From the iconic Wallace and Gromit to Tim Burton's classics; stop motion has been stealing our hearts as an impressive cinematic feat.
The hours involved in meticulously creating these captivating films are incredible.
Some would say they are too much work for a feature but in the world of advertising stop motion is proving to be very popular.
Image Source: It’s Nice That
Its attention-grabbing appeal, unique charm, and versatility are being used creatively to create some amazing advertising campaigns that are memorable and engaging.
What exactly makes it such a powerful advertising medium, and how is it being used effectively?
Let’s find out.
Stop motion animation offers some unique points with a distinctive style, has advantages in today’s on-demand, fast-paced digital world, and has the added benefit of being cost-effective too.
Supposedly, 85 percent of Facebook videos are viewed muted, and stop-motion ads are visually focused, so the techniques can be used to draw a muted viewer in hook, line, and sinker.
Before we explore just how it is being used effectively, let’s take a look at some of the characteristics of stop motion that make it such a great tool for advertising.
In a world full of doom-scrollers and bored teenagers looking to kill an hour or two, a feed tailored to our algorithms can quickly become monotonous.
Stop-motion has an undeniable quality of its own with its quick tell-tale jerky motion it stands out visually from the rest.
For many, there is something nostalgic about it. The animation style was once incredibly popular before digital animation developed. It also has a home-made feel, which is wholesome.
The eye-catching footage also tells a story pretty quickly, which can instantly suck someone into a narrative.
Stop motion is especially effective for product advertising. It allows the advertiser to animate inanimate objects, giving them a personality.
The advert can tell a story without a person to center in the narrative. Making the product participate and giving it a personality makes it memorable.
Stop motion is time-consuming and full of details. Ultimately it is a labor of love, the final product is difficult to achieve without putting in the hours.
The fact that a brand would go to such lengths shows its dedication and brings integrity and authenticity to the brand's reputation.
Customers are likely to trust it with confidence and expect high levels of commitment to its products and services.
Advertising is highly competitive, and high-end video production is not cheap.
If well planned and executed a stop motion advert needn’t cost much more than your time and the possibilities are endless when it comes to artistic license.
The techniques used give advertisers a simple (though time-consuming) way of creating captivating content with relatively few resources required.
Despite all of the advantages listed above Stop-motion only makes up 5% of the global animation market.
However, there are many ways it can be used effectively and some of the biggest brands are putting it to great use.
Below we’ll discuss some of the ways that stop motion can be used effectively. There are a myriad of examples online so get searching for inspiration but remember to browse safely and get Surfshark.
Stop motion is an ideal medium for micro-advertising because it is visually demanding and capable of conveying a message in moments with the right execution.
It works extremely well for short-form content. Which is great, given the time factor!
It is excellent for attention-grabbing social media campaigns and whimsical YouTube shorts to attract viewers to long-form content.
It is perfect for short promotions such as sponsorships, product launches, limited editions, or revamps, visually demonstrating product transformations in front of the viewer's eyes.
Stop motion also eclipses other mediums at highlighting specific features, because individual components can be animated drawing attention where it is needed.
For those looking to sell a product based on the features it offers, stop-motion is a cut above the rest.
It provides a rapid demonstration without the need for a person to physically use the product in any footage.
When it comes to brand storytelling, the unrestricted creativity that can be unleashed with stop-motion is untouchable.
Advertisers can narrate a product journey from its initial idea and background to show its development and creation all the while highlighting it from a specific perspective.
If the brand wants to be ethically focused, you can focus on its ethos and morality and the emotional side of the journey the ideas behind the product. If the quality is key, then you can instead hone in on the craftsmanship.
Given that stop-motion can deliver details quickly it is also a great tool for animated explainers and other educational or informative content.
Advertisers can easily break down complex concepts visually in an accessible and entertaining way.
Image Source: Adobe Creative Cloud
We are seeing brands, big and small, realizing the capabilities of stop-motion advertising.
Some of the most notable big brands are successfully adopting it. Here are our top ten:
Christmas adverts can make companies get competative and pull-out the stops and that exctly what Apple did with their advert “Fuzzy Feelings” which is beautifully executed fro start to finish by Swedish animation director and filmmaker Anna Mantzaris.
The advert has a mix or real footage and stop-motion where a frustrated employee manages a fuzzy little stop-motion world.
Her view of the world changes as she sees her “grumpy” boss in a new light and Apple uses the narrative to sell the idea of viewing the world through a different lens.
It isn’t just Christmas either; Adobe cleverly used the double significance of the word resolution with a seasonal ad campaign.
In the stop motion footage, a Christmas present travels through a variety of device screens, each one bigger than the next, and within each screen, the present is filled with a different gift.
Each gift represents typical New Year's resolutions.
We see a piggy bank and some coins portraying the resolution to save up, weights to represent getting in shape, and sunscreen and a passport for those who want to travel more.
A good example is the Kellog All Bran Flakes ad in which the Flakes themselves are arranged into a character who runs in stop-motion frames from box to box.
It shows how stop motion can be used to highlight product features or sell a brand idea.
In this case highlighting the healthy nature of the cereal as a feature.
The Australian mobile network Telstra launched a series of stop-motion videos starring loveable Aussie wildlife characters.
The ads are short and to the point and delivered comically.
They show the range of biomes the country has and simply state that these hard-to-reach regions, such as the tundra or outback, are “better with a better network”.
Highlighting the product function and goals in an instant while getting a laugh.
Thatcher's took the stop-motion approach back in 2020 with a seamless stop-motion animation that kept its focus on the brand identity as a family-run company.
The ad showed a miniature replica of Myrtyl Farm and the owner flying in to check the cider personally.
The replica crafted was exact and involved a tonne of effort but those efforts earned them 91% brand recognition.
This 2024 example is again short and sweet content with plastic figurines of your favorite stars brought to life.
Each stylistically shooting hoops in front of a crowd.
The fact that the crowd is a cutout and remains still keeps all your focus on the plastified players action.
It is an example of personification of a product that works really well.
Childline used stop-motion graphics to their advantage to drive an important message with this beautifully creative yet darkly aesthetic ad.
The message is that we are all different things. We might feel like we have to hide, but no one is alone in feeling that way.
The ad uses some great tropes. In it, the lead kid walks the school halls and attends class, clearly anxious; we then cut away to see the prom queen get crowned only before she receives it.
Her body bursts open, revealing her insecurities and imperfections in physical form.
This prompts the boy to unzip his “body suit” and show off the horrors that lie beneath, and one by one, the rest of the students follow suit.
The whole thing is perfectly soundtracked with “Creep” by Radiohead.
Although it's an oldie, this stop-motion advert for Kettle Chips is super-simple yet very effective marketing.
The ad's goal is to drive home the simple and natural characteristics of the rustic chip.
The chips appear from their packet in uniform rows and then magically rearrange themselves in size and color to form images.
We see how the product is made as they form a saucepan boiling some tasty potatoes on a hob with flickering flames.
We see them form a tree complete with dangling jalapenos in place of fruit to drive home the natural ingredients and flavors used. The ad finishes with the formation of a happy customer’s face.
This stunning stop-motion ad is shot from overhead.
It opens on a couple in their home, one lounging on the sofa and the other at a desk.
The couple moves the furniture aside and then places and arranges household furnishings and ornaments to create beautiful travel landscapes and scenarios.
The motion jumps around delightfully. In the ad, we see the couple demonstrate a range of activities.
We see them hop in a convincing car, have a mountain hike, swim together, and are left with a relaxing hotel scene with room service. It is very cleverly shot and has great color scheme choices.
This final example is one of the oldest of the bunch but arguably a great example.
PES has been making stop motion for many years and has had a hand in a range of popular adverts such as Honda’s “Paper” and “The Power of Ridgeline,” but we have selected this beauty shot for Orange Telecom.
Orange is a communication company, so they wanted to encourage people to share.
The ad shows a sock hopping around a house looking for his sock buddies who are camouflaging into their backgrounds or cleverly disguising themselves as other objects.
There is a comical narration above the game of sock-hide-and-seek, and the colors are vibrant and attention-grabbing.
It might not be a modern technique, but modern creative minds are turning one of the oldest film-making methods into an effective marketing medium.
The world is so fast-paced that an advert is really news to grab attention and tell a story in under a minute.
Stop-motion animation provides the tools needed. A feast for the eyes, rapid narratives, and creative freedom.
If utilized well, advertisers can create engaging adverts that capture attention and tell stories with depth in moments for relatively little outlay, giving them a competitive edge.