A corporate video with over 9.6 million views on YouTube and more than 23,000 likes? That’s what the stats show today for A Day Made of Glass, a near-6-minute video from Corning, the American manufacturer of glass, ceramics and related materials, shown during Corning CEO Wendell Weeks’ presentation to institutional investors and analysts in New York last month.
Bear that in mind – a corporate video designed to support investor relations activity that is enjoying a viral effect online with over 9.6 million views so far. This is a video unlike any IR video I’ve seen before. In fact, it’s an outstanding example of story-telling, one that presents such a compelling picture of what is in our near future in terms of enabling us to connect with people anywhere from our homes, our workplaces, anywhere we happen to be, and get at information we need, whenever we want it, using whatever device works best for us.
The video depicts a family using futuristic glass technologies such as touch-operated kitchen counter tops, smart appliances, mirrors, tables, car information console and auto-dimming sunroof, interactive glass road signs, an interactive bus stop map, wafer-thin glass books and phones, and much more.
Just take a look:
(If you don’t see the video embedded above, watch the video at YouTube.)
One of the thoughts running through my mind when watching the video is how real it all seems. Real and natural – the adults and children using the technologies to communicate and connect are doing so in the most natural way: it’s something they’re all accustomed to doing as part of their lives.
That’s the aspirational aspect of this video. Some of the technologies demonstrated aren’t in production (or even in existence) yet. So how did Corning make this and make it so realistic and credible? You can learn the answer to that and many other questions in A Glimpse Into “A Day Made of Glass”, an account of the six days of the shoot by Michael Litchfield, Creative Director of Doremus, the agency behind the video. Litchfield’s post, incidentally, is keyword-tagged as ‘B2B Marketing,’ ‘B2B Social’ and ‘B2B Digital’ among others.
I think it’s excellent, a brilliant example of how to explain your business to an audience (whoever they happen to be) that makes such a strong emotional connection as evidenced by the YouTube views and likes. It’s also a terrific approach to evolving a business-to-business communication need.
You just want to share it.
One response to “A day made of glass”
This is what people mean when they say a brand should try to be a thought leader. I had no idea that glass is and will be such a big part of our daily life. But who else should tell me that and educate me on the topic other than a glass brand?
I’m looking to them to show me what’s in it for me, why they’re excited about glass and why I should be too.
So yes, it’s a great example of execution of some pretty old and common idea that few people take the time to think through.