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Volvo’s latest branded video featuring action movie icon Jean-Claude Van Damme doing the splits while suspended above two trucks has taken the internet by storm. The results have been astounding:

VidIQ Estimates*:

• 50,000,000+ views (and counting) on YouTube
• 1.1 million+ Facebook Likes
• 755,000+ Facebook shares
• 523,000+ Facebook comments
• 65,000+ tweets
• 90.91% average view time (70 seconds)
• 107,000 Google +1s
• Dozens of loving parody/tributes. Check out Channing Tatum’s notable brandjacking for 22 Jump Street

  * These figures don’t account for the dozens of other users who re-submit this content to YouTube.

  Besides being an awesome production, there are many lessons for brands and marketers tackling their next video project.

  1) The Power of the “Reveal”

  The video starts off with a centered composition of JCVD. His voiceover covers familiar themes and motifs of triumphing over adversity. Then, around 16 seconds in, the magic begins. The camera starts pulling back to create context.
  We now see Van Damme standing on the mirrors (spoiler alert: these are specially-made mini platforms for his feet) of two giant trucks. This is the video’s challenge posed to the audience: Are you ready for something incredible?

  2) Understand Context & Information Sharing Through Storytelling

  Part of the reason why the setup is so effective is the lack of information and context. The creators obviously know something that we don’t and the situation is slowly shown to us. However, we are not bombarded with information or exposition.

  Think of it in terms of answering the five Ws of research:
• Who: Jean-Claude Van Damme
• What: He’s standing on two Volvo trucks
• Where: On a closed runway
• When: Early morning
• Why: Something you have to see to believe

Audiences can quickly discern the “who, what, where, and when.” It’s up to you to communicate the “why” effectively.

3) Marry Style, Story, and Self Awareness

The creative choices made by the creators reflect all of the brand attributes inspired by Volvo: safety, stability, control, reliability. Notice the golden sunrise providing gentle backlighting on the trucks and JCVD’s shoulders. This lighting cue, coupled with Van Damme’s meditative demeanor, implies a zen-like tranquility that’s closer to an ethereal dream.

The soundtrack features Enya’s “Only Time” complete with its serene staccato cadence. The creative team understands the Volvo brand mythos and playfully stretches it by weaving in drama, tension, and risk with this stunt…ideals often at the other end of the spectrum when describing Volvo cars.

4) Have Confidence In Your Storytelling

In the hands of others, this video might’ve featured distractions and obstructions that would really hinder the core experience. For example:

• A loud, bombastic soundtrack
• Rapid cuts between shots
• Heavy stylized slow motion, “bullet time,” or freeze frames

Instead, the makers choose to let the events unfold in one single take. The camera glides to the side of the trucks to show the depth of action and authenticity of Van Damme actually doing the splits. There is no further voiceover pitching a product or feature. Viewers are too busy wrapped up in the moment to notice.

5) Inspire Emotions & Action

Your viewers, preferably those that fit your essential buyer personas, need to gain value from your video marketing. In the case of this branded piece, people should feel something: awe, wonder, breathlessness, excitement, an adrenaline rush, etc.

Some questions to consider:

• What are the surface level responses you want people to feel during and after the viewing?
• What are the lingering, underlying feelings you want to inspire upon repeat showings?
• Do these reactions align with or contradict your brand’s values?
• Do these reactions move viewers towards desired goals and actions?