One of the toughest marketing challenges a small business owner faces is constantly coming up with new, creative, engaging ways to present your products and services to a public that’s already pretty familiar with what you’re offering. Really – what remains to be said about blue jeans, furniture, jewelry or pretty much everything else that hasn’t already been said?

That’s certainly a challenge Volkswagen has experienced. They’ve been in business for quite a while now, their brand is very well-known and regarded, and it’s very easy for customers to tune out their messaging as just another car commercial.

The Volkswagen creative team did something very smart at this point. They spent time engaged with their product (in this case, a Tiguan), playing with it in the hopes of generating a usable concept. With no end goal in sight, they strapped a video camera to the Tiguan’s wheel and went driving around on a snowy night.

You can see the results here.

By taking a new perspective on their product, and presenting it in a way the public has probably never even imagined before, the Volkswagen team created a stunning, attention grabbing ad that stands out in a season full of car commercials dominated by oversized red bows on fancy cars parked out front on Christmas morning.

The question then becomes how can we use this concept in promoting our own businesses? Video is a tool all small businesses need to be using, even if you have no intention of airing your creations on TV. Social media, your website, and YouTube are all messaging channels you just can’t ignore.

GoPro and other high-tech cameras have made it surprisingly easy to create unique point of view videos. Would a dog’s eye view of how amazing the new chew toy is help a pet retailer sell more of them? Probably. If you go this route, make sure to keep your videos short and use your headlines and descriptive copy to let viewers know what they’re looking at: it’s not always as immediately apparent as you think. Even armed with just your smartphone and some creativity, you can craft one-of-a-kind videos that will have customers seeing you in a new light.

Need help thinking through how to make this happen? Give us a call. Our creative team will be happy to assist!