Authenticity in animation: four times brands nailed it

If I asked you where your mind goes when you think about ‘animation’, what do you picture? 

I'm pretty sure, for most, it’d be bright, vibrant pictures, perhaps dictating an upbeat narrative. And that’s completely understandable – we're introduced to Disney and cartoons from an early age, after all. 

More and more, brands are harnessing the power of animation to cut through a crowded market and elevate their marketing strategy. 

Since the early days of traditional animation, technological advancements have afforded the film industry a hugely diverse skill set when it comes to animated craftsmanship – for any context. And it didn’t take long for advertising to want a piece of the action. More and more, brands are harnessing the power of animation to cut through a crowded market and elevate their marketing strategy. 

But how do you take an art form initially invented to entertain children and convert that into a marketing strategy – whilst keeping brand authenticity in tow? Here are four examples that nailed it.

One such way is by utilising animation to detail a company’s core values. 

Believe it or not, when Chipotle’s Back To The Startcampaign came out over ten years ago promoting sustainable farming, the context was quite ahead of its time! A true highlight of stop motion storytelling, director Johnny Kelly and Nexus Studios dictated the story of a farmer, fighting against the threat of mass agriculture taking over his farm. 

When Chipotle’s Back To The Start campaign came out over ten years ago promoting sustainable farming, the context was quite ahead of its time!

The resulting film details the beautiful and heart-breaking journey of the farmer, who eventually manages to restore a simpler and more sustainable model; highlighting Chipotle’s ethical values and securing brand loyalty. 

A big shout-out to Willie Nelson for the stripped-back Coldplay cover too – much better in my opinion!

With its textured and personable feel, hand-drawn animation can be successfully used to illustrate a brand’s narrative. When they’ve been, where they’re going – a humble tale of who they are. 

I can’t not mention Honda Paper here. 

A big hitter in the world of automobiles, motorcycles and engineering, most average people wouldn’t know the journey that the engineering goliath has been on since a small-scale start in the 1930s. 

 [PES] opted to leave the hands in the shot, showing the manipulation of the paper elements throughout the film.

In another amazing execution of low fi stop motion, renowned director PES and a team of animators took on the huge task of showing the history of Honda from start to finish, using thousands of precise, hand-drawn images, resulting in a memorable trip through history.


The director also opted to leave the hands in the shot, showing the manipulation of the paper elements throughout the film, giving a subtle but poignant nod to the human mechanical element of constructing complex engineering.

When it comes to advertising, all brands have one thing in common: the need to resonate with their target audience. 

For a travel company like Airbnb, the target audience is much larger, so the net for relatability needs to be widened. The answer: sentiment - we all have some level of knowledge when it comes to history. 

By retelling a true story based in Berlin during the Cold War, Airbnb used historical references to resonate emotionally, thus successfully building consumer trust through warm messaging tactics. 

[Brands] need to resonate with their target audience. 

Breaking Down Walls was created by renowned animation studio, Psyop, headed up by Founder and Artist, Marie Hyon. Airbnb has a long-held respect in the advertising world for re-inventing their brand vision and I really think they hit the nail on the head with this campaign. Jorg is a West Berlin Wall Guard – a role that continues to haunt him long after he leaves Berlin. Many years later, his daughter finds a way to re-introduce her father back to the city of Berlin, to show the change and progression of this now vibrant and exciting city. The storytelling had a strong message, ‘Belong Anywhere’, creating excitement and a sense of adventure amongst audiences to get out and explore places across the world that had suffered during war or struggles.

The traditional animation route allows this story to be brought to life in the most creative and beautiful way… a constant evolving landscape of history and emotions, beautiful character and set design, as well as a very textural pastel brush stroke finish.