Who Should Be In Your Brand Video?

One of the most common questions we get before filming a brand video is, "Who should actually be in this thing?"

It's a great question, and honestly, it's one that has a much bigger impact on the final video than most people realize.

People spend a lot of time thinking about cameras, lighting, locations, and editing, but the individuals you choose to put on camera can completely change how a video feels. I've seen beautifully produced videos fall flat because the wrong people were interviewed, and I've seen relatively simple productions become incredibly powerful because the right person was given a chance to tell their story.

Most organizations start by looking at their leadership team. They think… “the founder should be in it. The CEO should be in it… The executive director should definitely be in it…” And sometimes that's absolutely true. But over the years we've filmed founders, executives, employees, customers, donors, alumni, students, and community members, and one thing we've learned is that the best person to be in your brand video is rarely determined by their title. It's determined by the story you're trying to tell.

When we're planning a Boston video production project, we're not asking who sits highest on the organizational chart. We're asking who can best help the audience understand why they should care. Those are two very different questions.

Start With The Story, Not The Organizational Chart

One of the biggest mistakes I see organizations make is starting with the people instead of starting with the story. They'll tell us who they want in the video before they've actually decided what the video is about. That's backwards.

Let's say you're creating a customer testimonial video. I don't really care if the CEO can explain the company mission perfectly. I'd much rather hear directly from the customer whose problem was solved. If you're creating a recruitment video, I usually don't want leadership doing all the talking. I want to hear from the people candidates will actually be working alongside every day. If you're creating a nonprofit fundraising video, the most compelling voice is often someone who has directly benefited from the organization's work.

The story should determine who appears on camera, not the other way around.

This is one of the reasons we spend so much time in pre-production. Before we start talking about cameras, lenses, locations, or interview questions, we're trying to figure out exactly what story we're telling. Once that becomes clear, the interview subjects usually become much easier to identify. The right people tend to reveal themselves when you stop focusing on titles and start focusing on the audience.

Don't Turn Your Brand Video Into A Vanity Project

This might be the most important point in this entire article.

The goal of a brand video is not to make everyone feel included. The goal of a brand video is to tell the strongest story possible.

I know that sounds obvious, but it happens all the time. Someone from leadership wants to be featured because they're the CEO. A department head wants to be included because their team helped make the project happen. Marketing wants representation. Operations wants representation. HR wants representation. Before long, a two-minute video has seven interview subjects and nobody has enough time to say anything meaningful.

The audience doesn't care about your internal politics. They don't know who reports to who. They don't know whose idea the project was. They don't know who helped fund the initiative. They only know whether the video was interesting, clear, and easy to follow.

Every person you add to a video comes at a cost. You're asking the audience to learn another face, another voice, and another perspective. Sometimes that's worth it. A lot of times it isn't. Some of the strongest videos we've ever produced have had one primary storyteller. Not because there weren't other important people involved, but because that one person had a compelling story and enough screen time for the audience to actually connect with them.

When we're helping clients decide who should be on camera, we're constantly asking ourselves one question: does this person make the story stronger? Not would this person like to be included. Those are very different questions.

One Person Per Minute Is Usually A Good Rule Of Thumb

This isn't a hard rule, but it's something I think about all the time when planning interviews.

Generally speaking, I like to have about one primary storyteller for every minute of finished video. If we're making a one-minute video, one strong voice is usually enough. If we're making a two-minute video, maybe one or two people. If we're making a three-minute video, two or three strong storytellers can work really well.

Once you start squeezing six, seven, or eight people into a short video, things get diluted quickly. Nobody gets enough time to develop a thought. Nobody gets enough time to build credibility. Nobody gets enough time to create an emotional connection with the audience.

What ends up happening is that the video becomes a collection of quotes instead of a story.

This is one of the most common mistakes I see in corporate video production. Everyone wants representation, but storytelling and representation aren't always the same thing. A good story requires focus. If everybody is trying to be the main character, nobody ends up being the main character.

The Best Storyteller Is Often Not The CEO

This surprises people all the time.

Some executives are phenomenal on camera. Others aren't. Being a great leader and being a great interview subject are two completely different skills. We've filmed executives who struggled to communicate naturally and we've filmed employees who completely carried the final video.

The people who perform best on camera usually share a few traits. They're comfortable being themselves. They answer questions directly. They speak in stories instead of talking points. They sound like real human beings instead of corporate brochures.

One of the reasons interview-driven video production works so well is because audiences can immediately tell when someone is speaking from experience. They can also tell when someone is trying to sound important. Authenticity wins almost every time.

That's why title alone is rarely enough reason to put someone in a video. The best interview subject is usually the person who can make the audience care.

The Person Closest To The Story Usually Wins

One of the questions we ask ourselves during pre-production is simple: who has actually lived this experience?

Because that's usually where the strongest interviews come from.

If we're filming a customer success story, we want the customer. If we're filming a nonprofit impact video, we want someone who has directly experienced the organization's work. If we're filming a recruitment video, we want employees talking about their actual experience. If we're filming an alumni piece, we want alumni.

People connect with lived experience. That's what makes stories feel real.

The closer someone is to the story, the stronger their interview usually becomes. That's not always true, but it's true often enough that we actively look for it when we're building a creative document and planning interviews.

Not Everyone Needs To Talk About The Same Thing

Another mistake I see all the time is having every interview subject answer the same questions.

Everyone talks about the mission.

Everyone talks about the culture.

Everyone talks about the values.

Everyone talks about why the organization is great.

The result is usually repetitive.

A much stronger approach is giving each person a role in the story. One person talks about the challenge. One person talks about the solution. One person talks about the impact. One person talks about the future.

Now the audience is actually learning something as the video progresses. Each interview subject contributes something unique instead of repeating what someone else already said.

Why We Decide This During Pre-Production

This is exactly why we spend so much time in pre-production.

Before most shoots, we create a creative brief and a creative document that become the blueprint for the entire project. One of the things I do is write what I call a fake script. Nobody reads it on camera. It's simply a version of the final video as if everything goes perfectly.

What do we want people to say?

What should the structure feel like?

How long should answers be?

What emotional moments do we need?

Once we have that, we can start asking a much better question: who can help us tell this story?

That's usually when the right interview subjects become obvious.

Final Thoughts From Bunker Hill Media

If you're planning a brand video, don't start with the organizational chart.

Start with the story.

The best person to be in your brand video is not automatically the founder, CEO, executive director, or department head. It's the person who can best help the audience understand why this story matters.

At the end of the day, audiences don't connect with titles. They connect with people. And finding the right person on camera can completely change how your video feels.