How did Getty images “wow” with an ad created from stock video?

Getty images showcase the power of stock video footage in a stunning video ad campaign.

When you think of stock images and videos; inspirational, emotional and creative might not be traits which spring to mind. However Getty Images are set on highlighting the creative potential and gravitas of stock video through their latest video ad campaign which tells a love story entirely through a variety of clips.

The video is 85 seconds long and contains a total of 105 different videos knitted together. The narrative of the video follows a boy and a girl who first meet as children before getting separated as their lives diverge to fulfill their individual ambitions, only to have the couple reunited in later adulthood.

Sophie Schoenbury (Copywriter) and Marcos Kotlhar (Art Director), the brains behind the incredible advert,  spent a total of four months trawling through copious amount of footage to source the right videos. “We reviewed more than 4,000 Getty Images Video clips and adapted the story as the research evolved. Sometimes we searched for something we had in mind, and other times we would find something great we weren’t looking for,” says Schoenburg. The end product was created by production company AlmapBBDO.

The inspiration for the video came from a similar campaign run by Getty in 2012 titled “From Love to Bingo” which contained 873 images spliced together to show the romantic story of a boy and girl falling in love and growing old together.The campaign was equally as emotionally moving as its more recent counterpart.

The objective of this video ad is to showcase the vast library of video (63 million+ seconds of it!) that Getty Images has available and to demonstrate how stock video can be used creatively to spark emotion and engagement. Something we feel they certainly achieved!

If you haven’t seen it already here is the Getty Images video ad campaign:

While many have praised the advert and the creative thinking behind it, others across social media and the blogosphere have commented that the advert is merely a publicity stunt and not indicative of a genuine use case for stock footage. What do you think of the Getty Images campaign? Do you think they nailed it or have you got another opinion? Let us know in the comments box below!