“BT, and beyond…”
‘What will the world look like in 50 years?’ is an insightful piece of brand filmmaking from the communications behemoth that arrives on the one-year anniversary of the group’s business-wide manifesto.
Detailing the path forward towards growth, BT’s policies outlined the importance of greater access to transformative technologies through ultrafast connection, while fostering diverse talent pools along the way. Inclusivity and sustainability were key drivers within the agenda. A business goal of net zero by 2030 was set. A desire for new technologies to earn the trust and transformation of peoples day-to-day. But while the memorandum itself is thoroughly detailed, it’s brand film that brings the message, and trust, to life.
Increasingly more productions nowadays are opting to use children as de facto mouthpieces for corporate storytelling, often to the extent where it can become jarring from an audience perspective. In this instance, however, time has been taken. Rather than crowbarring slogans of commercial innovation literally into the mouths of babes, the creators leave the children with a question to answer and their imagination as the library. Bolstered by solid production craftwork, effecting moments of to-camera eyeline shots, and a warmly lit setting that frames our protagonists against a backdrop of social learning, BT has managed to remove themselves completely. And that is why it works.
Aligning BT group’s intentions for the future with that of the childhood optimism and wonder of those who will live there, in a nuanced way, is the kind of savvy storytelling technique that all brand film should look to capture. What’s also striking are the filmmaker’s intentions to highlight the children’s command of language, their depth of knowledge on the problems that face the world and how to face them: with courage and thought.
This piece makes a strong case for brand film’s adaptable ability to capitalise on timing, to boil down and recycle previous messaging towards issues of the day. While it might not leap from the starting gate like others in terms of LinkedIn views and shares, the video infers that immediately gaining audience traction is not always the goal. Sticking around, real change, is. And like other company videos in a similar style on LinkedIn, this takes time. Hopefully not another 50 years.
