Animation changes how a company is perceived. It tells stories, makes complicated things simple, and holds attention in a way static content doesn’t.
That’s why brands across every category have moved budget toward it — and why some of the most recognisable repositioning campaigns of the last two decades have animation at the centre.
Here are four, the benefits behind those results, and what to do with the lesson.
Four Brands That Used Animation Well
Netflix
Netflix’s investment in original animation is a large part of how it became a global brand rather than a distribution service.
High-quality original animation gave it something competitors couldn’t license away, and its animated series became a genuine differentiator in a market where most catalogues look alike.
Lego
Lego built animated storytelling into the brand itself — content that encourages creativity rather than simply advertising the product.
The animated stories work across age groups, which is unusual and valuable. They reinforce Lego’s position as both an educational and an entertainment brand, and they build loyalty in children while their parents are the ones buying.
Old Spice
Old Spice’s repositioning is the standard reference for this kind of turnaround. A brand widely perceived as dated became culturally current on the back of a campaign mixing animation and live action.
The “Smell Like a Man, Man” work reframed it as a contemporary personal care brand. The lesson isn’t about the humour — it’s that content people want to share does work that paid media can’t buy.
Burberry
Burberry used animation as part of a broader digital shift, and did it without diluting a heritage identity.
Their animated work highlights the brand’s history and craft, which makes a luxury house feel more accessible without making it feel cheaper. Storytelling closed the distance with customers while reinforcing exactly what makes the brand expensive.
Five Business Benefits
1. It Simplifies Complex Information
Animation makes difficult subjects teachable. That matters most in technology, financial services, and healthcare, where the product genuinely is complicated.
Visualising an abstract process makes technical language unnecessary — you show the thing instead of defining it.
2. It Increases Engagement
Animated content outperforms static imagery and text on attention. Motion captures the eye immediately and holds it longer.
Engaged viewers watch more, share more, and stay on site longer. An animated explainer converts casual interest into genuine consideration.
3. It Improves Brand Recall
Animation is memorable, and a distinctive animated character or mark creates an association customers keep.
Pixar and Disney are the extreme version of this, but the mechanism works at any scale. A well-designed animated mascot or logo treatment gives a small company recognition disproportionate to its size.
4. It Lifts Conversion
Animation communicates value clearly, and customers who understand a product and feel confident about it buy more often.
An animated product demo also pre-empts the objections that stall a purchase — showing rather than arguing.
5. It Adapts Everywhere
One animation works across advertising, presentations, social, and web. Cuts and aspect ratios change; the asset doesn’t need rebuilding.
That flexibility makes consistency across channels straightforward, which is usually the hardest part of brand management.
Five Rules for Getting It Right
Study Your Audience
Match the animation to who’s watching. Research their interests and their frustrations, and let that shape the style.
A younger consumer audience responds to energy and character. A professional B2B audience responds to restraint and precision. Getting this backwards wastes the entire budget.
Keep It Simple
Complexity is the most common failure. Overloaded visuals and convoluted narratives leave viewers unable to say what the video was about.
Clean graphics, a clear narrative, one message. If a viewer can’t repeat the point afterwards, the animation failed regardless of how good it looked.
Use Quality Craft
Production quality reads as company quality, fairly or not. Jerky motion and weak design actively damage brand perception.
If the work matters, use professional animators and designers. Cheap animation is worse than no animation.
Align With the Brand
The animation should look like it came from your company. Consistent style, colour, and messaging strengthen the brand every time someone sees it.
A visual style guide is what makes that consistency survive across multiple projects and multiple suppliers.
Measure and Adapt
Track performance and collect feedback. Views, watch time, and conversion tell you what’s working; surveys and customer conversations tell you why.
Each piece should inform the next. That’s how a video programme improves rather than just accumulating.
Conclusion
Animation changes how businesses connect with customers — simplifying what’s complicated, building recognition, and creating experiences people remember.
The four brands above are large, but nothing about the mechanism requires scale. Understanding the audience, keeping the message clear, and producing it properly is available to any company willing to do it well.
Thinking about what animation could do for your brand? Tell us where you’re starting from.