In the realm of video content, we've often been known to advise clients: 'if it's not entertaining or useful, don't do it'.
Sound counsel, for to have any hope of success, branded content needs to be at least one of those things. Now, the holy grail of video content marketing is both. If you can then make it cheap to produce and short for a busy, content-snacking audience, well, you should be very pleased with yourself indeed. So hats off this week to Mirabeau Wine, a small wine brand based in Provence. They've created a video that resolves a major question of our times, an issue of indescribable human frustration, desperation and suffering, for which hitherto there's been no satisfactory solution. Where big business and intergovernmental organisations have failed, Mirabeau have finally cracked the real biggy of the modern human condition: how to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew. (Come on, we've all been there, either self catering or camping: 'you packed the corkscrew didn't you?'). This video is useful, demonstrates expertise, and the novelty of the method is entertaining. And it's not an isolated incident of good practice either. The team at Mirabeau have made a veritable vatful of great videos about their story, their wine and Provence in general, all of which are as packed with authenticity and personality as their wine is with grapes. Mirabeau's work presents a fine example of the little guys in content marketing showing the big brands how it should be done. Cheers.