Here’s our selection of the latest in video communications from championing night workers and gender equality to airlines ensuring passenger safety in light of Covid-19. For more from #CommunicateLens, follow @Communicatemag.

Auto Trader

Auto Trader, the UK’s largest digital automotive marketplace, launched Eau de New Car video campaign centred around the scent of a new car to communicate more of Auto Trader’s personality. The 30 second video, which has all the aspects of a high couture perfume campaign, features Auto Trader’s resident celebrity and ex-Top Gear host Rory Reid in the back seat of a luxury new car as he pulls up in front of a line of paparazzi and sprays Eau de New Car. In the background, Reid’s voice raps in rhymes as he draws the parallel between success and the leather and hard wax smell of a new car. ‘Don’t let success just be a dream, it’s time we awoke,’ Reid says. ‘I guess I’m obsessed by the smell of success,’ he adds. The ‘Eau de New Car’ video conveys the message that Auto Trader is more than an average car sales company; it sells customers the feeling of success through a new car.

Etihad Airways

UAE’s Etihad Airways, the world’s second largest airline, has created a video to demonstrate the hygiene and cleanliness undertaken in their flights and reassure passengers in light of the new Covid-19 pandemic. The video, directed at travellers, features dozens of members of the cleaning team wearing masks and aprons as they disinfect every inch of the airbuses, including the lavatories, seating areas and flight deck, using a cleaning product who, Anthony Foreman, manager of cabin cleaning, says has been “approved by the Department of Health” and is also effective on Covid-19. The video alternates between the of the cleaning in action and an interview with Foreman, who explains the rigorous cleaning that goes on behind the scenes before passengers  board the plane. The video not only aims at giving peace of mind to flyers and alleviate their panic amid the global health crisis, but also reflects the company’s mission as a whole of taking care of its passengers and offering ‘more than just travel.’

McDonald's

McDonald’s worked with creative agency Leo Burnett London to launch ‘Night workers’ a video campaign recognising and celebrating the millions of people working throughout the night in the UK and Ireland who often go unnoticed. The one-minute video explores different night jobs, such as cleaning roads, restocking supermarkets and, cleaning but never shows the workers themselves. Each action, including getting out of bed as the 11 p.m. alarm rings, is taken by invisible people to reflect how the community views night workers. The workers are seen for the first time only at the end of the video, as they walk through the doors of McDonald’s and a message reads, ‘If you’re awake, we’re awake,’  showing that its doors are always open to welcome anyone at whatever time. A woman behind the McDonald counter smiles at them as she serves them, highlighting that McDonald’s acknowledges and champions its night employees. Ben Fox, the director of brand, experience and media at  McDonald’s UK and Ireland says, “With over 700 restaurants open 24/7, McDonald’s is a much-loved pit-stop for an army of people who work tirelessly through the night to keep the nation ticking over. From nurses, to taxi drivers and firefighters to road workers, this campaign celebrates those unseen, unsung heroes and the role McDonald’s plays in keeping them going.”

Natura&Co

On International Women’s Day Natura & Co, a Brazilian global personal care cosmetics group that includes brands the Body Shop, Natura, Aesop and recently Avon, launched #EachforEqual video to show how the company celebrates its women employees and strives to counter gender inequality. In the video several different women that are part of Natura & Co team share the importance of gender equality and what it means for them. “Everyone has to get involved in it,” says the manager of the Body Shop to the camera; “I believe that the change starts with us, women. It starts when we take a stand, when we value ourselves,” says a consultant at Natura. The video comes just a few months after Natura &Co’s acquisition of Avon, a company upholding women empowerment and gender equality that has for more than 130 years “championed women and helped them succeed, in their own way and on their own terms.” The video also emphasises how it is important for companies to pay their staff equally, reflecting Natura & Co;s policy.

Triumph Motorcycles

Creative communications agency DRPG worked with Triumph Motorcycles to launch a filmed live event of their new Tiger 900 motorbike directed at the global press, which was invited to attend the live event. In addition to launching its latest product through a live event, Triumph created the video as part of various press materials designed to be used in broadcast and print to report on the partnership with the upcoming 25^th James Bond movie ‘No Time to Die,’ which features the Tiger 900. By organising the live immersive event Triumph engaged with the press and invitees by showing them first-hand the stunts Tiger 900 can do. With the help of DRPG, Triumph also produced quality videos that will be teasers for the launch of the James Bond movie, which include recordings of the Bond stunt team at the event. In addition to the teaser video campaign there will also be shorter clips produced to be pushed through social media campaigns. “The biggest challenge about this project was trying to find a balance between it being an engaging event with a large live audience and a high-end video shoot. We had to liaise heavily with the events team to organise lighting etc. and make sure it was optimised for both objectives. The timings behind capturing the stunt live were made more difficult by only having a few tries to get it right. The bikes had to land in the right place for the branding to work for the filming,” says Dan Harris, director at DRPG.