Explanation Station
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This article originally appeared in The Technology Issue of APEX Experience.
Despite the soaring popularity of the Slow Movement in fields like food, fashion, film and even travel, the one area that even the most diehard “slow-media diet” adherent has a difficulty embracing is slow technology. There may be a special place in hipster hearts for vinyl records, cassette tapes and other analog endeavors, but when it comes to online information, speed is still king.
Easily digestible sound bites and video clips have become hugely popular on “explainer sites” like Buzzfeed, Business Insider and Vox. The fact that major news outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post have leapt into the explainer fray (with The Upshot and The Wonkblog, respectively) only further highlights the hunger for so-called “conversational” or “database” journalism.
All of which begs the question, is in-flight entertainment (IFE) next? Could short, informational video clips connect with tech-savvy passengers in the cabin the same way they have at home? As always, it depends on who you ask.
Carriers like AirBerlin and Panama-based Copa Airlines have used stylish explainer clips to educate their passengers about group-boarding procedures and the benefits of web check-in, and a number of carriers have incorporated cheeky elements of explainer clips into their in-flight safety videos as well. Harnessing the entertainment value of explainer videos for more traditional IFE offerings, however, has proved to be a bit more challenging.
But that hasn’t stopped the forward-thinking IFE team at Virgin America from trying.
“The Virgin brand started out in entertainment, and it’s an area that Virgin America remains passionate about today,” says Alfy Veretto, Virgin America’s manager of IFE and partnerships.
Noting that Virgin generally curates their IFE content directly from studios, production companies and TV networks, Veretto says that lately, traditional content formats are just the beginning. Aside from their continuing partnership with GoPro, the carrier recently began testing the waters with explainer videos as well.
“The Virgin brand started out in entertainment, and it’s an area that Virgin America remains passionate about today.” – Alfy Veretto, Virgin America
“One example of an explainer video that has appeared onboard is an advertisement from Tongal,” says Veretto. “We recently worked with Tongal to crowdsource an advertising concept through social media for our loyalty program [and] the end result was a tongue-in-cheek video, The Claw, which resonated widely with our guests. So we decided to play it on all flights across our network.”
And though the Tongal clip has more of a marketing slant, Veretto says Virgin is definitely open to the idea of news or entertainment-centric explainer content down the road.
“As a young company based in Silicon Valley, we are always interested in new trends in digital content and marketing,” says Veretto. “We aim to offer fresh content that you won’t find on any other airline.”
In other words, the future of explainer IFE is wide open. No explanation necessary.
Watch the APEX “Explainer Videos: Explained” animation: