Happy Birthday Design Cuts!
I love the way these guys have made their customers feel part of a community, made them connect with the passion behind the Design Cuts team and part of that is by using video.
Video when you sign up.
Video when you buy one of their products.
Video when... they celebrate their 2nd birthday:
It's always this very personable, straight to camera feel.
It makes their online company feel instantly human. As a customer I feel connected, I warm to them and I want to come back and see what else they're up to. I want to support what they do, not just buy a product.
And that's a powerful thing.
That video above was used on their site, but also crucially to their Facebook community (where video stands a far higher chance of appearing in their fan's feeds). They also started the day by launching their birthday deals live via Periscope.
And they're not actors, nor presenters, they're just people who work at a company right?
They're real.
Here's what you see on their homepage before you've ever signed up. Notice how they use the Wistia (video marketing host) system to capture your email at the end too. Smart.
The digital world doesn't need to be remote.
A digital company doesn't need to be all code, pixels and PayPal.
You know why people love a farmer's market? Because it feels like the human on the other side of the stall is passionate about what they're doing, are invested in it and are right there in front of you. Let that human side of your company shine and you'll celebrate with your customers for years to come.
UPDATE:
How did they respond to me writing this piece?
Within 5 minutes (genuinely) I got this...
UPDATE - DEC 2015
Add to this their Christmas effort: which is a lot more sophisticated editing wise, but shows the brand's humour, the sense of design.. and of course the people.
Ho Ho Hope they keep these coming in 2016.