Tens' Retro-Inspired Video Design Promotes Its Products In A Funny & Trendy Way

A Retro Aesthetic Gives The Tens Brand A Cool, Vintage Personality

Tens is a sunglass provider based in the UK offering sustainably sourced sunglasses to consumers across the globe. It’s a young brand that launched only four years ago, but this brand video is certainly one that establishes the brand as a credible business that consumers would be happy to interact with.

Tens created a video that’s just over a minute long that sits on its website like an invitation to explore more about the brand, its past and its mission. And the second you hit play you know you’re in for a treat.

The video opens up like an old-school TV show — you can see it in the shortened angle of the lens and the smaller screen that this video plays against.

Similarly, the color choice and almost filtered quality of the video gives off a vintage vibe — like this was actually created 50 years ago. The background is a mustard yellow — a popular color choice at the time — and the outfits are obviously inspired by the 1960s and 1970s fashion.

In addition to the visual identifiers that clearly show this video was inspired by retro elements, the music is definitely from a funkier era. And it helps to tie the overall theme together beautifully.

The vintage personality of this video translates to the brand itself. Obviously, this isn’t an older brand. It was just launched a few years ago! But it does what millennials do best and brings styles and aesthetics back in style. And the retro theme shows that this is a millennial brand that is stylish, cool and knows how to have a good time.

That makes them more approachable to younger audiences and lets its personality help sway buying decisions.

Tens' Video Uses Humorous Acting To Lighten The Mood

Not only does the vintage aesthetic hit you in the face (albeit, happily) right from the start. But the funny and silly re-enactments are also apparent as soon as the video opens.

This video is infused with clever situations, instances and scenes — from a woman in a laboratory to a woman popping bubble wrap and more. This scenes tell the story of the sunglasses and compare them to all of these happy, satisfying and invigorating instances and it uses humor to do so.

The scenes are short and snappy, over as quickly as they started. And this jumping, scattered and almost chaotic nature adds to the urgency and adds to the fun.

And it balances so effortlessly with the straightforward and matter-of-fact tone of the text that sits on the screen that you can’t help but giggle. It all looks a little too much. It feels almost a little too extra. But it’s not quite there — it’s still enjoyable and satisfying and fun to watch and you’ll continue to watch until the video ends.

This lightens the whole mood of the video and takes you out of the incredulous mindset you might have going in. This video isn’t just in the business of selling you a product. Of course, they want you to buy these sunglasses — that’s what the video is all about.

But it’s also here to build a fluid and engaging brand identity that shows consumers that this is a brand that isn’t full of corporate nonsense. It cares. And it likes to have fun.

And you can have fun too...in these sunglasses, of course.

Clear Text Provides Necessary Context Within The Tens Video

This Tens video is a fun and creative visual display that tells a cool story. But it still is trying to sell a product. It still needs to provide context to the sunglasses and their brand story. The humor and the vintage vibes can keep you entertained in the short term, but in the long term, you need more clarification.

And that’s where the simple and clean typography comes in, with clear and concise text lining the top and bottom of the screen. Experienced video producers use this technique to provide essential information, convey the brand message, and ensure clarity for viewers.

This text is straight-to-the-point and blunt. It’s matter-of-fact and streamlined. And it works. It provides just enough context to help give context to the story but not too much as to overwhelm or confuse.

Clever Storytelling Makes This Video Play More Like A Movie And Less Like A Marketing Asset

This Tens video is a beautifully and cleverly told story. It opens up like a film — and that’s what the brand wanted. They wanted to tell a story and keep people engaged. They wanted consumers to feel immersed in the brand experience.

This isn’t your normal, branded marketing video that promotes a product and is slightly unaware of the audience at hand. It looks like it was created in a production studio — and there’s even a scene where a camera crew is lining up a show.

It’s artistic and creative and stunning. It’s its own work of art and shows that the brand has an integrity and a credibility.

But it also has a fun and flirty personality that it wants to shine through.

Branding pioneers know that the best marketing videos don’t look like marketing videos — and this one is a prime example of that.

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What Is Tens?

Tens is a UK-based sunglasses brand that creates stunning, sustainable and affordable sunglasses for consumers across the globe. It was launched in 2014, providing consumers with tinted sunglasses to bring warmth, clarity and confidence.

Here is the Tens brand story:

We were driving through the Highlands in search of sunshine, when we came up with the idea for Tens. You might not think of sunglasses and Scotland as the perfect match, but that’s sort of the point. Developed by photographers (that’s us - Tom, Marty and Kris), we thought it would be cool to take the rich, warm colours we add to our photos and apply them to real life. And so, a gazillion rounds of prototypes and one crowdfunding campaign later, Tens happened. Considering we knew nothing about the eyewear industry, we had to learn pretty fast. Four years on, we've come a long way. Our pool house is your pool house - so grab a piña colada and look around.

The Tens brand started as a crowdfunding campaign in 2014, with over 10,000 customers in more than 100 countries across the globe. It was obvious right from the start that the brand had a worthwhile product on their hands.

The brand has grown to international success, and claims it’s because it “sees things differently.” In 2018, the brand launched its first-ever 100 percent biodegradable sunglasses, continuing its mission for sustainability and responsibility sourced production.

And this embedded video helps to promote that positivity and progressive identity. Video is a powerful medium, and here it was able to capture the essence of a proud and show users what it’s really made of.

What Makes Tens So Successful In This Video?

This branded video is so incredibly stunning, fun and captivating. It pulls you in right from the start — even if at first you’re not quite sure what you’re watching.

It’s very obviously a branded video — a marketing asset for this brand, but it doesn’t necessarily play like a branded piece of content. It tells a fun and flirty story about the backbone of this company, their effervescent energy and their mission to create quality, sustainable products.

And it does so by infusing a variety of clever design elements that grab your attention and fill you with that same enthusiasm.

Right off the bat, you’re met with a retro, vintage theme. You can see this in the camera angle which is smaller than the average screen. You can also see it in the off-yellow background that reminds you of the popular color used in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

It is also seen in the style and the overall aesthetic of the video that shoots from scene to scene in rapid succession, with an old-school track playing in the background. Subtle audio effects also occur when tasks are completed — similar to old game shows and television programs.

This retro vibe is fun and vivacious, showing the brand has a personality. And the humorous acting and instances these characters get into equally lightens the mood and aligns the Tens brand as a quality, caring and cool brand to buy from.

But what else is important are the products themselves — the sunglasses. And this effective video tells the story of these sunglasses in a slightly obscure, but deeply fascinating way with text adding context and the sunglasses appearing when it makes sense.

The Tens brand wasn’t hitting you over the head with their products. They were subtle and sleek and it made for an enchanting and hilarious video.

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