What's all the fuss about Vine?

Everyone’s talking about Vine, Twitter's relatively new service that supports the sharing of video clips that are limited to six seconds long. Some are posting the usual cute baby and cat Vines. We expected that. But brands are taking it to a whole new level of creativity—and producing fascinating content.

Vine has consolidated Twitter’s position at the top of the social-media ladder. Becuase so many people turn to Twitter for breaking news, it made sense for it to have an audio visual output method too. And as video is 20 times more likely to be shared, it makes sense for brands to engage it.

It’s such a quick audio visual hit, with people living more and more on their smartphones and tablets, it made sense for them to give consumers another way to add life to their 140 characters. It fits seamlessly into the smart phone/table ecosystem that we all now inhabit.

So how can brands benefit from implementing Vine into their marketing plans?

Retail

Amazon uses Vine as a way to give potential customers access to honest and unbiased feedback from trusted reviewers on products. It's by invitation only, so there is an exclusive feel to it, which also adds to the credibility and authenticity of the reviews.

Doritos has used Vine successfully to launch new products. The brand tied a Vine clip to a ‘name that tune’ competition, so not only was it getting people to think about their brand, it was incentivising customers to talk about Doritos.

Journalism

Journalists and reporters are using Vine to not only support their articles but to splash breaking news and sporting events. NBC aired Vine footage taken of the Boston marathon bombing recently. Vine was also used extensively by The Wall Street Journal in its coverage of the recent New York Fashion Week.

Film

Filmmakers have been using Vine to promote their upcoming films. Even old films are having their trailers reworked to fit into the Vine ecosystem. A recent film even uploaded the whole film, by sequence, in six-second clips. Yes, really. The 2013 Tribeca Film Festival even has a Vine category.

Food

Within the food industry, Vine can be used to post restaurant dishes by chefs; how to make them and the presentation, as you can show recipe steps in an effective way. Food bloggers and writers are using Vine to showcase their tastings in a short, snappy way, promoting themselves and their food adventures.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo demonstrated this himself in one of the very first Vine tweets.

KFC has provided an example of using Vine for running competitions. This is similar to what we witnessed when Pinterest was first launched, offering prizes to people who created image boards including a hashtag linking to the company’s page; a really effective way of communicating with consumers.

Hotels 

For luxury hotels, Vine is a great way to promote new hotels, attract new customers and encourage repeat bookings. It can show a sneak-peak of upcoming properties or give a snippet about the actual size of rooms and features. Hotels can upload clips from coveted events as a teaser or clips from behind-the-scenes leading up to high-profile events. Such efforts can help focus viewer’s attention on special features at the hotel such as the Michelin restaurant,  or designer spa:

Celebrities

As for celebrities, Vine is the perfect way to showcase their personal stories, crazy or lavish lifestyles, and the exclusive events they attend. However, some celebrities need to be more careful with their use of Vine. Teenagers follow them on Twitter.

The good, the bad and the ugly

The problem with Vine is that brands may be sceptical about it and treat it as a passing fad. With so many new apps, brands can get disillusioned as to which ones are really worth their time.

However, visual content is 20 times more likely to be shared, and Vine ties in perfectly with the time-starved professional’s attention span online. It is a mere snapshot, but easy to watch and share during a hectic work day. It also puts people under pressure to create something memorable in six seconds.

It’s important that brands assess whether it will be really effective for them. The key to this is having a solid Vine strategy. With just six seconds, it needs to be impactful, well thought out and relevant to customers. And it needs to be spread across social-media networks to be further liked and shared.

Saturation is also an issue for brands. Marketers could be tempted to upload too many videos, leading them to post Vines that simply aren't interesting enough. Brands and content creators should post only the most memorable clips, so we can all look forward to what they have in store for us next—and get ready to spread the word.

Rachel Everett (right) is a partner at White Horse Digital Asia in Singapore.