Vine’s announcement this week allowing users to upload existing videos should make it easier for people to capture and edit videos. The step is also likely to please brands that will now be able to use Vine for more premium content, according to digital agency 360i.
In a blog post Friday, the agency pointed out that up to now individuals and brands alike had to shoot Vine content live, making it difficult to utilize more advanced editing techniques. But along with the ability to upload previously recorded video, Vine has added a suite of elaborate video capture and editing tools. These include features like a grid view, focus lock, and mute functionality, among others.
“This update opens the door to Vines with higher production quality, which means a potential shift in the visual ID of Vine content overall. That said, brands should be mindful of what the community is already familiar with and not use this feature to post videos that are irrelevant to the platform,” stated the post by 360i’s Katya Kotiyar and Fitz Maro.
In short, that means don’t fall into make the mistake of using Vine as a dumping ground for re-purposed content. Given that Vine videos are only up to six seconds long, that means it won’t be as simple as converting a 15-second TV spot into a pre-roll ad. But the temptation will certainly be there to retrofit existing material to fit Vine’s parameters.
“Brands will be wise to acknowledge the history of the community and stay true to what the platform stands for to maximize the value of this new video uploading feature,” advised 360i. In particular, the upload capability means videos can be produced using more sophisticated equipment before going up on Vine. It also lets marketers to plan production in advance, eliminating worries like the app crashing mid-shoot.
That kind of advanced planning and production, however, raises the question of whether the rough, spontaneous quality that initially gave Vine videos their charm will be lost to slickly-produced spots. And how much more will marketers be willing top spend creating original Vines? One thing that may provide added incentive is the size of the audience for Vine videos. The Twitter unit said in more than 100 people watch Vine videos across the Web, citing Google Analytics data.