"Slightly Unusual" Videos Capture Hearts! The Power of Promotional Movies Told Through Short Dramas

"We want to communicate our company's appeal more effectively."
"But a video just like everyone else's won't get watched..."

If your company faces these challenges, we especially want you to see highly entertaining promotional videos in the style of "short dramas" or "musicals."

At World Area Networks Co., Ltd., we have produced many videos using approaches that appeal to "empathy" and "impressions," which are hard to reach with conventional interview videos or explainer videos.

This time, we introduce three slightly unusual promotional projects that drew a particularly strong response.

Case 1: Go! Hiroshima Musical Movie

"Sing, dance, and work in Hiroshima!" A government promotion packed with entertainment

Hiroshima Prefecture faces the challenge of having the highest net population outflow in Japan.
In response to the request to "communicate Hiroshima's appeal as a place to work more positively and more memorably," we produced a musical-style promotional movie.

Featuring employees of local companies, the movie showcases Hiroshima's industries, nature, sports, food, and excellent work-life balance through a mix of original songs, dance, and short drama.
While comical and fast-paced, it succeeded in firmly delivering the intended message.

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How it is used

• Shared on regional promotion websites and social media
• Screened at seminars and job fairs
• Promotional visits to high schools and universities, etc.

Results and response

• Views on social media rose substantially, and the video won favor among young people
• An increase in inquiries from companies saying, "This is fun! We want to make something like this too"

Advantages as a promotion

By appealing to "impressions" rather than "information,"
it is possible to create content that "viewers want to tell someone about."
Entertainment is effective for promotions by governments and public organizations, too.

Case 2: IT Satellite Yamaguchi

"Working in Yamaguchi might actually be pretty good?" A moving short-drama video

For this project, aimed at attracting satellite offices of IT companies as part of an initiative by Yamaguchi Prefecture, we planned and produced a video in the form of a short drama to make relocation and working in the regions feel familiar.

For IT professionals in urban areas who are unfamiliar with options such as relocating to the regions or satellite offices,
the video dramatically portrays, in fictional form, "people who actually live and work there."
By conveying a realistic daily life and its changes through a story, it created empathy among viewers.

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How it is used

• Screened at regional recruitment seminars and events
• Posted on the prefecture's promotional website and YouTube
• As material for social media ads and digital promotions

Results and response

• Many respondents to a post-viewing survey said they "could picture working in the regions"
• Dispelled the "stiffness" common to PR videos and made it approachable

Advantages as a promotion

"Empathy" over "logic."
By depicting from the protagonist's point of view "where and how" people work, it becomes easier for viewers to see it as something that concerns them personally.

Case 3: Chuden Engineering Consultants recruitment movie

A short-drama recruitment video that presents an "unexpected career path" to electrical engineering students

In the construction consulting industry, recruiting people in the "electrical" field in particular faced the challenge that
"it isn't even known as an option in the first place."

So we planned a recruitment video in short-drama format that depicts electrical engineering students working at a construction consulting firm.
While introducing the realities of the job on site, we structured it so that viewers would feel, "This kind of work could be an option for me."

Play video

How it is used

• Used at recruitment briefings and job events
• On the company's recruitment website and as an entry video
• As part of the explanatory materials for school visits

Results and response

• Student reactions improved through the video, which served as an entry point to understanding the industry
• Well received internally as well: "It made us rediscover the appeal of our own work"

Advantages as a promotion

Because it can visualize, through a story, the "unrecognized appeal" of an industry or job,
it is also effective for recruitment and PR in specialized professions and niche industries.

Leave the "usage design" that maximizes a video's impact to us as well

We don't just "make videos."
Our proposals also include usage design: where, to whom, and how to deliver them.

• Short cut-down versions for social media
• Linking with web pages and events
• Adapting the copy and structure for each target, and more. We can produce with the entire promotion in view.

Why choose WAN? The value of working with us

🎥 Video production × storytelling × planning

At WAN, we handle CG production, VR/XR development, live-action video, and story-driven video direction all in-house, and we are a team of professionals in "videos people can't help but watch" and "exciting promotions."

• One-stop service from interviews and planning to scriptwriting, filming, and editing
• More than just a production company, we work alongside you as a "partner" who thinks together with you about how to communicate
• A proven track record across a wide range of fields, including government, business, and education

"We want to communicate our appeal with an approach that's different from everyone else's."
If that is how you feel, please don't hesitate to consult us.