A corporate video is a short film in which an organisation shows who it is, what it does and what it stands for, aimed at clients, partners or prospective colleagues. In practice there are several variants: a brand film about the company as a whole, a product video, an explainer about a service or process, and a recruitment video to attract staff. The value lies mainly in trust and speed: visitors see within a couple of minutes who is behind the business, which is far harder to convey with text and photographs. Video also keeps people on a page longer and makes the message easier to remember.

The biggest factors are the number of shooting days, the number of locations and how many people appear on camera, since all of these feed directly into preparation, shooting time and editing. Extras count as well, such as a professional voice-over, animation or graphics, drone footage, actors or extras, and versions in several languages. The level of finish matters too: a tightly edited film with bespoke music and animation takes more time than a short interview edit. It is wise to agree in advance how many rounds of feedback are included, as additional revision rounds are the most common unforeseen cost.

For a homepage or social media, thirty to ninety seconds works best, because attention is short there and viewers drop off quickly. A brand film telling the full story usually runs between two and three minutes, and anything longer only makes sense when viewers actively choose it, for example with internal or educational videos. More important than total length are the opening seconds: they must make clear what the video is about, or the rest will not be watched. For that reason, one film is often produced and a short cut taken from it for social media.

One clear message works better than trying to say everything; a video serving three audiences at once ends up reaching none of them. Real employees speaking in their own words come across as more credible than scripted marketing copy, even if the result is slightly less polished. Concrete imagery helps: show how something is made, built or solved, rather than only stating that it happens. Close with a clear next step, and add subtitles, since a large share of viewers start watching without sound.

Allow roughly four to eight weeks from first conversation to delivery, with scheduling the shoot and the feedback rounds usually being more decisive than the editing itself. What is mainly needed from the client is clarity: a sharp brief on goal and audience, brand assets such as logo, colours and fonts, and access to locations and staff. It helps to appoint a single point of contact who gathers and consolidates feedback within the organisation, because scattered comments from different quarters tend to contradict each other and slow things down. Finally, decide in advance where the video will be used, so the right formats and versions are delivered straight away.