Behind-the-scenes : a study on the effect of behind-the-scenes videos of print campaigns on brand personality

Abstract

A new marketing trend has been observed wherein brands are not only creating print campaigns, but also creating videos in which viewers are taken behind the scenes of the print campaign photoshoot. These videos introduce additional features which might have an effect on how the brand is perceived. Motivated by this new trend, this study seeks to investigate the effect of behind-the-scenes videos on brand personality, which is the notion of imbuing brands with human personality traits. This marketing construct is especially useful for enhancing the symbolic relationship between brand and consumer. Louis Vuitton was chosen as the brand under study as these videos were mainly observed in the luxury fashion sector. Brand personality was measured in two treatment groups, who were either exposed to print adverts or the respective behind-the scenes videos. Results show that both treatment groups considered the dimension of 'Sophistication' to be most descriptive of the brand, and that there was no significant difference in its rating between the two groups. Interestingly, respondents who were exposed to the behind-the-scenes videos, as opposed to the print adverts, rated the brand as more competent. This might have positive implications for marketers, suggesting that if their aim is to increase the dimension of 'Competence', one way it can be accomplished is by adopting this technique.