Corporate vs Commercial Video Production: What Works Best for Your Business
Understanding the difference between commercial and corporate film production is crucial for businesses seeking to maximise the impact of their video content and choosing the most effective type of video—one that best conveys your message to your target audience in a way that associates your product or service with what you would like it to be perceived as.
What Is Commercial Video Production?
Commercial video production is the process of creating a professional-quality video with the purpose of marketing or promoting a company's product or service. These videos are designed to capture attention within the first few seconds, tell an engaging story, and encourage viewers to take a specific action — such as making a purchase, scheduling an appointment, or promoting brand awareness. Commonly, the advertorial relies on high-quality creativity, production value and emotional storytelling to provide an unforgettable experience for the viewer.
Key Characteristics of Commercial Videos
- Target Users: The general public, including buyers and potential clients.
- Goals: To market a product, service or brand and create urgency to act now.
- Tone: Imaginative, fun, touchy-feely stories that people naturally want to engage with.
- Duration: Most content is short-form (15 seconds to 1 minute), created with shrinking attention spans in mind.
- Delivery Channels: TV, Online (YT, Facebook, Instagram) and digital advertising paid campaigns.
What Is Corporate Video Production?
Corporate Video Production covers a wide range of purposes, from video content designed for internal or external use within an organisation. While commercial videos are created to be entertaining and sell products to consumers, the primary purpose of a corporate video is to inform viewers about a company's values, culture, policies, or information useful to employees, stakeholders, clients, or investors. Corporate videos can be used as marketing material, but most importantly, they are for educating, informing, and forming relationships.
Key Characteristics of Corporate Videos
- Who Potential Readers Are: On staff, the attending stakeholders and clients, and anyone looking to invest in your company or industry.
- Purpose: To share the corporate values, deliver training, teach employees and inform an outside audience about the company.
- Tone: Official and educational, straightforward and clear rather than emotional.
- Duration: The duration ranges from a few minutes (for training videos) to more than an hour (for detailed presentations or investor briefings).
- Channels of Distribution: In-house platforms like intranets, company websites, videoconferences, sales pitches and industry shows.
Corporate videos are those that have a business intent behind them and will fall into a more specific role within the corporate and B2B areas, such as training videos, safety videos, motivational videos, product sales footage, shareholder communication, or even PR (public relations) requests. For instance, a technology company in the UK may develop a corporate video on its sustainability initiative for employee awareness, and even provide the investor community with content that only professionals could have produced, showcasing clear and concise messaging.
Corporate vs Commercial Video: Key Differences & Benefits
It’s essential to understand the differences between corporate and commercial video production so that you can select the appropriate type of video content for your objectives. These variations include intent, audience, style, complexity of creation, and CTA messaging strategies.
1. Purpose and Audience
- Commercial Videos: Those for an external audience to build a brand or generate sales leads.
- Corporate Videos: Aimed at employees and people who belong to it; they can tell what the company is all about, and you can learn and be informed on corporate business issues.
2. Content and Messaging
- Commercial videos: These are about products, services or brand storytelling designed to grab attention in seconds.
- Corporate Videos: Communicate the benefits of your company, including its values, working practices/conditions, and staff development.
3. Style and Tone
- Commercial Videos: Creative, funny, and pulls on the heartstrings. The content can be animated, exciting and even attractive.
- Corporate Videos: Formal, matter-of-fact and succinct to the point. Style and Pathos are of less consequence than Truth and Nature.
4. Production Complexity
- Commercial Videos: Most times include production expenses like expensive sets, special effects, animation and professional actors.
- Corporate Videos: The quality of your video production will depend on how basic or slick you want it to be, based on your audience and end goal. Whereas an internal training video may require minimal editing, a video used to attract investors would likely require high-quality production.
5. Call to Action (CTA)
- Commercial Videos: Commercial videos use it to drive explicit CTA that guides (tells) viewers what they should do next, i.e., buy a product, subscribe to a service or go to your website, etc.
- Corporate Videos: Calls to action are usually indirect. These can be paragraphs that are encouraging you to learn, use, or get more involved with an internal resource or company information.
Understanding the difference between commercial and corporate film production is essential because it enables UK brands to capture a video strategy that fulfils both their marketing and operational needs.
Which Type of Video Production Works Best for Your Business?
Between commercial and corporate video production, it comes down to what you are looking to achieve for your business, who it is specifically aimed at, and the message you want to convey.
- Opt for commercial video production if you want to improve consumer interaction, boost revenue, build brand identity or touch people's hearts on a wider scale. To succeed in this category, creative storytelling, strong production quality, and arresting visuals are key.
- Partner with corporate video production if you have internal messages to relay, need to educate employees, want to portray your company culture, or wish to communicate with stakeholders and clients professionally. The emphasis is on clarity, professionalism and getting to the point.
Including both types of video content in their overall strategy is advantageous for many businesses. For example, a production company may produce marketing videos to announce new product features to customers and simultaneously create corporate videos for training employees on the efficient use of its products.
Corporate Video production vs Commercial Video production UK: Cost Considerations
When setting up a video production, cost is a crucial consideration. Budgets vary drastically due to quality and distribution, but it is beneficial for businesses to understand the distinctions at least.
Commercial Video Production Costs
- High Quality: Cast members, sets, professional lighting/ camera and post-production editing must be invested in.
- Ad Costs: Large budgets may be required to advertise videos on TV, social media, YouTube, and other digital platforms.
- Creative Costs: Scriptwriting, storyboarding, concepting, and creative direction costs are included in the quote.
Corporate Video Production Costs
- Variable Costs: There can be little cost for internal videos, which are kept to a minimum, or higher expenses for external videos that require a sleek and finished look.
- Distribution Channels: Not serving external distributions (e.g., internal platforms, company website) may lower the distribution costs compared to commercial video.
- Production: As simple videos are easy to produce, the better your camera and editing software are, along with less jargon, the more professional they appear.
Budgeting for the video should reflect its impact with production quality in relation to what's achievable, anticipating ROI. Effective corporate videos are a crucial component of internal communications and stakeholder engagement, as they can connect with customers and enhance brand awareness.
Choosing the Right Audience: Commercial vs Corporate Video Strategies
Understanding the audience is vital in creating a successful video strategy. When you personalise your message to meet the needs of the attendees, it ensures a more engaging experience and, consequently, better results.
- Commercial Videos: Appeal to a wide audience of potential clients. Engagement, enjoyment, and emotion are key. The community can widely accept content.
- Corporate Videos: Target a narrower audience, such as employees, board members, industry insiders, or investors. It's all about professionalism, clarity & substance.
For example, a spot for a fashion brand in the UK could feature trend-led visuals and upbeat music to grab viewers’ attention. On the other hand, a corporate video for the same company might emphasise supply chain transparency, ethical sourcing or employee success stories. This approach resonates with both internal and external business users.
Benefits of Commercial vs Corporate Video Production UK
There are distinct benefits to each version of video production, and both should be used as tools for business growth and company-wide alignment.
Benefits of Commercial Video Production
- More Brand Exposure: Original and engaging content makes you visible in crowded markets.
- More Sales: Compelling videos with a clear CTA can lead to sales and capture leads.
- Greater Exposure: With more channels in play, your message enjoys a broader reach.
- Emotional Attachment: Brand storytelling and creative imagery are powerful in bringing brands and consumers closer.
- Competitive Advantage: Premium commercials can set your brand apart from the competition.
Benefits of Corporate Video Production
- Better Corporate Communications: Video allows corporate messages to be delivered and received consistently at all levels of the company.
- Employee Engagement and Training: Training videos and informational films boost skills, knowledge, and morale.
- Stakeholder Trust: Clear and professional videos enhance confidence among customers, investors, and partners.
- Brand Integrity: Corporate video enables the company to project its culture and values to itself, whether it's for its staff or the outside world.
- Operational Efficiency: Video can optimise communications, minimise repetitive presentations, and ensure consistency of understanding.
Conclusion
Businesses need to know what the difference is between commercial and corporate video production when trying to get the best ROI from their video investments. Great commercial videos have the power to stimulate interest, raise brand visibility, and prompt consumer action. In contrast, corporate videos convey the message, engage staff, and help develop that all-important trust with stakeholders.
A mixed approach to video strategy is common for UK businesses. You want marketing video content that communicates why you are the brand they should choose, as well as corporate video content that informs or inspires stakeholders about what you do. When you carefully coordinate your video production with clear goals, a well-defined audience, and available resources, you will be able to measure the tangible impact on your business performance.
At Simply Thrilled, we specialise in both commercial and corporate video production, helping businesses across the UK create videos that resonate, inform, and inspire our audiences. Whether you aim to engage consumers with creative storytelling or educate employees with professional content, our team ensures high-quality production tailored to your unique needs.
FAQs -
1. What differentiates a commercial from a corporate video?
Commercial videos are produced to facilitate the sale of a product or service, and contain either subtle or direct product references. In reality, corporate videos are intended for one-way communication (with the consumer), sharing company news, training, and internal communications that serve as a display of professionalism, organisational culture, and strategic communications, rather than true consumer engagement.
2. Which genre of video production is more costly?
Small business video is more expensive than corporate video production. That's because commercial videos frequently require expensive sets, professional actors, complicated special effects and many hours of work in production and postproduction — not to mention advertising. The goal is to entertain, captivate, and sell the viewer, which often requires a larger budget and crew when producing an impactful corporate video.
3. Can commercial and corporate videos be utilised in a business setting?
Businesses do use both commercial and corporate films, yes. While the primary purpose of commercial videos is to drive customer purchases, corporate videos serve different needs, such as internal communication, investor relations, and employee training. Utilising both subscriptions helps companies achieve various goals and supports such efforts within marketing & operations.
4. How do I determine the right type of video for my business?
There is a wide range of factors to consider, including your specific business goals, the target audience, and the message you want to convey. Commercial videos are perfect for marketing and customer engagement. For internal communications, training or corporate messages, corporate videos are often the better fit. Clear objectives well guide the choice.
5. What are the pros of using video for business communication?
Video is a significant component of business advertising and communication because it captures attention, promotes engagement, and enhances information retention. It is a form of creative writing that can simplify complex concepts, express emotions, and make information more memorable and accessible. By its very nature, video is highly adaptable, serving as both marketing collateral and training and internal communication materials, while enhancing efficacy and audience engagement.
