, in addition to the ‘six seconds’ factor, could be the reason why users are happy to watch ads on Vine. They say it gives them an element of humanity, allows a glimpse ‘behind the scenes’, and brings the brand closer to consumers in an unprecedented way. Clearly, it is still about significantly lower production costs, but also a format that does not tolerate luxury, complexity, or pretentiousness of individual marketing campaigns. For example, Lego, one of the strongest global brands, has released several six-second ‘stop motion’ animations with colorful blocks, and General Electric released a video in which a hand draws their logo with a regular ballpoint pen on plain paper. Financially speaking, Vine is, as we have established, an extremely cheap promotional tool, but is it also extremely effective? The website Simply Measured assures that it is, meaning that advertising on Vine can help in crafting a ‘classic’ marketing strategy. Their team researched the effectiveness of randomly selected brands that posted more than five videos via Vine in a week at the end of March. For instance, USA Today posted seven videos that were viewed by 3.5 million users that week. Of all the videos, the humorous video Happy Pi Day was shared the most, which was a good way for the brand to test what content their audience enjoys the most and based on that, shape further marketing communication.

Easy measurability The brand Urban Outfitters also posted seven six-second videos that were more noticeable than their usual ‘tweets’. As Simply Measured suggests, experimentation has shown brand owners that it would not be a bad idea to include more video material in their digital communication, whether it is short films on their official websites, Vine, or YouTube. Therefore, when you combine simplicity, low cost (or, in fact, no cost since the app is free), and the factor of easy measurability, all arguments are on Vine’s side, so it is expected that more brands will embrace this way of communicating with users in the near future. However, the only question that arises is how long its popularity will last and ultimately how to be and remain creative on Vine. Experts from marketing blogs are almost united in the view that Vine truly heralds a new era of digital marketing and that, if nothing else, it will survive these short advertising formats. Six seconds is still just six seconds, and users will always prefer to click on such content rather than on multi-minute advertising, no matter how interesting, creative, or inspired it may be. On the other hand, the internet generation has long shown that it wants to participate in content production, willing to offer snippets from their own lives, so they will gladly embrace any tool, whether it is a photo or video app that will make them great photographers or brilliant directors. Of course, advertisers who eagerly lurk at every step will follow them on that path. And finally, it should not be forgotten that Vine and similar apps are just part of the trend of ‘real-time marketing’, which experts predict a bright future for as it promotes products with context, relevance, and taking into account the chronic ailment of the modern world known as lack of time.