Guide

Video production

Video production refers to the entire process of making a video, from creative development and planning to execution.

Start using Amazon Ads to display your products and create campaigns.

With hands-on assistance available across video, audio and more, our in-house creative production and editing services fit a wide range of budgets.

Be where the world is watching. Expand your reach with Streaming TV ads that show up in award-winning shows and movies on Prime Video.

Our creative solutions for advertisers of all types and sizes can help bring your video marketing to life.

What is video production?

Video production is the process of producing content for video. Video production includes every stage of the video making process from creative ideation to execution.

What are the types of video production?

The different types of video production are brand videos, promotional videos and digital out-of-home videos.

Brand videos

Brand videos are 60-, 30- or 15-second video ads for use on broadcast TV, streaming TV, online or social media. A brand could produce an ad that can run in all these media placements.

Promotional videos

Promotional videos are videos designed to promote a product, brand or service. These can include longer-format branded content, infomercials, how-tos, etc. These can be featured on a brand’s website, YouTube, or other social media channels. Promotional videos can vary in length from 30 seconds to over two minutes.

Digital out-of-home videos

Digital out-of-home videos are digitized displays visible in public spaces like streets or gathering areas such as shopping malls.

How do you craft effective video ads?

To make effective video ads, there are three universal criteria to ensure a high creative bar when producing and evaluating video ads.

Simplicity

The video communicates key information about the brand or product in a clear and concise manner, focusing on no more than two points.

Quality

Despite its reasonable cost, the video is of high quality, thanks to its overall production value and well-crafted edit that drives the story forward while holding the audience’s attention.

Memorability

The original story establishes a connection between the brand and its product offerings in a unique and memorable way, setting it apart from competitors.

These criteria will help ensure the effectiveness and scale across all video products. The end card is a key element to put your brand front and center at the end of the video to drive viewers to take action. End cards are visual overlays of a brand/product logo with or without additional text, images or graphics at the end of an ad to reinforce key brand messaging.

Pepsico Near East video

How to produce videos step-by-step

The key steps to produce a video include writing a creative brief, developing a concept, writing a script, generating a storyboard, preparing the pre-production elements, starting the video production, complete the post-production, negotiating music, talent and licensing, transcreating and localizing and last but not least, delivering assets to respective channels.

1. Write a creative brief

A creative brief is a document that outlines detailed strategy and specific requests. The brief contains project details including the purpose, goals, requirements, messaging, demographics, specific deliverable needs, transcreation or localization needs, and other key information.

Usually developed in the project initiation phase, this brief will help a creative team better understand a project from the start to build related concepts. Additionally, pairing the creative brief with additional documentation such as brand guidelines, past campaign references, or examples of other videos can help to further improve creative development.

Owner: This step is usually owned by an advertising lead, strategy lead, program/campaign manager and/or account executive.

2. Develop the concept

Every video ad starts as an idea with clear intent. Typically, advertisers will identify a customer need and build a proper strategy to guide creative development of a particular video concept or set of concepts part of a greater campaign.

A concept informs the script and its contents as well as the overall visual style of a video.

Owner: This step is usually owned by video creators, an agency, art director, copywriter, director or producer.

3. Write a script

Once a concept has been approved, a script is generated to detail a true representation of the final video based on length of time with clear content including talent types, dialogue or voice-over, overall direction, use of products/props, settings/locations and more.

Owner: This step is usually owned by a copywriter, art director, director and/or producer.

4. Generate a storyboard

Storyboards are visual documents representing the proposed flow and action of a script. Typically developed by an illustrator and creative team, storyboards are used for larger or more complex productions to ensure every scene and action work together in a produced sequence. Storyboarding is not always necessary and can be replaced by a detailed shot list.

Owner: This step is usually owned by a copywriter, art director, director or producer.

5. Prepare the pre-production elements

Once a script or storyboard has been approved, official creative production planning begins. This process covers every single element involved in a production including: casting talent, securing locations, gathering props and wardrobe, technical and equipment planning, aligning on post production needs and more.

Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content starts being produced.

Owner: This step is usually owned by a producer, line producer, director, production team and/or a creative director.

6. Start the video production

This is when actual filming, content capture or animation/motion design of product, talent, locations, audio and actions take place. This process is limited to a production plan. All content must be documented in this phase, otherwise re-shoots would have cost and timing implications.

Owner: This step is usually owned by a producer, line producer, director, production team and creative director.

7. Complete post-production

Once the post-production team receives the raw footage from the shoot, the video is refined and finalized (editorial processes of organizing necessary music, graphics, voice-over, as well as the creative process of combining and selecting correct shots and assets to convey message, take place). These elements layer together to fuse the visual and audio aspects to create final deliverable assets that achieve the goal.

Owner: This step is usually owned by a producer, post-producer, director, post-production team and creative director.

8. Negotiating music, talent and licensing

Every video that includes talent and licensed music or imagery must be documented and paid for, according to video usage terms. Any kind of talent cannot be mixed without costs or official documentation and all agreements must be locked in before video content can air. This process begins in pre-production, but should be completed in production and post-production phases.

Owner: This step is owned by the program/campaign manager, producer, and/or legal, finance and talent agency teams.

9. Transcreate and localize

This process includes creating assets suited for customers in various countries, territories, languages or cultures. It is critical to understand communication and audience objectives in the creative briefing phase to inform both production and post-production scope and development. In production, understanding the target regions, audiences, cultures or languages can inform casting, locations, wardrobe, styling, props and more. In post-production, localization or transcreation efforts can be executed through script translations, dubbed voices or visual subtitles for customers to read on screen.

Owner: This step is usually owned by the producer, localization agency/producer, campaign or program manager and creative director.

10. Deliver assets to respective channels

The delivery date and greater scope should be defined and aligned prior to production. Delivering final assets and passing them to final launch destinations at different specifications, sizes, aspect ratios or formats should happen by the specified delivery date.. Any deliverables defined later in the process could have timing and budget implications.

Owner: This step is usually owned by the producer, post-producer, post-production team and/or program manager.

How do you create an effective video end card?

An end card is the last portion of a video ad seen by a viewer and, it can achieve several important tasks, such as:

  • Acting as the brand’s visual representation through logo, colours, imagery and design. Think of it as a brand badge at the end of an ad.
  • Establishing brand recall during the final moments of an ad to make a lasting impression on the viewer. The last frames of an ad can be its most impactful.
  • Driving home important information about what an ad is trying to showcase, such as promotional offers or a call to action.

Key elements of a video end card

The hierarchy or composition of an end card is essential. When reviewing or developing an end card, take these things into consideration: brand logo, taglines and calls to actions, URLs and post integration.

Brand logo

A brand’s logo should always be primary in the hierarchy of an end card. The center of the frame is usually best.

Taglines and calls to action (CTAs)

If a tagline or CTA is included, the weight and size of the text should be smaller than the logo, easy to read and limited in text (six words or fewer).

URLs

URLs should be short and should not include www. The weight and size of the text should be smaller than the logo and tagline or CTA.

Product integration

For end cards showcasing products (imagery or video), establish a clear, clean and balanced composition with a clear hierarchy of the brand and product. Product integration should be noticeable but not distracting.


Char-Broil’s video

What are the elements of video production?

The elements of video production include cinematography, post-production, sound or audio production, colour correction or colour grading and visual effects.

Elements of video production explained:

1. Cinematography

Cinematography is the art of photography and visual storytelling in a video. It comprises all on-screen visual elements, including lighting, framing, composition, camera motion, camera angles, lens choices, depth of field, zoom, focus, colour, exposure and filtration.

2. Post-production

This is the phase that comes after production and filming are completed. It involves editing and assembling the audio and video materials, adding music, voice-over, sound effects, graphics and visual effects. In short, post-production includes all the tasks associated with cutting raw footage and making it into a complete and polished final product.

3. Sound or audio production

This refers to a range of tasks, such as recording live sounds on set, sourcing appropriate sound effects, music composition, dialogue editing and mixing. The ultimate objective of sound design is to produce a seamless and engaging audio experience that complements the visuals and intensifies the emotional impact of the video.

4. Colour correction or colour grading

During this phase, the team adjusts the colours in a video to enhance the overall visual tone and mood. Typically, colour grading occurs in the final stages of post-production.

5. Visual effects

Computer-generated special effects are often added to a video during post-production. VFX generally combines live-action footage and enhanced or manipulated imagery to create extremely realistic environments, characters and more. The primary objective of VFX is to make something that does not actually exist look convincingly real. Visual effects can also be practical, such as explosions captured on-set during a car chase.

Producing videos with Amazon Ads

Amazon offers video production for multiple video placements, including:

No video? No problem.

Video production can be challenging, and brands sometimes lack the resources, time or expertise. Amazon Ads offers three video production solutions for customers:

  1. Amazon Video Builder: Our free, self-service tool provides you with the power to use your current assets to create video. It’s like having your very own video production studio at your fingertips. Amazon Video Builder allows you to put your brand in motion while catching the attention of your relevant audiences. You can customize videos to your business style and messaging with a range of customizable templates and product images. This eliminates the need to learn to use video editing software, or the need to rely on design skills (available for Sponsored Brands video and Sponsored Display video).
  2. Amazon Ads video production services: Our in-house creative production and editing services offer hands-on assistance across video for a wide range of budgets.

    Request creative services through our contact form, and we will reach out to learn more about your campaigns and creative needs. Based on your inputs, we will connect you with the most suited creative team who can then help you get started by introducing available incentive or fee-based options through in-house or partner services.
  3. Ziwi Peak’s video

  4. Amazon Ads Partner Network: Whether you’re looking for a collaborator to help plan, design creative, execute or optimize, find the partner that’s right for your brand. Check out the, a hub for our third-party creative partners to manage business relationships with Amazon Ads.

Why is the video production process important?

The video production process is crucial as it transforms a brand’s strategy and messaging into an engaging visual story. This process involves considering various creative and legal aspects, such as camera angles, lighting, location, casting, music and legal limitations like usage rights. The end goal is to produce a captivating video that effectively conveys the brand’s message to the target audience.

Video production examples

Case study

Holy Stone turned to Amazon Ads for video production services, which offer an entry point for small and medium-size businesses to run premium video and experience the value of branding. With the help of Amazon Ads, Holy Stone received a 30-second video optimized for Streaming TV ads, through a three-step process that includes a creative brief, concept and mood boards, and video production following Amazon Ads video best practices.

The video campaign allowed Holy Stone to deliver their brand story, driving awareness and generating net-new customers. The campaign reached over one million unique Amazon shoppers, and Holy Stone saw a 279% increase in branded searches.1 The video performed above the category benchmark for video completion rate (VCR), at 96.46%.2

Quote icon

We are challenged to think about long-term brand growth and how to attract more relevant audiences. With Amazon’s Streaming TV ads plus the Amazon Ads video production services, we were able to receive a free high-quality video that our team fell in love with.

Quote icon

– Clay Chen, CSO and co-founder, Holy Stone

Holy stone

Case study

As part of their 2022 plans, Sika, a leading specialty chemical company in the B2B building sector and motor vehicle industry, aligned with Amazon Ads on opportunities to meet their annual sales goals. After leveraging Amazon Ads insights, Sika identified a unique opportunity to generate awareness among customers who were searching for home-improvement products but had never interacted with Sika. They leveraged a combination of Amazon Ads products to achieve this reach, including video, display, audience re-targeting and sponsored ads.

For the video ad, Amazon Ads provided video production as an added value, to run across multiple video placements, while Sika provided the product, as well as props for the video shoot. The creation of this video allowed Sika to inspire and connect with customers, and the Amazon store provided a channel to learn more and engage with the product. Branding and video-specific KPIs increased to 62%, resulting in a 16% increase vs. category VCR benchmarks.3

Quote icon

With the added value video production service, Amazon Ads offered us a unique, fun and memorable video to engage with our category shoppers. The strategy designed together helped us grow at all stages and will for sure continue to pay off in the coming year.

Quote icon

– Charlotte Aguilar, head of global e-commerce, Corporate Construction, Sika

Sika

If you have limited experience, contact us to request services managed by Amazon Ads. Budget minimums apply.

1 Advertiser-provided data, US, 2022
2 Amazon internal data, US, 2021
3 Amazon internal data, ES, 2022