You've seen animated explainer videos that just work. They hold attention, make light work of complex ideas, and most importantly, drive action.
But regardless of whether it's a B2B SaaS brand or a charity fundraising campaign, trying to reverse-engineer what makes them successful is harder than it looks. There's no rigid script structure or universal template that works for every video. Brand storytelling is not one-size-fits-all.
However, over the last 15 years we've discovered there are some golden principles that ring true whether it's a pharmaceutical company wanting to communicate about a new clinical trial, or an insurance specialist touting a new tool.
In this blog we'll cover the four key themes that most successful explainer videos have in common. Once you learn these principles, you'll start to notice them in every (good) explainer you come across.
Project: DRINKiQ | Mission Shoulder to Shoulder
What does success look like?
The better you understand what you're expecting this video to do, the more primed you are to design it to do it well.
"Explainer video" is a bit of a catch-all term used in our industry, but people mean different things by it. Some clients are after a conversion tool that increases website dwell time and directly drives inquiries. Others are looking to increase brand awareness through social channels. And then there's event booths, where the video's job is to capture footfall.
Being clear on what you want the video to do means that everyone on the creative team is crystal clear on what success looks like. Making it much more likely your explainer will achieve your goals.
Why are we making this?
What does it need to achieve?
What's the single action we want?
How do we measure success?
Our goal for the Wellcome Trust/CEPI animation was clear: create a compelling event video to be shown at Davos, aimed at raising funding for pandemic prevention. This was in 2017, pre-COVID-19 days.
By being clear on the purpose, we can now easily springboard into the creative.
Rather than focusing on stats or an alarmist storyline—which can struggle to capture attention—we began with the story of a boy and a bat. We told the story of how Ebola began and spread. And we showed the human side: loss.
The video helped raise £350 million at Davos.
We relate to people who understand us. Or at least, they seem to understand our problem and where we're coming from. We deduce that someone who understands us might be well suited to meet our needs.
If you show your audience you actually get their worldview, their situation, their problem, they'll thank you with engagement.
In fact, this is embedded in scientific theory. We call it the Similarity-Attraction Effect. It's been shown that when someone demonstrates they understand our worldview and problems, we instinctively trust them more.
Tapping into this principle can yield high engagement for explainers (or any form of marketing communication). This blog is a good place to start if you're not familiar with the difference between demographics vs psychographics.
How does your audience see the world?
What language do they use for their problem?
What do they believe, want, fear?
For TR1X Bio's animation, we were tasked with increasing uptake of their upcoming clinical trial. Our audience were patients who'd been battling Crohn's for years, exhausted by treatments that only manage symptoms.
Understanding their psychology shaped every decision.
We wanted to make sure our audience felt like we really understand their world. Their battle with Crohn's, and the hope that a new novel treatment could offer.
In this way, they're not just buying into a new drug. They're buying into a shared mission to make people with autoimmune diseases better. For good.
Really knowing our audience enabled us to write a script that strongly resonates, and design visuals that viscerally bring the message home.
The science and art of an explainer is being able to take an often complex and multi-faceted subject and turn it into a simple, compelling narrative. One that's easily understood, credible, and trustworthy.
Ultimately we're looking to persuade someone to a particular point of view. So the idea behind this principle is this. Are you able to name the core promise/takeaway in a single sentence?
For B2B brands, this is often your value proposition or promise statement—you've identified the problem, now what's the solution? Can you write it as a single one-liner?
For charities and PR, this is often the core takeaway you want people to remember. Can you articulate exactly what you want people to discover? Or the perspective shift you want people to have?
What's the one thing you're offering?
If they only remembered one thing, what should it be?
Does it address what matters to them?
For Mulberry Risk's explainer, our core message was: "Say hello to Ada: your Artificial Digital Actuary."
Simple. Direct. One sentence that captures the entire value proposition.
Not "we use AI to help with actuarial analysis." Not "advanced predictive modelling for insurance pricing."
Just—Ada. Your Artificial Digital Actuary.
A promise statement isn't about listing features. It's about naming what you're offering in a way that immediately makes sense. One clear sentence that tells people exactly what they're getting.
Or for charities and non-profits, it's about distilling your overall message into a potent mission statement. For example, in the first example for CEPI/Wellcome Trust, the mission statement was: "Modern society has made it easier than ever for disease to spread—we need preventions."
We naturally give things more weight where we can see why they're true. For example, if the viewer can see the features and benefits that demonstrate you can deliver on your promise, that builds trust.
Or in the nonprofit landscape, what gives credibility to your takeaway message? For example, for the Salvation Army's Modern Slavery campaign, our takeaway message was: "We need your help to spot modern slavery."
We then gave this statement credibility by highlighting that slavery is bigger now than any other time in history. And showed the types of telltale signs that might warrant informing.
What 3-4 things build credibility for this specific audience?
Out of everything we could say, what's most compelling?
HEKA's animated explainer needed to get to the heart of why employers are frustrated with employee benefit schemes. They cost a fortune, hardly anyone uses them—yet, it's part of a modern workplace. They're here to stay.
Then we showed another way. The HEKA way. The proposition? Let employees choose the benefits they'd benefit from most—and then let them change benefits as life demands.
Sounds too good to be true, right? So we showed them exactly how HEKA works. And used brand positioning to give them a reason to believe in the mission.
These four animated explainer videos are radically different. Different industries. Different purposes. Different audiences. Different production approaches.
But every one answers the same four questions: What does this video need to achieve? What's their world? What's the headline message? What gives our message credibility?
Successful videos don't follow rigid formulas. They use principles like these as a thinking framework. Once you understand the creative landscape, you can design any road system you like.
Same principles. Completely different execution.
That's the point. These aren't rules—they're questions. When you answer them clearly, creativity opens naturally.
Most explainer videos fail because they don't have an airtight video production brief.
When you're clear on purpose, psychology, core message, and credibility, you've built the foundation. Everything else—script, visuals, voiceover, music—flows from that.
If you're planning an explainer video and want to explore how these principles apply to your situation, book a discovery call. Or grab our animated video guide.
